“How is he?” I ask, cutting to the chase.
Nurse Sanchez takes her time responding. “We need to talk when you get here.”
My heart drops to my stomach.
“Is he still alive?”
“Right now he is, but he doesn’t have long left,” she says gently.
The road blurs in front of me, and I blink back my tears.
“I’m on my way,” I rasp.
Before she can respond, I hang up and squeeze the steering wheel tight.
He can’t die. Not yet. Not now. This shouldn’t even be happening. If he hadn’t rejected the treatment…
My heart races as I come to a stop at a stoplight.
“Stop it. You can’t think about this right now. Not while you’re driving,” I quietly scold myself.
When the light turns green, I gun it, needing to get there faster. Only that doesn’t happen. Two blocks down, I get stuck behind an accident. The entire road is shut down.
“Motherfucker,” I grumble under my breath.
I look around and groan. I’m stuck in the middle of a city block, surrounded by buildings. I can’t even take a shortcut if I wanted to.
The fifteen-minute drive ends up taking me an hour. One entire hour.
By the time I pulled into the driveway, dread had filled me. I haven’t even stepped into the house, and I know something’s wrong. I scramble out of the truck and rush toward the house.
“Dad!” I yell as I rush into the house.
The silence hits me first.
No machines beeping.
No sound of Dad snoring or calling out.
Pure silence.
“Dad!” I scream as I head down the hall.
Nurse Sanchez steps out of his room right before I can enter, and she grabs me by the arms.
“I’m so sorry,” she says with sadness in her eyes.
“No, no, he’s not gone,” I tell her, shaking my head.
“I’ve already made all the necessary calls. He passed five minutes ago.”
Five minutes.
Five fucking minutes.
If I hadn’t gotten stuck in traffic, I would have been here. Instead, he died alone.
“No, no, no…” I sob and push my way into his room.