A Heavy Heart 9/20

Chapter Nine:

Don lets his father go in to see Charlie first. ICU only allows one visitor at a time and Don wants to be selfish but can't bear the look on his father's face. He seems so lost.

He stands still for a moment, alone with his thoughts. He reviews what the doctor told them in his head. The doctor's words sounded like they should inspire confidence, but Don's been on the other side of those carefully worded discussions before and he knows it's worse than the doctor is letting on. He knows the reason why they weren't given Charlie's odds for survival in the first 24 hours was because they would have been upsetting.

Don decides it's time to tell the others what's going on and asks them to come into the waiting room after Alan leaves.

Don paces the room as Terry, Laurel and Larry sit patiently, waiting for him to gather the courage to deliver the bad news.

"Charlie's heart..." he tries to begin but it's so hard. "They found some genetic abnormality. He's evidently had it for some time but no one knew. He's been running himself into the ground again, working on god knows what project... and this time it was too much for him..." Don's voice trails off and he can't seem to get a hold of himself.

Terry rushes to embrace him and it takes him a few minutes to regain his composure. Laurel holds Larry and sees him through a fresh bout of tears.

Don forces himself to go on, rushing to get it all out before he gets overwhelmed again. "They said he had an abnormal heartbeat when they brought him in. It was too fast so they had to shock him to slow it back down and make it regular again."

"I heard it," Larry's voice is tiny and weak but it stops Don in his tracks. "I put my head on his chest and listened to his heart. It wasn't beating right... It was fast and then it would just..." Now it's Larry who can't continue.

"So they shocked him and now he's okay?" Terry prompts Don hoping to get him to share the rest.

"No, he's not," Don manages to get out. "The shock only halted that attack of arrhythmia. The condition he's got, the doctor called it HCM, he's got for life. It's not necessarily terminal according to him but that doesn't mean he's out of the woods yet. He could still need major surgery but they're not even considering that until he's stabilized which they think will be in a day or so if nothing else goes wrong."

Don tries to stay strong but his world is crumbling around him.

"Until then... we wait."