Surgeon Heart

Chapter Seven - Lost

If last night when Drew met Sebastian was a dream, then today, with the loss of her father was indeed a nightmare. She couldn’t decide if the loss of her father was the worst or the fact that he was lost on Dr. Sebastian Hart’s operating table was the worst part of this day. She blamed the good doctor at the moment. How could she not. After all his years of medical school and experience in the field, she would have expected better from him.

Drew started the process of making phone calls, first to his nurse and then to the agency that handled all of his medical stuff and benefits. She hoped that she would be able to afford to put her father to rest. That was the hardest part of this or was it knowing that he would not be there waiting for her when she returned home. She could not honestly decide at this point and the pit growing in the base of her stomach just seemed to be growing by the minute.

She made her way back over to the nurses' station and addressed the nurse with graying hair behind the counter.

“Could I please go back to see my dad please?” She asked, her voice managing to work despite the despair that she really felt inside.

“Sure, let me lead you back there.” the nurse responded, getting up from her chair and coming around to let Drew follow her back to the procedure room where they brought her father’s body.

Drew followed the nurse, feeling dread well up in her heart. This was going to make it very real, not like she had never seen a dead body before, but this was the last one she wanted to see. The cadavers back in medical school was one thing, but this was more tragic by any means. At least they volunteered themselves to science. Her father was just a victim of circumstance and a poor heart.

The nurse indicated the room and let her in with a light pat on her shoulder. She walked into the room, her father was laying on the bed. He looked as peaceful as he had just fallen asleep. If it was one thing that she could take some consolation in, is the fact that wherever he was now he had to be at peace. She walked up to his bed and took his hand in hers, almost wishing it would be warm with life and that this was all some sort of twisted joke, but his hand was as cold as ice. It took Drew a moment to realize she was not alone.

Someone cleared their throat from the other side of the room where they were sitting like they were waiting for her. She looked up from her father into the warm brown eyes of a man she knew all too well with his perfectly styled blonde hair and strong build, Jason Keeys.

Drew eyeballed him wearily, why was he here. “What are you doing here?”

He looked somber, “I guess I am still a medical proxy on your fathers contacts with the hospital Drew, they called me and I came over as quickly as I could.” Jason replied.

She groaned inwardly, why did her father not remove her ex boyfriend. It's like the old man conspired to bring them back together in death. “I see, well I am here now. There is no need for you to be here anymore. I have a lot of arrangements to make.”

When she dropped out of medical school, she left Jason behind too. That was another life. He stood and came closer as if he was thinking about giving her a hug, but thought better of it. He handed her his card.

“If you need any help with anything, don’t hesitate to call me. I don’t know why you dropped out of school, but maybe I could help you get in somewhere to continue on with your internship.” Jason said, turning to go out the door when he paused. Sebastian had just walked in the room.

Both men eyed each other wearily. Drew finally pulled herself together a moment to look at the card, Jason had specialized in plastics. She looked up from the card between the two men who looked as if they might have some sort of showdown in the middle of the room.

To break the silence, Drew finally said, trying to hand Jason his card back, “I won’t need any help from you.”

Jason ignored her at that moment by greeting Sebastian coldly as he left the room. There was something strange there but in that moment her own despair was harder to manage. Drew looked back down at her father, trying her best to ignore Sebastian as he came further into the room and stood beside her.

“Is there anything I can do for you?” he asked, his voice soft.

She didn’t know how to answer him, she wanted to be angry that the surgery he performed went badly but at the same time, she knew that some things just couldn’t be helped. No matter if you are top of your field or just beginning your career as a surgeon. She stayed silent not realizing she was crying until his strong arms pulled her into his chest. She didn’t fight him at that moment, but just took comfort before the real work of planning her fathers cremation and last rites would happen. At this moment she didn’t even know where she was going to find the money to even afford his cremation let alone anything else, finish paying off his medical bills. She felt as if she were drowning and Sebastian was the anchor keeping her on this plane of existence.