Yours For The Taking Part 29

"No one you know. Now do you want that hundred bucks or not?"

"Sure, sure. I got it. But I gotta say, it don't look like marriage is agreeing with you."

"Yeah, tell me something I don't know." Gina pulled her phone out of her pocket and called Kate.

"h.e.l.lo?"

"Kate, it's Gina. Grandpa Joe had a heart attack. They're taking him to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. I don't know where Ben is, he forgot his phone, but I'm on my way there now. Could you text me a list of whatever meds Gramps is on in case he's not conscious? I'll need to tell the doctors in the ER."

There was silence on the phone. "Kate? Are you there?"

"Yes. I'm here." Kate's voice shook. "Oh my G.o.d. Okay, I'll text you a list, and get a flight out."

"Good, send me his meds, his doctor's numbers, whatever you think I'll need. I should be there in about twenty minutes. I'll keep trying Ben."

Gina heard a sob, and then Kate cleared her throat. "Gina, tell him... tell him I'll kill him if he goes off and dies on me."

"He's not going to die. This is Joe we're talking about, remember? Just hurry up and send me that information, and get out here so you can threaten him in person. Call me when you land and I'll send my buddy Carlos over to bring you to the hospital. He'll take your things back to my house."

Silence again. "Kate, take a deep breath."

"Okay, I'm fine. Gina, you take care of my boys until I get there."

Gina brushed the tears from her eyes. "I will. I promise. Just get me a list of Gramps' drugs and I'll see you later."

Gina hung up and held onto the seat in front of her, thanking G.o.d that traffic wasn't too bad. She tried Ben again, only to get his voice mail. "Ben, it's Gina. I'm on my way to the hospital. I'll see you there. Hurry." She turned her attention back to Carlos. "Carlos, if I call you later, would you pick up my Aunt Kate when she arrives?"

"Sure, Gina, you got my number, right?"

"Yeah, I have it. I'll let you know what airport she's flying into and what time to pick her up. Just bring her to the hospital and then take her luggage back to my house. Do you know where I live?"

"Yeah, I take Tina home from work most days."

"Good, Tina and Sam will be there."

"Sure, whatever you need."

Her mind spun as the miles flew by. When Carlos pulled up in front of the emergency entrance, she tossed money at him, ran for the doors, and stopped at the desk. "I'm Gina Walsh. My grandfather, Joe Walsh, was just brought in."

The woman behind the desk gave her a clipboard with a stack of forms. "You'll have to fill these out."

"Sure, right after I see my grandfather."

The woman stood. "Miss, you'll see him just as soon as you fill out the paperwork."

Gina picked up the clipboard and slammed it back on the counter. "I don't think so. I need to see my grandfather now."

Mike Flynn stepped through the ER doors and Gina ran for him. "Where's Grandpa Joe? Is he okay? This woman won't let me see him."

Mike put his arm around her. "He's holding his own. I'll bring you back to see him. He's been asking for you." Mike turned and smiled at the nurse. "It's okay, Becky, Gina can come on back. I'll make sure the paperwork gets filled out." He picked up the clipboard and walked Gina into the emergency room.

She held up her phone. "Kate sent me a text of all his meds and doctor's numbers. Here." She handed it to Mike and ran to Joe's side as soon as she saw him. Lying there in the hospital bed, he looked so much smaller, not to mention older. He had an IV in his arm, oxygen tubes in his nose, and wires connecting his chest to monitors. "Oh my G.o.d, Joe."

Joe waved his bony hand at her. "Calm down, girly. I'm fine."

Gina brushed away her tears. "You call this fine?" She tried not to hurt him when she gave him a hug. "Gramps, you scared the life out of me. Annabelle called, Ben is somewhere but he forgot his phone, she's still trying to find him."

"He better be grocery shoppin' because I've been eatin' beans for a week." Gramps looked past her to Mike. "Look at what I had to do to get my granddaughter to visit me."

Gina laughed through her tears. "You could have just called. You didn't have to have a heart attack."

Mike sat on the orange pleather chair and copied the information from her cell phone onto the hospital paperwork. "Gina, Joe came in with chest pain. They're doing tests to see what it is. As far as we know right now, it's acute angina. I'm here as a family friend, not a doctor, but the ER docs are first-rate. Joe is being well taken care of."

She held Joe's hand and turned to Mike. "Is he going to be okay?"

"I called Dr. Gla.s.s in for a consult. He's the best cardiologist around."

Joe raised his free hand. "I don't need any tests."

Gina shushed him. "You're going to be good and listen to everything the doctors say, do you hear me? Kate is on her way and I'm sure Ben will be here soon."

"You called Kate? What are you trying to do, kill me? The last thing I need is that woman hanging over my bedside telling me what I should and shouldn't do."

Mike came around to her side. "Gina, you need to finish filling out this paperwork before the nurses stage a revolt. Joe's wallet is in the bag with his clothes beneath the bed. I'm sure all his insurance information is in there. Let's take it out to the waiting room. I'll tell them to keep us informed. Right now, Joe just needs to lie back and rest."

"I don't want to leave him."

"You need to let the doctors and nurses do their job. He'll be fine."

She looked up at Mike who looked way more calm than she felt. "Okay." She took a deep breath and tried to stop shaking. "I'll go then. They'll let me know if anything changes, right?"

Gramps tried to sit up. "Stop talking about me as if I'm not here."

Gina pushed him back down. "Don't give me any trouble, Gramps. I'll be right outside. I'll come back in just as soon as they let me. Okay?"

"Do I have any choice?"

Gina smiled. "No. Now be good and I'll see you in a little while." She kissed his cheek. "I love you, Gramps. Just concentrate on getting better, okay?"

Joe patted her back and Gina realized she meant it. She loved the old fart. Gramps put his free hand around her shoulders and held her close for a moment. "I love you too."

She pretended not to notice that he teared up. "I'll be right outside." She turned her back to him and brushed the tears off her face with her shaking hands before she gathered the paperwork, her phone, and Gramps' wallet. She shot Gramps a quick smile and returned to the waiting room with Mike.

He led her to a chair. "I'll get you a cup of coffee while you finish up the paperwork. How do you take it?"

"Strong and black."

Gina drank bad coffee and filled in what she could of the paperwork. If she thought about Gramps in that bed, she'd lose it, and she couldn't afford to lose it now.

Ten minutes later, Gina sensed something and looked up to find Ben coming toward her.

Chapter 18.

Ben stared at her. It took Gina a moment to realize he was out of breath, sweating, and wearing running shorts and a T-s.h.i.+rt. He looked lost. She wasn't sure what to do. She didn't know if she was experiencing an "oh s.h.i.+t" moment or a "thank G.o.d he's here" moment. She grabbed the clipboard and stood, holding it like a s.h.i.+eld. "Where were you?"

"I went for a run. I got here as soon as I could. How is he?"

"You went for a run and then ran all the way here?"

"Yeah, Annabelle told me as soon as I got back to the gallery. I didn't want to waste time going upstairs, and I didn't have my wallet so I couldn't get a cab."

Gina didn't bother telling him he'd have gotten there a lot faster if he'd just grabbed his wallet and taken a cab. Ben probably figured that out halfway to the hospital. She s.h.i.+fted from foot to foot. "Gramps is in the ER. They're running tests. I did my best to fill out these forms. I did all I could. Why don't you fill in the blanks?" She held the clipboard out to him but he didn't reach for it.

"Can I see him?"

"I don't know." Gina turned and looked toward Mike.

When Ben noticed Mike, he took a step back. "Oh, Mike. I didn't see you."

Mike came up beside her. "Nice of you to make it, Ben."

Okay, maybe Mike being here wasn't such a good thing. She thought the hard feelings Mike had toward Ben over Annabelle would be history since Mike and Annabelle got married. It looked like she was wrong again.

Ben wiped his sweaty forehead on the sleeve of his T-s.h.i.+rt. "Thanks for being here. I didn't know pulmonologists handled this sort of thing."

If it was possible, Mike stiffened even more. "Don't worry, I'm not his doctor. I'm just here because Annabelle asked me to come by as a friend of the family."

"I appreciate it. How is he? Can we see him?"

Mike nodded. "Sure, Gina can take you back, she knows the way. Just keep him quiet."

Gina handed Ben the clipboard and looked up to Mike. She didn't want to be alone with Ben if she could help it. "You're not going to leave, are you?"

Mike shook his head. "No, I'm happy to wait."

She smiled. "Good."

Ben put his arm around her, which was the last thing she wanted. Okay, maybe not the last thing. The last thing she wanted was to be in the hospital at all, but it was a close second. "He's through here. Come on." When she got to Joe's cubicle, she stopped, took a deep breath, pasted on a smile, and pushed aside the closed curtain. "Look who I found."

Ben definitely hadn't been prepared for what he saw. He left Gramps a couple of hours ago and though he hadn't looked all that good, he certainly hadn't looked like he belonged in a hospital. He sure did now.

Gramps opened his eyes and smiled. "It took you long enough to get here. I wondered if you had decided to run all the way back to Idaho."

Ben grabbed the rail at the foot of the bed to steady himself. He'd never seen Gramps look so frail. "Hey, Gramps, I got here as soon as I heard." His voice sounded weird to his own ears-what little he heard of it over the sound of blood rus.h.i.+ng through his head. He cleared his throat and tried again. "How are you feeling?"

"I'd be better if they'd let me get the h.e.l.l out of here. You know I hate hospitals."

All Ben could do was nod and stare.

Gina tugged on his arm, dragging his attention back to her. "Ben, why don't you sit down, you don't look so good."

"Yeah, okay." He made it to the chair beside the bed and sat down hard.

Gina leaned on the arm of his chair facing Gramps and held the old guy's hand as Ben's vision grayed and cleared again. He blinked and swallowed, his mouth was dry, and his heart was going double-time. Thank G.o.d Gina was better at this hospital stuff than he was. He put his arm around her waist, needing to touch her.

She shot him a sideways glance and raised her eyebrows before turning her attention back to Gramps. "Mike says you're doing just fine. He's called the best cardiologist to check you out so you might as well give up on getting out of here any time soon and enjoy the company. Kate checked in with me on her way to the airport. Fisher's already been in touch with Dr. Mike, and last I heard, Karma, Trapper, and Hunter were meeting Kate at the plane. They're on their way."

"They are?" Ben and his grandfather spoke in unison.

Gina smiled at Gramps; she hadn't smiled at Ben once since he got there. She avoided even looking at him, much less talking to him. "Well, you didn't think they'd wait in Idaho while you're in the hospital, did you? Fisher's on call, but he's trying to get someone to cover for him for a few days." She looked from Gramps back to him. "I've arranged for a friend to pick them up from the airport and bring them back here. He'll take their things back to my place, and Tina and Sam will make sure the guest rooms are ready."

Ben was amazed. "You did all that?"

"Why? Shouldn't I have?"

Ben held her tighter and she stiffened under his arm. "No, I mean, thanks. I hadn't even thought to call home. Kate would have killed me."

"Yeah, well, you would have thought of it eventually."

Ben wasn't so sure. He'd never thought he was the type to panic but that's exactly what he did when Annabelle told him what had happened. The whole way to the hospital, all he could think of were the fights he and his grandfather had over the last week. Gramps could have died. Ben always thought the old man would outlive him. He never thought there was anything strong enough to take the old goat down, until now.

Mike came into the cubicle. "Okay you two, time for you to leave. They're going to take Joe up to ICU. It's going to take a while, so why don't you get something to eat, and then you can wait in the ICU waiting room. It's in the Milstein Building on the fifth floor."

Ben stood. "You're taking him to ICU?"

"Lucky for us a bed just opened up. That's the best place for him. Dr. Gla.s.s will meet him there, examine him, and look at the test results. Right now it looks to me like myocardial ischemia as opposed to an infarction."

"What?" Ben wrapped his arm around Gina and held on. "In English, please?"

Mike ran his hand through his hair and looked as if he were holding his temper while talking to an annoying child. "There is evidence of injury to the heart muscle, probably due to a coronary blockage. Further tests are needed."

He stopped talking and Ben couldn't help but feel as if he were the one being examined.

Mike crossed his arms and rocked back on his heels. "Ben, you're not looking good. When was the last time you ate?"

"I'm fine."

"I didn't ask if you were okay, I asked when you ate last."

Ben shook his head. "I don't know."