The Nice Guy and the Therapist (New Hampshire Bears Book 11)

by Mary Smith

  “Stan, please!” Caryn harshly snapped at him. “He’s my father, please tell me what’s going on.”

  “You’re right. I’m sorry.” He cleared his throat. “Oliver had a heart attack.”

  The room gasped.

  “Is he alive?” Tears began to stream down her cheeks.

  “Yes.”

  Her knees almost buckled beneath her with relief of hearing he was alive. Cabel held her up.

  “However, he needs a double bypass,” Stan continued. “Are you able to give consent?”

  Caryn almost said no. Oliver had told her long ago, Taden was his Medical Power of Attorney.

  “Yes, she can.” Taden spoke up first.

  “No, I can’t,” she corrected him.

  “He changed his will and power of attorney months ago,” he informed her before telling the doctor. “She can give the consent.”

  “Caryn, do you want me to go over the forms?” Stan asked handing the clipboard to her.

  “No, I know the risks.” She quickly scrawled her name across the page. “We want to see him.” She handed the clipboard back.

  “I don’t think I can allow it. He’s already being prepped for the bypass. I promise to get you as soon as he’s in recovery.” He gave her a small smile and then rushed off.

  She stood in the same spot, trying to process what happened. Bypasses were quite common with heart attacks and blocked arteries. However, there could be severe complications and possible death. She tried to hold in a sob, but the memories of her mother’s last days raced through her head. Tears fell faster, and she couldn’t stand there for another second.

  She sprinted away from her family and ran toward the bathroom sign at the end of the hall. She found an empty stall and slammed the door. The sobs came out fast, and she couldn’t stop them.

  “Caryn?”

  “Caryn!”

  Janan’s and Nova’s voices echoed through the public bathroom. Their tones were full of concern.

  She rolled out toilet paper to blow her nose. “I…here…” She couldn’t form words or a complete sentence.

  “Hey.” Nova sounded as if she was right outside her door. “Caryn, it’s going to be okay. Uncle Oliver is pretty badass.”

  She blew her nose and unlocked the stall door. “I can’t lose him,” she said opening the door and coming out to them. “He just came into my life.”

  Janan put her arm around her. “He’s going to outlive all of us.”

  Caryn nodded. “I know. All of this is bringing up memories of my mother’s death,” she confessed to them.

  “But you’re not alone this time,” Nova told her.

  “I know.” She wiped away a stray tear. “Normally, I’m the calm one.”

  “Actually, this is nice to see you this way,” Janan tried to joke. “But it’s okay. Everything will work out.”

  Caryn found comfort from their words.

  “Although, I’m curious about one thing?” Janan twisted her mouth side-to-side.

  “What?”

  “Where are your shoes?”

  She thought she heard the question incorrectly until she looked down at her bare feet. “Oh my God. I took my heels off at home. When Taden called, I just…” she trailed off. She just bolted from the house without a second thought of her feet being bare.

  “I have my gym bag in the trunk. Hamilton can run down and get my sneakers.” Janan left the bathroom.

  “I can’t believe I didn’t realize I didn’t have my shoes on.” Caryn tried not to think of how nasty the floor was right now.

  “Trust me, I understand. I can’t imagine this world without Uncle Oliver. I yelled at Teo to run every red light to get us here faster.”

  “Really?” Caryn couldn’t picture Nova raising her voice.

  “Yes, I can’t think of a world without Uncle Oliver.”

  Caryn knew how much he had been there for the girls. Not just monetarily. He told her stories of going to their school events, graduations, and everything in between. Through those stories, she knew he would have been there for her. Considering how much he was there for her now.

  “You’re crying again,” Nova commented and hugged her.

  Caryn didn’t even realize tears were rolling down her cheeks. “I’m just thinking of happy memories.”

  She pulled back. “I understand.”

  At the sink, Caryn tried not to look at the mess of her makeup. She knew the waterworks had ruined it all and made her face blotchy. This was not the night she planned. Being in bed with Cabel was all she thought about the entire evening.

  “I have shoes.” Janan busted into the bathroom holding up a pair of bright colored Nikes.

  “Thank you.” Caryn slipped them on.

  “You need to get back out there to Cabel. He’s extremely worried,” Janan warned her.

  “I figured.” She patted her cheeks with a paper towel.

  When she came out of the bathroom Cabel, Hamilton, and Teo all stood together, still looking handsome in their tuxes, waiting for their significant others. Cabel’s open arms were a magnet to her. It made everything okay. Even for a moment.

  “Taden got some coffee for us,” Hamilton said and everyone made their way back to the waiting room.

  Taden had set the paper cups, sugar packets, and powdered creamers along the end table. Caryn usually put both into her coffee, but this time she took it without anything. They all sat very quietly. Cabel held tightly to her hand. It brought her a lot of comfort to have him next to her. He didn’t have to be, but it showed how much he loved her. And she loved him even more.

  Thinking of how much she loved him, her mind wondered about their future. She knew she would always have work to bring her accomplishments. Plus there was no way she could ever leave her patients. Cabel would be there in her life. Her heart hoped for marriage and maybe kids. Something neither of them had discussed yet. She knew they would need to, but obviously, this wasn’t the right time.

  “How are you doing?” Cabel softly asked her.

  “Fine,” she answered and heard a couple of gasps, which made the corners of her mouth twitch into a smile.

  “You used the F word,” Janan said.

  “I did,” she confirmed. “I apologize. I’ll rephrase my words. I’m doing as well as one can expect to be doing,” she corrected herself.

  “Why do you hate that word?” Teo, surprisingly, spoke up with the question.

  Many, many of those she treated in the past had asked the very same thing. She never tired of answering it. “I don’t hate it, but it’s something my mother taught me. She said it was an emotionless automatic response, and it would be better for everyone to tell the truth. To deal with whatever bothered the person.”

  Caryn could hear her mother’s voice saying it over and over. She made sure the word fine was used to a minimum in their home.

  “I always wondered.” Taden smirked.

  “When did Oliver change his will?” Caryn’s thought just blurted out of her mouth.

  “I think about four or five months ago,” Taden answered. “He told me right away. He kept the teams’ ownerships the same, but you oversee everything else and his medical decisions.”

  Pulling her hand from Cabel’s, she put her head down into both of her hands, before pushing them through her hair. “I don’t know what his wishes are. He told me you oversaw everything, and I never asked.” She pointed to Taden. “I wouldn’t know what to do if something happened…” Caryn trailed off without finishing her words.

  “Oliver doesn’t want to be hooked up to any machines, wants his organs donated—or whatever can be—and then cremated, and that’s it. He told me we could keep the ashes or spread them somewhere meaningful to him,” Taden told them. “His will lays out where all his money goes.”

  To Caryn it felt like he’d spoken a language she never heard before that evening. “Let’s hope I don’t have to use that information for a very long time.”

  “You won’t have to use it
tonight.” Cabel took her hand back.

  She tried to give him an encouraging smile, but she couldn’t muster it. Time couldn’t move fast enough for her.

  When Caryn’s eyes saw Stan coming down the hall, she raced to him with everyone trailing behind her. It took almost four and a half hours.

  “How is he?” Her question came out rushed and breathless.

  “Resting.” Stan grinned. “Everything went well and he’s in recovery—”

  “I want to see him.” She cut him off.

  “I know, he’s just coming out of the anesthesia, but I’ll take you back there,” Stan explained.

  “May we all go?” Caryn asked. “They’re family as well.”

  “I can only allow one. I’m sorry.” He truly sounded upset because of it.

  “Caryn, you’re his daughter. You need to go.” Janan touched her shoulder and Nova nodded.

  “Let him know we love him,” Taden added.

  “I will. Promise,” she said and kissed Cabel as she followed Stan down the hall and toward the recovery room.

  “He’s in bed twelve.” Stan nodded to the left.

  Caryn searched the numbers outside the cubicle-like rooms until she found twelve. She should have rushed right in but stopped right outside the curtain. Taking two deep breaths, she calmed her shaking nerves and body. She wiped her cheeks, ensuring she had no tears on her cheeks and pulled the curtain back.

  Since the day she met Oliver, he always had a suit on. Even when she googled him—always in a suit. Now he laid in a hospital bed with a pale blue hospital gown with wires all around him. A white blanket covered him. Tears filled her eyes as she studied his face, slowly moving toward him. The monitors around him beeped softly. His normally beige skin was pale, and he appeared to have aged at least ten years.

  Leaning down to him, she placed her hand over his. He felt cold. A lump in her throat began to choke her up.

  “Dad?” she managed to say. Calling him Oliver didn’t seem to fit anymore. He was her father. “Dad, wake up.”

  Oliver didn’t move. All she saw was just the rise and fall of his chest.

  “You can’t leave me.” A tear fell onto his hospital gown. “Please, Dad. I beg you not to leave me. We just found each other.” Her tears fell faster. “We have many things yet to accomplish together.”

  Still. He laid perfectly still.

  “Please. Please wake up,” she continued to beg and laid a kiss on his forehead. “Dad, please.”

  She remained there until a nurse came in and told her time was up. She kissed him again on the forehead before leaving him and going back out to the waiting room.

  Everyone rushed to her, and Cabel hugged her. They all asked the same questions.

  “He’s asleep. He looks pale. Overall, he’s good,” Caryn updated them.

  “How long before we can see him?” Nova inquired.

  “He should be out of recovery in a couple of hours,” Caryn said, still holding tightly onto Cabel. “They’ll put him into a regular room in ICU.”

  Everyone seemed a bit more relaxed after she told them the game plan.

  “Girls, why don’t you all go home…” Taden began.

  “I’m not leaving.” Janan stood tall, crossing her arms in defiance.

  “Me either,” Nova added.

  “Let me finish.” Taden held up his hands in defense. “I was just trying to say go home and change. By the time you all come back, he’ll be in ICU, and we might be able to see him then.”

  Caryn turned to Cabel. “Would you mind getting me a change of clothes?”

  “I don’t mind at all,” he said without a second of hesitation.

  “I don’t want to leave. I can’t leave him,” she confessed.

  “I know.” He kissed her cheek. “I’ll be back shortly.”

  Taden and Caryn watched them all walk down the hall toward the elevators. They each then took a seat back in the waiting room. She rested her head on her hand and closed her eyes—for a moment.

  Caryn felt someone playing with her hair. Or was she just dreaming it? Wait, was she asleep? She quickly bolted up, searching her surroundings.

  “Hey, hey.” Cabel’s soft voice was next to her. “It’s okay. It’s okay,” he reassured her.

  “Dad?” she asked worried something had happened.

  Cabel seemed stunned for a second then answered, “He’s in his room now. We didn’t want to wake you because you need your rest.”

  Rubbing her eyes, she collected her thoughts and processed them. Once she felt a bit more awake, she glanced at Cabel, who was now wearing a pair of jeans and a Henley shirt.

  “I brought you these.” He picked up a bag. “I hope what I got is okay.”

  Reaching for the bag, she kissed him. “Thank you.”

  “Everyone is with Oliver. Why don’t you change and we’ll go see him?”

  “Perfect.” Caryn kissed him again and headed off to the bathroom.

  He was kind enough to bring her jeans and a sweatshirt. Even her own sneakers. It brought comfort to her having her own clothes. Cabel even packed face wash and makeup. She washed her face. Cleaning it of dried tears and what makeup had been left from the party. She left her face clear of any makeup.

  “You’re beautiful,” Cabel greeted her as she exited the bathroom.

  “I have no makeup on,” she informed him.

  “Exactly.” He cupped her face then kissed her lips.

  “Thank you for everything.”

  “I love you, Caryn.”

  “I love you, Cabel.”

  He grinned. “Let’s go see your dad.”

  They walked together hand-in-hand until they reached the ICU. Caryn wasn’t nervous this time to go in. She hoped he would appear in better condition.

  As they slid the glass door open, everyone was surrounding his bed. Turning to look at her, Oliver appeared to be asleep.

  Janan came over to her. “He just fell back asleep. He wasn’t awake but just for a couple of minutes.”

  Caryn nodded. “He needs to rest.”

  “Listen.” Taden came closer. “I know you’re going to stay.”

  “Yes,” she confirmed.

  “Then I highly suggest we all go home, rest, and come back in the morning,” Taden offered.

  This time no one butted with him. Instead, they hugged Caryn and made their way out. Leaving her and Cabel by Oliver’s bedside.

  “You don’t have to stay.” Caryn kept her voice low.

  “I’m not leaving.” Cabel’s firm tone wasn’t mean, just non-argumentative.

  His kindness brought her a smile. A real one and she hugged him—yet again. “I love you.”

  “I love you.” Cabel released her. “I’m going to find us something to drink.”

  When he left the room, she took Oliver’s hand and sat on the side of his bed. Some color had returned to his face, but he still looked older.

  “I’m here, Dad. I’m not leaving until you’re well,” she told him, studying his face. She tried to see if he would wake up and be his feisty self again.

  But nothing.

  Nonetheless, she stayed at his bedside. Cabel brought her coffee and a bottle of water before he stretched out on the small couch against the wall. Caryn insisted that he take it because she remained in the chair right next to Oliver. Dozing in and out, she watched him and the monitors. Hoping he would wake up soon.

  Checking her phone around four in the morning, she stood and stretched her tired muscles. Even though she wanted—and probably needed—to go to bed, she knew she could power through. A couple of quick squats and rolling her neck around, she awakened her body.

  A soft moan came from the hospital bed. Caryn noticed Oliver’s face began to contort in pain.

  “Dad,” she quietly said his name and squeezed his hand. “Dad, I’m here. Will you open your eyes?”

  Slowly, he began to blink. “Wh…what?” He scanned the room.

  Tears fell without warning from her eyes. “D
ad, I’m here. You’re in the hospital.”

  “I know.” He gazed at her. “Dad? Caryn, you called me Dad?”

  Wiping her cheeks, she nodded.

  “I know I’m in a hospital, but what really happened?”

  “You…” She had to compose herself before saying the words. She wanted to be strong for him. “You had a heart attack and had to have a double bypass.”

  “Well, I guess that’s why I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck.” He tried to sit up.

  “No, just stay still and relax.”

  “How long have I been out?”

  Caryn gave him all the details of everything that happened and who had been waiting there as well.

  Oliver gave her a small smile. “I do love them.” He spoke fondly of the Longs. “I would like some water.”

  “I’ll get you some.” Caryn rushed to the nurses’ station, alerting them he was awake. She had taken the water container to the ice and water station to fill it up before hurrying back to his room.

  The nurse was checking his vital signs and Cabel was now standing at his bedside.

  “Here.” Caryn moved around Cabel to hold the straw up to Oliver’s mouth.

  “Thank you.” He took a few sips. “My mouth feels like sandpaper.”

  “I’ll let your doctor know you’re up and your vitals,” the nurse informed them before walking out of the room.

  “I told Cabel to take you home,” Oliver said.

  “That’s not happening,” Caryn stated.

  “Told you,” Cabel muttered loud enough for everyone to hear.

  “Sweetheart, I deeply appreciate you being here. You don’t know how much it means to me. However, you need—”

  “I’m not tired, and I’m well rested,” she lied.

  “Well, I believe I know where you get your stubbornness from.” Cabel chuckled going back over to the couch.

  “Caryn—"

  “No.” She cut off her father again. “The doctor should be making his rounds in a few hours, and I’ll be here for it.”

  Oliver sighed. “Fine, but then you need to go home and rest.”

  “We’ll see.” She put the straw back in front of him allowing him to sip some more water. “Now you do need your rest.”

  A fight should have ensued between them—and Caryn was ready for it—but instead, he closed his eyes.