“Thanks.”
“Now, you need to eat, okay?”
Kara sniffed. “Yes, Mom.”
“Good girl.” Addy smiled and walked toward the ticket counter.
Kara’s phone chirped and she picked it up on the first ring. “Joey? What’s going on?”
“It was a heart attack.” Kara could hear the hospital intercom in the background as Joey continued. “They’re taking him into surgery.”
“Surgery?”
“He’s going to need a triple bypass.”
“What does that mean?”
“Three of his arteries are clogged and need to be opened.”
“Is he going to be all right?”
He sighed.
“Joey, tell me the truth. What are the doctors telling you?”
“You know he smoked for thirty years.”
Kara swallowed hard. “But he quit when I was a kid.”
“I know, but all that smoking may have weakened his heart.”
“Can’t the doctors do something?”
“They’re doing all they can, Kar. But they don’t know how he’ll do with the surgery.”
Kara absorbed this news.
Pop could die. He could die and I didn’t get to say good-bye. I’ve barely been able to talk to him the last few weeks
. “Joey, I can’t get out of Tampa until after six o’clock.”
“It’s all right.” Joey’s voice was soft. “There’s nothing you can do here. Pop is going into surgery now. By the time you get here, he’ll be in ICU. Only Ma is allowed in there the first few hours.”
“But what if he . . . ?”
“Don’t, Kar. He’s got a lot to live for.”
Addy returned, handing Kara the boarding pass. “I’ll be in at 9:05.”
“I’ll be there.”
“Addy is coming with me.”
“I’m glad. She’s with you now?”
“She is.” Kara reached for Addy’s hand.
“Listen, sis, try to get some sleep. We love you.”
“I love you too. Tell Ma I love her.”
“She knows.”
A sleepless night, turbulent flight, and ten hours later, Kara ran off the plane into her brother’s arms. “How is he, Joey?”
“The same.” Joey had circles under his eyes. He held Kara for several seconds. “Still in ICU. He hasn’t woken up yet.”
“I’ve been praying for him, Joey. He’s gonna be all right. He has to be.”
“Ma is furious at me for calling you.” Joey walked beside Kara toward the exit. Addy followed behind.
“Too bad.” Kara walked faster, knowing she was finally within a few miles of her father. “I’m not a baby.”
“Don’t tell Ma that.” Joey stepped on the black mat and the automatic doors opened. The overcast sky and slight breeze greeted Kara and she breathed deeply.
The trio power walked to Joey’s Mercedes. Neither girl had stopped to bring a suitcase, so they were able to jump in the car and leave the airport parking lot quickly, arriving at the hospital in less than half an hour.
Kara opened the car door before Joey had come to a complete stop. Kara bounded out of the vehicle and ran to the front double doors before she realized she didn’t know which floor her father was on. She turned back to Joey, who shouted “six,” then ran on, pushing the elevator button a dozen times.
“Come on.”
Joey and Addy came through the doors, stopping at the information desk to receive visitor’s stickers. Kara remained, pressing the Up button.
“Why is this taking so long?” Kara asked as Joey handed her a bright orange sticker.
“One of the elevators is broken.” Joey pointed to the unlit arrows above the third elevator.
A loud bell announced that one of the remaining elevators had finally made it to the ground floor.
An orderly pushing an elderly woman slowly made his way out of the elevator.
You’re killing me here
. Kara waited for the young man to turn the wheelchair, fix the leg braces, and ease the woman into the lobby. Kara rushed into the elevator as soon as the pair was out, pressing the number six button over and over.
“Kara, relax.” Joey pulled her hand away from the button. “Pop’s still in ICU.”
“I don’t care. I just want to be up there.”
The elevator seemed to go in slow motion, stopping twice for people on the fourth and fifth floors before finally opening to the sixth. McKormicks filled the small waiting area. Kara rushed through them to her mother, sitting on a blue plastic couch with a Styrofoam cup in her hand.
“Ma!” Kara grabbed her mother and held her for several moments. When she pulled away, both women were crying. “I’m sorry, Ma. I should have been here. I should have known when Pop wasn’t feeling good that it was something more. I’m so sorry.”
Her mother wrapped an arm around Kara and eased her next to her on the couch. “You couldn’t have known. I’m a nurse, and I didn’t know. And you shouldn’t have come. The show . . .”
“Ma.” Kara took the tissue her mother offered and wiped her eyes. “Forget the show. It’s done. How can I be down in Orlando when you need me here?”
“Kara, don’t talk like that. Your pop wouldn’t want you to give up your dream.”
“You’re not talking me out of it.” Kara shook her head. “Besides, I don’t think I would have won anyway.”
“Of course you would.”
“This is where I belong, Ma. Right here. I can’t believe I even thought about leaving you guys.”
Kara looked up to see Addy standing in the corner of the waiting room. “Addy, come here.”
Ma rose to greet Addy, pulling her into a hug. “Thank you for helping my Kara. You’re a good friend.”
“I’m praying for Mr. McKormick. And for you. This must be so hard.”
“I appreciate your prayers, Addy.” Ma rubbed her back.
“Any updates? Have you seen Pop? How does he look? ” Kara asked.
“He’s recovering.” Ma sat back down and took a sip of coffee. “The doctors said that the next forty-eight hours are crucial.”
“Is he awake?”
A tear slid down Ma’s cheek. “Not yet. I don’t know how long he was unconscious. He was in his recliner, watching the news. I was upstairs watching my show. I wasn’t with him when it happened. He may have been out for a while . . .”
“Ma, no.” Kara looked at her mother. “You couldn’t have known. He’ll be fine. I’m sure.”
“I just want him to wake up, to be okay.”
“Me too, Ma.”
Every head in the waiting room turned as a doctor in green scrubs entered through the heavy door leading to the ICU.
“Mrs. McKormick?” he said, panning the sea of faces. “I need to speak to Mrs. McKormick immediately.”
M
om, you in there?” Chad knocked on the door to the room where his parents were staying in the White House.
The heavy door opened and Mom ushered Chad in. The spacious room was decorated in deep reds and browns, with two huge windows on either side of the large bed. The curtains were tied back, and the sun shone brightly into the room.
“Need help with your tie?” Mom smiled as Chad handed the black bow tie to her.
“I hate these things.” Chad sighed. “And this is a luncheon. Couldn’t we be a little more casual at lunch?”
“This is the White House.” Mom looped the tie around Chad’s neck.
“I know, but seriously. A tuxedo at eleven in the morning?”
“Yes, dear, you have such a difficult life.” She winked as she finished tying the bow. “There you go.”
Chad sat on the bed. “Where’s Dad?”
“Working with the soundmen. Do you need him?”
“No.” Chad lay down on the feather pillows, his mind drifting to Orlando. “The auditions will be over this week.”
“Are you nervous about that?”
“A little.”
“About the show, or about your costar?”
“Both.” Chad put his arms behind his head. “Do you think I’m doing the right thing? Giving up my singing career for this show?”
“Still thinking about what Jim said?”
Chad nodded. “I’d forgotten what it was all like before I won the show. But when I was at the auditions with all those kids waiting for their chance . . . I don’t know. Am I throwing that away? Is that right?”
“You haven’t enjoyed being a pop star, Chad.” She sat next to him. “I don’t think any of us ever thought about how difficult all this would be.”
“But what if I don’t like being on the show either? I don’t want to be ungrateful or discontent.”
“I know, son.” Mom held his hand. “Your dad and I have asked the same questions. But this show allows you to use all of your talents, not just your voice. And you can settle in Orlando again, at home. You don’t have to travel all around.”
“As much.”
Mom smiled. “But we’ve always traveled some.”
Chad thought of the family’s yearly vacations. They had traveled the continental United States in their RV, seeing the Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, most of the state capitals. “I just want to be a little more normal. I know life won’t go back to what it was before. But I just don’t want it to be as crazy as it has been.”
“Then I think you’re making the right choice.” Mom squeezed his hand. “Or you could just drop everything and go to work for your dad.”
Chad laughed. “I don’t want to be
that
normal.”
The bedroom door opened and Dad walked in.
“Hey, Dad. Are we all set for lunch?”
“Boy, are we.” He walked to the adjoining bathroom and washed his hands. “I still can’t get over how much state-of-the-art equipment they have here.”
“You look like a little boy in a toy store,” Mom said.
“That’s about right. I had a lot of fun with those guys. Got some ideas to run past our folks down at the recording studio.”
Mom’s cell phone rang, and she walked over to the nightstand to answer it. “It’s Flora. I’ll put her on speakerphone.”
“I’m sorry to bother you.” Chad listened as Flora’s voice crackled over their speakerphone. “I know you’re at the White House, and I wouldn’t have called if it wasn’t an emergency.”
“Flora.” Dad laid his palms on the nightstand. “What’s wrong? Is it your ankle? Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m fine.” Flora’s emphasis on the word
I’m
made Chad nervous.
“Who is it, then?” Chad asked.
“One of the girls here. Her father had a heart attack. She flew home last night. This is the girl I’ve been telling you about. The one I think is
the
one.”
“I’m so sorry,” Mom said. “Is there something we can do?”
“I’d like to fly up and be with her.” Flora spoke so quickly that Chad had to stand next to the phone to catch everything she said. “She has a large family. But her family doesn’t know Christ. And this young woman doesn’t either. But I think God will use this circumstance to draw her to him. I want to be there to help her see that. I know I’m needed here at the house, but this is so much more important.”
“You don’t need to explain,” Dad said. “You feel like you need to be there, then go. We’ll pay for the ticket.”
“What about the other girls?”
“We’ll have someone else come in and stay with them,” Mom said. “There’s just one more audition, right?”
“Yes,” Flora said. “But I still think we should cancel it. This girl is it. I’m positive. I’ve prayed about the others, and I have spent time trying to speak with each of them. This young woman is the one for Chad.”
Mom looked at Dad, her expression clouded.
“Let’s not worry about that right now,” Dad said. “The girls have rehearsed, and they deserve a chance to film the show. We’ll look at the footage and sit down with you when we come home this weekend. Until then, you go be with this young woman. We’ll take care of everything else.”
Dad ended the phone call and looked at his wife. “If we don’t pick this girl, I think we’ll have a mutiny on our hands.”
“But she’s not a Christian.” Mom shook her head.
“I know,” Dad said. “But Flora is determined.”
“So am I.”
Chad’s mind was spinning.
Is it possible? No, what am I thinking? Kara was visiting Addy when I was in the hospital. It can’t be Kara. Can it? God, what are you doing to me? I’m trying to forget Kara. You’re not making it easy
.
Chad left his parents’ room, praying for Kara’s dad, and for . . . Kara’s dad? He tried not to hope these girls were one and the same. Either way, lives hung in the balance.
Whoever this girl is, heal her father. And Kara, God, I know how close she is to her folks. Help her right now
.
K
ara joined the crowd of McKormicks surrounding the doctor. The waiting room was silent. Kara gripped two of her brothers’ hands while her mother looked expectantly at the doctor.
“Your husband is awake, Ruthie.” The entire room heaved a collective sigh. “But he’s not fully aware of where he is. Because we don’t know how long his brain was deprived of oxygen, we can’t determine yet whether or not he’s experienced any brain damage. We need you to try to get him to talk. Ask him about specific dates, like your anniversary or his birthday. Try to get him to recall as much information as you can.”