I Believe in You

The Dance

"Where's Conrad?" Nic asked anxiously running up to me.
"Uh... He's meeting with a patient. What's wrong?" I asked.
"It's his dad. He collapsed while we were showing him and Bell the building across the street for the new clinic." She explained.
"I'll get him. Go meet Marshall in the ER." I instructed rushing off to find my husband.
"Conrad!" I called his name when I saw him walk out of one of the exam rooms.
He turned to look at me concerned by the tone of my voice.
"Your father collapsed. He's being brought to the ER. Go on. I'm right behind you." I sighed leaning against the wall.
"Are you okay?" He asked touching me.
"Yeah. She's just getting heavy. My back is killing me." I sighed again.
"Go check on your dad. I'll get myself a wheelchair and be right there." I urged.
"Maybe you haven't cut your hours down enough?" Even twelve hours is a lot." He fretted.
"We can talk about it later. Go."
Finally he ran off towards the emergency room. I commandeered an electric wheelchair from the supply closet and wheeled myself to the emergency room also.
"I want to go to Atlanta General." I heard Marshall say loudly.
"How do you think that would look?" Bell asked.
"The chairman of the board of Chastain directors wanting to be transferred out of Chastain in favor of Atlanta General?"
I parked my wheelchair in the corner of the room seemingly unnoticed.
"Dad, let our gastroenterologist meet with you before we make any decisions, okay?" Conrad asked.
"Fine, Conrad. Fine." He conceded just before his eye caught mine.
"Are you okay?" He asked noticing my new transportation device.
"Yeah. She's getting heavy and eighteen hours on my feet is a bit much right now." I sighed with a smile.
"I thought it was twelve?" Conrad asked.
"Twelve maximum in week thirty three. Weeks thirty to thirty two are eighteen hours. Thirty three to five are twelve. Thirty six to eight are six. Thirty nine till the birth are four." I reminded him.
"We'll need to talk about that." He sighed.
"One crisis at a time, doctor." I chuckled.
"It's just my crohn's disease acting up. No crisis." Marshall sighed from the hospital bed.
"Can I speak to my son and daughter in law privately?" He looked around the room.
Nic, Bell and Mina left the room and closed the door leaving the three of us alone.
"How long have you had Crohn's?" Conrad asked quietly not looking at his father but rather at the floor.
"Since your mom left me when you were seven." He answered.
"Mom didn't leave you. You left her." He countered finally looking up.
"No, son. She left me." He insisted glancing at me.
I believed him but wasn't ready to get involved.
"I didn't come here to be a burden to you, Conrad. I just wanted to get to know you." He sighed.
"I get here and I find you engaged to this beautiful woman. I watch you marry her and now about to become a father to a baby girl. You've become ten times the man I've ever been."
There was a knock at the door cutting off any response Conrad could have given.
"Yeah." Conrad called his voice strained.
"Mr. Winthrop?" Dr. Philip Martin asked poking his head in.
"Are you two on his care team?"
"No. I'm his son." Conrad answered.
"Oh, that's fine then." He walked in.
"There's a perforation in your intestines likely a result of the Crohn's disease. My suggestion would be an early morning surgery." He glanced between Conrad, Marshall and myself."
"Any perforation could cause sepsis and if not caught early enough could be fatal." I looked at Conrad who nodded at me.
"Okay. I'll have the surgery first thing in the morning but I'm giving you power of attorney." He looked at his son who glanced at me.
I shrugged and he reluctantly nodded.
After Dr. Martin left Conrad followed without a word.
I glanced at Marshall and sighed.
"I'll talk to him."
I wheeled myself out of the room and found Conrad sitting on the edge of a bed in the sleeping quarters.
"Talk to me." I urged.
"I don't want to be power of attorney. I hardly know him. He doesn't tell me anything." He sighed angrily.
"Conrad, my love, he's your father. If you need something from him ask him for it. He can't read your mind any better than I can." I glanced at him.
"Have you asked him about your nightmare?"
He shook his head.
I glanced at the time and sighed.
"We have to get ready for the wedding. Before we go you need to talk to him." I insisted.
He nodded.
I dressed in a navy chiffon maternity evening gown with twisted halter v neck straps and chiffon tie back bust outline, pleated band and multilayered skirt. While Conrad wore a matching navy suit with white button up shirt and pocket square.
Together we walked back to his father's hospital room.
"It's nice to see you on your feet." He smiled at me and I smiled back as Conrad sat on the edge of his bed.
"I need you to tell me about your relationship with mom." He sighed glancing at me.
"It was a relatively normal marriage. We both doted on you." He answered.
"As you started getting older I started working more to provide the lifestyle I thought you and your mother deserved, but she didn't see it that way. When you were seven she left me for a married man who decided not to leave his wife."
"Did you ever fight?" Conrad asked.
"No. I mean we fought over your custody, if that's what you mean?"
"Did you ever hit her?"
"What? God, no." He exclaimed in surprise.
"Ever since I was little I've had this dream about her falling down the stairs with a drink in her hand. I run down to her but you tell me to go." Conrad admitted.
"I ended up being a terrible husband and father. I was practically the exact opposite of who Conrad is, but I never hit her or any other woman. Ever." He told me, pleading with his eyes for me to believe him and I did.
After talking with Marshall, Conrad and I made our way to the wedding hall.
We sat in the third row reserved for Devon's Chastain family with Conrad on the end and me seated between him and Nic.
It was passed time for the wedding to start and I knew something wasn't right.
Finally, dressed in his gold wedding attire Devon walks to the front and meets my eye.
"I am so terribly sorry but there won't be a wedding today. Priya and I haven't seen eye to eye on a major step in our relationship and I personally have made a terrible mistake that I'm not proud of. We have decided to end our relationship. Please, stay and enjoy refreshments and music for as long as you'd like and thank you for your unyielding support." He said before stepping off the stage and walking back out of the room.
I sighed and was the first to stand and walk after him with Conrad close behind me.
I tired quickly searching for the broken groom and Conrad pulled me towards some chairs in the reception hall.
Reluctantly I sat with my legs over him resting my back against the soft arm of the large chair we sat in.
Suddenly the door swung open and Devon rushed in looking panicked.
"Conrad! It's Marshall!"
Conrad looked up at him.
"He went into septic shock and he's bleeding out on Bell's operations table."
I swung my legs off of him as fast as my pregnant belly would let me, kicked off my shoes and followed him to our car to rush back to the hospital.