Chapter 15

The five hours of flight was the longest hours of my life. I thought and made myself the worst possible scenarios, I was not the type of person to keep hope in circumstances like that. I hated making myself false hope.

I said "Please God don't let my dad die." I don't know how many times during the whole flight.

With the jet lag, I arrived at the Magic Resevoir Airport at 12:00 p.m., went through the paperwork check, and mechanically collected my baggage and left the airport. It didn't feel like a home coming because, every time I came, my father was always there to pick me up.

I took a taxi to the hospital, there I was not even worried about feeling unwell in case I saw blood, at this stage I didn't care about my hematophobia.

It took me 25 minutes to get there. I pay for the taxi then go out. In front of the hospital entrance I had a flashback.

~ 4 years old me, in my father's arms, hands and clothes full of blood.~

I shook my head to clear the images from my head. And entered, I followed the signs to get to the emergency room. Once there I asked the nurse who was there.

"I'm looking for Bayron Wyatt, they told me he is in the ER." the nurse smiled at me and looked at the computer, before she answered me a colleague of hers came and spoke to me.

"Are you his daughter?" I nodded and he addressed his colleague. "Drew had asked to be notified when he arrived."

"He is not on call, didn't he went home?" asked the other nurse.

"No, he's sleeping in the on-call room. I'll let him know you're here." I nodded again and he left.

I went back to the nurse again.

"Tell me, how is my father."

"He's better now, he should be up in a few hours."

I exhaled deeply in relief.

"Can I see him ?"

"Yes, of course give me a minute." she consulted the computer in front of her. "He's in box 13, it's over there, third box on the left." she showed me the way and I followed it. It only took me a few minutes to locate the box. I first saw him through the curtains before opening the door.

It looked like he had taken a few more years, probably because of his unshaven beard of a few weeks. As I approached him, I noticed that he had also lost weight. He was connected to some machines. I gave him a kiss on the forehead.

"Meg!" I wiped away the tear that had flowed and turned around to face that voice I knew so well.

"Hey,." I advanced towards him. It looked like he was a little taller than last time. He was wearing blue scrubs. We hugged and he walked in.

"How are you ?" he asked me.

"A little shaked but I'm ok! But tell me what happened?"

"He was brought in by an ambulance, he was in a critical condition, he had symptoms of severe chronic kidney failure. At this stage he should have already been on dialysis treatment. So he faced a complication due to the loss of purifying capacity. To make it short, his kidneys were barely functioning anymore that's why there were abnormally high amounts of acids from metabolism in the blood that's what caused the coma. They had to dialyze him urgently."

"What will happen now?"

"They'll keep him under observation for a few hours, the nephrologist will come by to do other exams, he will tell you what to do."

The only thought that came to mind was that this all happened while he was alone.

"Who called the ER?" I asked him.

"Himself, but when the ambulance arrived he was unconscious. He arrived here at 2am. He had no emergency contact. Luckily I was on call."

"Thank God." I looked at my father motionless in bed. We were silent for a moment without saying anything, I was relieved now. The worst was behind us. So I asked the other question that was on my mind.

"And you then, what are you becoming?" Drew was a great guy, the only real boyfriend I had had. We parted on good terms, there were no arguments or rancor, it's just that our paths separated.

"Bah, this is what I'm becoming." He pointed at him. " I'm starting my second year of internship next month. My life is only medicine now."

"It's awesome." I smiled at him.

"So I imagine you're going to stay here for a bit, we're get time to catch up. I wanted to be here when you arrive. Now I have to go and rest before my next shift starts. If you need me, you have my number. "

I nodded and whispered a thank you then he left.

I sat down in an armchair near the bed, and took out my phone. I called Flo and gave him the news.

The nephrologist came around 3p.m. with a nurse to take make some tests.

"Do you live with your father?" he asked me while the nurse was working.

"No, I just arrived from Florida."

"With whom does he live?"

"He lives alone." He took off the glasses he was wearing, and looked at me.

"Your father's kidney failure got worse because he wasn't diagnosed and treated in time. The symptoms were there, you know why he didn't consult a doctor?" I shook my head to say no. And he continued. "We'll talk about it with him when he wakes up, anyway his kidneys are in a bad state, we'll have to do other tests on him after he wakes up, but I prefer to warn you right away. He may be in need of a kidney transplant."

This doctor had a way of saying things that was scary. I didn't like what I was hearing. A few minutes ago I thought he was out of danger and now we are talking to me about a transplant.

"But don't be afraid, whatever happens your father escaped the worst." it was as if he had read my mind. He was about to leave but stopped in the doorway.

"One other thing; know that from today your father will not be able to live alone. He will have to take dialysis sessions, with the side effects he will need help on a daily basis. " then he left.

I hadn't thought of that, I was going to have to; either move back here or my father will have to come to live with me. For the moment I did not know what was the best to do. I decided to wait for him to wake up, Right now I was not able to make decisions.