It's Better This Way(50)

A woman she didn’t know came to sit down beside her. She gently touched Julia’s arm. “Are you okay?” she asked softly, as if afraid of alarming Julia.

    “I…I don’t know.” Tears rolled down her cheeks as she drew in a deep breath, hoping to ease the frenzied beat of her heart so she could think clearly. Her greatest fear was that she was about to lose Heath. It crippled her mentally, to the point that she found it difficult to move. The look in his eyes right before he collapsed was branded in her memory. It seemed, in those last seconds, before he lost consciousness, like Heath was saying good-bye. A giant sob shook her entire torso.

“Is there someone you can call?”

Julia couldn’t think clearly enough to figure out what was necessary, what she should do next. Then she noticed Heath’s bag sitting at the end of the court. His phone was inside.

She should let Heath’s sons know.

Later, she decided. It was more important that she get to the hospital and find out his condition. If she contacted Michael and Adam without any details, it would freak them out worse.

“I have to get to the hospital,” she said, desperately needing to know if Heath had survived before she contacted his family.

“Here.” The man who had given Heath CPR handed her a bottle of water. “Drink this first.”

She nodded, not realizing how dry her throat had become. Guzzling down the liquid, she paused for a moment to calm herself. Her own heart raced at an alarming pace. All she could think about, all that mattered, was getting to Heath. Getting to the man she loved.

Searching inside his bag, she located his car keys. Although she didn’t feel she was in any condition to drive, she wasn’t willing to wait for an Uber to get her to the hospital. She’d chance it, also knowing Heath wouldn’t want his vehicle to remain in the parking lot at the tennis court, unattended.

    Shaken as she was, Julia was grateful to make it to the hospital without an accident. She was fortunate enough to find parking and literally ran into the emergency entrance, arriving breathless at the information desk.

“I’m Julia Jones. My…friend”—she didn’t know how else to explain their relationship—“was brought in by an ambulance…I believe he’s had a heart attack…We were playing tennis. Can you please tell me his condition?” she pleaded.

“Name?”

“Oh yes, sorry. Heath. Heath Wilson.”

“You’re not a relative?”

“No.” She knew what that meant. The medical facility would update only a family member.

Stumbling into the waiting area, Julia was sure the receptionist must think she’d been drinking. Her knees had yet to recover and the shaking continued.

Collapsing into a chair, she reached inside Heath’s tennis bag and retrieved his phone. Guessing his passcode was his birthday, she tried that, and sighed with relief when it worked.

Searching his contact list, she quickly located Michael’s name and called him first.

Heath’s son answered on the fourth of what seemed to be endless rings. “Hey, Dad, what’s up? I’m a little busy now. Can we connect later?”

“This isn’t Heath,” Julia said, forcing herself to sound calm, although she wasn’t sure she succeeded.

    “Julia? Why do you have my dad’s phone?” he demanded, sounding none too pleased to hear from her.

“I’m at Seattle General. Your father’s here…I believe he’s had a heart attack.”

Stunned silence followed before Michael raised his voice, nearly shouting at her. Not knowing what else to do, she started to explain what had happened as best she could.

“Is he okay?”

“Oh dear God, I…I don’t know,” she said on the tail end of a sob. “The staff will only talk to family, so I don’t have any information.”

“I’m on my way.”

“Thank you,” she whispered, and then added, “Do you want me to call Adam, or will you?”

“I’ll let my brother know,” he said, and abruptly ended the call.

Because Julia was barely holding herself together, she texted Hillary, who thankfully happened to work at Seattle General. Within minutes, her daughter joined Julia in the waiting area.

“Mom, what happened?” she asked, sitting down next to Julia and reaching for her hands, taking them both in her own.

Not until she felt her daughter’s warm hands did she realize how cold she was.

“Talk to me,” Hillary said encouragingly, when Julia found no words. Once more, she was on the verge of breaking down, her heart pounding as if looking for a way to break out of her chest. When she was able, she explained watching Heath collapse on the tennis court. Once again, the panic and fear of seeing him go down was almost more than she could endure, and she broke into sobs.

    “Oh Mom. I’m so sorry.” Hillary hugged her, and Julia let her, soaking in her strength and calm, desperately needing it.

When she found her voice again, she whispered, “I’m afraid, Hill, so afraid he isn’t going to make it.”

Her daughter tenderly rubbed Julia’s back as she remained with her. “Weren’t you the one who told me to not cross a bridge until I get there?”