A/N: Hey guys. I'm sorry about the abnormally long wait between updates. With Thanksgiving last week, I was pretty busy and life just didn't let up. Anyway, I wanted to make it up to you so I made this chapter longer than I usually do and I will try to get the another chapter out in the next couple of days or so. Thanks for the patience.
Sam got to the hospital and located the emergency room entrance. Inside, he went to the desk and told them who he was there to see. The clerk at the desk paged a doctor to come meet Sam. Sam took a seat while he waited. He pulled out his phone and sent a text to Sarah, saying he was there and waiting. She replied back that she was still about an hour out.
"Mr. Swarek?"
Sam looked up at the doctor that had walked over to him.
"I'm Dr. Sarah Perry. Why don't we go talk in private?"
Sam stood up and indicated for her to lead him. They entered a consultation room off the ER ward and Dr. Perry shut the door. "Mr. Swarek, I don't know what you've been told from the prison but, I'm sorry to tell you that your Father is in bad shape."
Sam processed that, he wasn't surprised given that he'd been told Jay had a heart attack. "How bad was the heart attack?"
"It was pretty serious. Given his age and previous health, it did some damage. For the heart attack, we took him to the cath lab and performed an angioplasty and put in a stent. Basically, we placed a catheter through an artery to the blocked artery in his heart. The paramedics administered aspirin on the way here to begin to help with blood flow."
"Okay, so it sounds like you guys got on top of that in time, right?"
"We did; however, we'll need to keep monitoring his progress for some time before I'll be read to say he's over the hump on this. He'll also need lifestyle and dietary changes, which in a prison, could be hard to guarantee."
"Right. Thanks, Doc."
"No problem. DO you want me to take you to him?"
"Actually, my sister is on her way, should be here within the hour. Could we wait and go in together when she gets here."
"Sure, it's probably better that way so he can get more rest instead of two separate visits. Do you need anything else?"
"Nah, I'll head to the cafeteria and get some coffee and wait."
"Sure, I'll give you my card. If you have any questions or do decide you need something I can help you with, just have the people at the desk page me."
"Will do, thank you."
Doctor Perry nodded at Sam and walked him back out of the ER ward. She pointed him in the general direction of the cafeteria and using the signs he found his way there. He got his coffee and sat down with it. He rubbed his eyes and pulled out his phone. Three missed-calls from Andy. He dialed her back.
"Sam, what's going on?", she asked without preamble.
"Hey McNally." Sam filled her in on what Dr. Perry told him. "I'm waiting for Sarah to get here before we go in and see him."
"Makes sense. Are you going to be there for a while? Do you want me to head up after shift?"
"Nah, I shouldn't be here too long. Sarah should be here pretty soon, and I won't stay after that. Just go home and keep Boo company. I'll be home later. Trust me, I don't want to be here any longer than necessary."
"Okay, Sam. Love you."
"Love you too."
Now he had nothing else to do but sit back and drink his coffee while he waited for Sarah.
About an hour later, Sam and Sarah were walking out of the hospital. Sarah was still shaken up, but Sam thought he noticed her relax a little bit when she saw Jay was still alive. "Are you going to be okay?", Sam asked her when they got out side.
"I think so. I'm going to try to find a hotel around here. Just to be around for a bit. I called my boss and he told me to take a few days if I needed them so that's what I'm going to do."
Sam nodded. "That's good. I'm heading back to the city, but I can be back here pretty quick if you need me."
"Yeah, don't worry Sam, go be with your wife. I'll let you know if something changes."
Sam was trying to decide when to tell Sarah about the baby and figured this was as good a time as he was going to get. "Yeah, I'll do that. Speaking of Andy. She's pregnant."
Sarah, who had been looking off into the distance, turned her head slowly to face her brother. She was even smiling slightly. Their relationship wasn't at the point where she excitedly embraced her brother, but she was still happy for him and Andy. "That's great to hear Sam, really. I don't know how she puts up with you sometimes, but I'm happy for the two of you."
Sam grinned, "Sometimes I wonder. Especially, considering how many times I've almost permanently screwed up. But she's made me a better person. I couldn't be a father to Mia or our future child if not for her."
"I believe that. Listen, I'll keep you updated on this front. Maybe when I head back in a few days, I'll stop by and you, me, and Andy can grab a bite to eat or something?"
"Yah, we can do that. I'll tell Andy, she'll be excited."
"Okay Sam, take care."
Sam climbed in his truck waved a final time to his sister and took off back towards Toronto. He texted Andy to tell her he was heading home and asked if she wanted him to pick up any dinner on the way home. She texted him back not to worry. She had it covered. When he did finally make it home, he discovered that Andy had already acquired some Chinese food for dinner. She had kept it warm and was waiting for him.
"You didn't have to wait for me." Sam said, feeling bad about making her wait.
"No, it's okay. I wanted to." Andy got Boo to get up off of her, and she rose up from the couch.
"Well, in that case, let's not keep you waiting any longer." Sam grabbed some plates and table ware and set them out for he and his wife. Andy brought over the food and opened up the takeout boxes. They both took portions from all of the options and enjoyed a nice meal together. Just the two of them. And, of course, Boo Radley hoping that something might fall on the floor.
Gail woke up the next morning in her room in the shared apartment with Dov and Chris. That was the last time that would happen. Yesterday she signed off on the paperwork for her new place and today she received her furnishings. She still had to pack up some stuff but that could wait until her roommates left for shift.
Considering Chris already knew about Kali, and since Dov might need to find a new roommate, she had told him about Kali and her new place. Dov promised to keep it a secret. Aside from Holly, only he, Chris, and Traci knew. And so far, none of them have let any indication slip to the others that they knew anything.
Gail joined Chris for breakfast. Dov and Chloe had gotten an early start on the morning and were already out of the apartment. They had to take care of some last-minute wedding preparations before shift; the big day was Friday and it was Tuesday.
"Who's going to make you breakfast now that you're on your own," Chris teased after he set down a couple pancakes in front of Gail.
"I know how to cook," Gail protested.
"Yeah? Then how come Dov and I always end up being the ones making the meals around here?"
"Well…I just figured you guys liked to. I mean, you're both good at it."
"I won't argue that," Chris said. "I'm just trying to look out for you. And Kali, too."
Gail smiled, "You know, I can always pour a bowl of cereal, if necessary."
Chris laughed a little bit, "Now that's something I can see." Changing topics, he asked, "You're sure you don't need any help today?"
"Nah, I'll be fine. Everything that's left is mostly small. And a small bit of clothes. Just a few small boxes at most."
"Okay. If you need anything, though, just give me a call. I can swing by either place."
"I will. Speaking of that though, getting packed up and out of here won't be that hard, but unpacking all the stuff at my place is another story. I have the furniture that I ordered arriving today and I have to get my cable and internet set up too."
"Seriously, Gail. Just give me a shout. Maybe after shift, if your okay with me revealing it, I can get a couple others to come by and help out too."
Gail considered that, she had wanted Kali to be a surprise she'd reveal when the adoption got finalized next week. On the other hand, she could use the help. And it's not like her friends would be any less happy for her.
"You know Chris, you're right. It's time to let it out. But not Kali, save that part until tonight and I can tell them myself."
"You got it."
A little while later Chris was out the door and on his way to work. Gail went back into the room she had occupied on-and-off, for the last several years when she had nowhere else. She knew she was ready to be on her own. Knew she had to. Still, it was a bit intimidating. As she gathered the rest of her things that still lingered, her phone rang. She glanced at the Caller I.D. It was Holly.
"Hey there," Gail answered and put the phone on speaker, so she could keep working.
"How's the move going?"
"Well, I'm just packing up the last of my stuff from the apartment now. This is the easy part. Setting up the new place in time before Kali's adoption gets finalized will be the hard part."
"Is it all setting in yet?"
"A bit."
"Don't worry you'll get there. A solid mix of excitement and unsureness."
Just then, Gail realized that it was early in Toronto, which meant in San Francisco…
"Wait a minute, why are you up so early? It's not even 6 yet out there."
"Well, I just wanted to check in on you before your day got too busy."
"Oh. Well, how thoughtful of you."
"Hey, that's me, you know. Always thinking about others. Besides, I have my coffee to get me through the day."
Gail looked over at her mug on her night stand. "You and me both sister." The buzzer for the buildings front door rang from the intercom by the front door.
"Hey Holly, the door bell just went off, let me go check that. I'll call you back."
"Is that what that sound was? Go ahead, that's fine. Or just text me later if you get time. Whatever works."
"Okay, bye Holly."
"Bye Gail."
Gail hung up smiling. She always smiled when she talked with Holly. The bell rang again. "Coming," Gail said to the walls of the empty apartment. She walked to the intercom and pressed the button. "Yep."
A muffled female voice came back at her. "I have a delivery for a Gail Peck. I need someone to sign for it."
"Uh, yeah, okay, Ill be right down." Gail slipped on some shoes and put on a hat since she hadn't done her hair yet. On her way down to the door she kept trying to remember what she had ordered. Nothing was coming to mind. Interesting. She got to the main door and didn't see any delivery truck outside. Or any delivery person for that matter. She began to get an uneasy feeling. Was this some sort of prank?
Se opened the door and looked left and didn't see anything. Then she turned right and froze. There, just out side of her line of sight from inside stood Holly, sipping her coffee.
"Surprise!", Holly smiled after she removed the coffee from her mouth.
Gail remained frozen for a few seconds and Holly just stood there, staring at her with an inviting look on her face. Eventually, Gail shook out of it and leaped at Holly, wrapping her up and spilling her coffee a bit.
Gail was overflowing with emotions. Surprise just began to explain it. When the hug broke Gail realized where the spilled coffee landed. Right on Holly's shirt. "Sorry about that," Gail sheepishly said.
"What?" Holy looked down at the stain. "Oh, don't worry about it. I didn't like this shirt that much anyway."
Gail tried to laugh but she was still trying to fight off being overwhelmed. "H-how? Did you get here? Why?", Gail managed to get out.
"Well, I took a midnight flight out of San Francisco. Travel time plus time change equals me here now. As for why, well, it's kind of hard to work for the O.P.P. from San Francisco."
"The O.P.P.? You what? You're working for them now? Since when?"
"Well, my contract with the job in San Francisco was coming to an end, as you know, and was missing home, as you also knew. Anyway, I put out some fliers back up here, just kind of throwing stuff at the wall, you know? And well, something stuck. It turns out that the O.P.P. happened to have an opening pop up in their forensics department at headquarters. We had some back and forth and they offered me the job which I took."
"That means Orillia?"
Holly, sighed. "Yeah, I know it's not Toronto. But it's only an hour-and-a-half away. That's a whole lot better than San Francisco. But I'll be down here in the City a lot too. And I'm hoping that something will open back up in the city. Either with the O.P.P. or the Metro Police Service. But, on Monday I start up in Orillia."
Gail processed all of that. "You're right. Orillia is a hell of a lot better than San Francisco."
"I was hoping you'd say that."
"Uh, do you want to come in? Relax a bit, maybe rest."
"Yeah, that'd be nice. I slept on the flight, but you know how that is."
Gail groaned in agreement with that sentiment and led Holly up to the apartment. "Here we are," she said as she opened the door.
Holly walked in and appraised the place. "This is nice. Plus, that couch looks comfy."
"Yeah," Gail said, "It's not too bad." Feel free to crash there. I'm just going to be in here packing up the last of my stuff.
"I think I'll have to take you up on that." Holly set her coffee down on the table and took her boots off before laying back on the couch and kicking her feet up.
"Holly? What are you planning to do until you start work? Are you going up to Orillia soon?"
Uh, no. I don't head up there until Sunday. I've got a room at one of those extended stay hotels lined up to start that night. Just until I get something more permanent."
"So, you'll be hanging around the City until then?" Gail asked.
"Yeah, pretty much. Reacquainting myself with Toronto and some old friends."
"And you started with me?"
"Yeah, but don't flatter yourself. That's only because you're the only one I knew wouldn't be working right now," Holy smiled making sure Gail knew she was messing with her.
"Oh. I see how it is."
"Yeah, but if you need an extra set of hands today, I might be able to spare some time to you."
"Thanks Holly."
"You're welcome. But if you want me to be of any actual assistance, you might want to let me get some sleep first."
"Oh, yeah. Sleep tight. I'll try to keep it down in here."
"I appreciate it."
Gail smiled and turned back towards her room, then stopped and turned back around.
"Sorry, one more thing. What are you doing Friday?"
"Um, nothing firm, that I know of. We talking about the morning, afternoon, or evening?"
"More-or-less, all day."
"Okay, I'm intrigued. What's going on?"
"Well, there's a wedding and I could really use a plus one."