Chase

8

January 2nd
2008
Four o'clock in the afternoon

    Peter smiled as his daughter ran towards the house. He was proud of her, as she had hit the target for the first time with her handgun. He watched as she opened the door and sprinted into the house to tell her mother. What he didn't expect was for her to run back out looking like she was about to cry.

    "Daddy! Mom needs you!" She shouted. He ran through the long grass of the open field and through the front door, before being led to the bathroom, where he found Sarah almost crying. He didn't realize why until he saw Thomas, who seemed to be coughing up blood into the sink. Eyes wide, he turned to Sarah.

    "We need to call the hospital. I'll be right back." He then rushed to the kitchen and grabbed the phone off the wall. Dialling the doctor's number, he waited impatiently as it connected.

    "Hello. Drumheller Doctor's Office. Patrick speaking," the secretary on the other end of the line answered.

    "Yes. Hi. This is Peter Phipps. My son is coughing up blood and I don't know what to do." There was a pause before Patrick answered. 

    "Come in to the hospital. We can look at him there."

    "Thanks. Goodbye," Peter replied before hanging up. He darted back to the bathroom and repeated what Patrick had said to Sarah. After getting Thomas a bucket, they all piled into the family van and drove to Drumheller, which was just a couple miles north of their acreage. As they came to a stop at the hospital, they quickly got out of the car and helped Thomas get to where the doctor was waiting for them. The doctor, who introduced herself as Dr. Weston, took Thomas and into another room and left the rest of the family in the waiting area at the entrance. Peter barely registered hearing a conversation between the two other ladies in the room, because only one thing was going through his mind: was Thomas going to be okay?