Exactly What I've Been Waiting For

Chapter 15

A/N: Who's up for a love confession?🙊👀❤

Moments later, both girls arrived at the hospital. Recognizing her mother along with her stepfather, Karl, Shireen, and their kids, Jade let go of the blonde's hand and walked towards them. "What happened?"

Baby Karl moved in and held on to her waist. She cradled his head. This had to be bad. "What happened?" she repeated.

"Granddad was coughing and there was blood on his hand," Baby Karl stated softly.

"He called us, and we called for the paramedics to come," Shireen added.

Jade's heart was beating. "Can we see him?"

Everyone shook their heads, and Jade's tears blurred her vision. "What happened? Nothing – there was nothing wrong with him. Did anyone suspect anything?"

Taking tentative steps towards the brunette, Perrie gently placed her right hand on her left shoulder, not wanting to startle her. "Babe, let's just sit down." She guided both Jade and her nephew over to the rows of chairs against the wall.

***
Fifteen minutes. An hour. An hour twenty. Two hours. Three hours had passed but there were still no news about her father's condition.

"I'm hungry," Baby Karl muttered.

"Okay, let's go." Jade said, lifting him off her lap.

"Stay. I'll take him." Perrie offered, holding out her hand to Baby Karl which he willingly took.

After few minutes of agonizing silence after Perrie and Baby Karl left, Shireen stood up with Karl beside her. "We got to go. I'm so sorry, we have a meeting with the lawyers in a few hours and the kids need to sleep."

Jade nodded. "Go. I'll stay. I'll call if anything happens. Mam, you should go too. You look exhausted."

"Sweetheart, it's your Christmas vacation. Go home with your girlfriend."

Jade shook her head, "No, I'm just going to end up telling Perrie to go home. But I need to stay here.
Mam, just go. It's okay."

As hard as it was, they all left Jade by herself in the waiting room. It was past midnight, past two in the morning if she recalled. Shouldn't there be some sort of news by now? She did not leave her hotel room with nothing on but some lingerie and a long winter jacket, just to wait all night with nothing to go on.

Not handling the wait anymore, she stood up, re-knotted her jacket and went looking for some answers. Her mind was racing. How could her father be coughing up blood? He ate right, exercised daily, had eight hours of sleep at night. It just doesn't make sense.

Walking around the corridors, she grabbed the first doctor she saw, "Excuse me. I'm Jade Thirlwall. I've been waiting for hours for news about my dad."

The doctor looked through her chart. "James Thirlwall. I should've known; if you give me one second, I'm going to get his doctor. His room is actually around the corner, so you could wait outside until the doctor meets you in a couple of minutes."

Jade nodded and walked towards the direction of his room. His door was closed. Through the window, she could see him in the bed hooked up to his IVs and heart monitor. Witnessing her father's current situation, the brunette covered her mouth and tried to muffle her sobs. Her back hitting against the wall while she tried to wish away the circumstances. This wasn't supposed to be happening.

"Jade? Hi. I'm Doctor Niles, I've been working on your father's case for the past year." the doctor said, offering the brunette a handshake.

Jade wiped her eyes with her free hand, composing herself. "Year? What are you talking about? This isn't his first walk-in?"