the truth will out

22. Lunch With Dad

"hi daddy" I sigh, a grin spreading across my face as I reach the table in the quiet cafe in laurel canyon.
"hi sweetheart, how was the drive?"
"the drive?" I laugh "I live 20 minutes away" I sit my bag down on the chair beside me and sit opposite my father, his white hair and mustache blending in with his pale, sullen face.
"how do you feel?" I ask cautiously. It's been almost four months since his heart attack.
"I'm feeling good, they're lowering my medication next week so I guess that's a good sign" he smiles as he brings his glass of water to his lips.

Flashback

"is this jennifer aniston?"
I squint through the dark, leaning up onto one elbow, trying to get my bearings. It's almost 5am and the phone ringing woke me up. I know I'm not supposed to answer when it's an unknown number but I was pretty much out of it.
"err yeah?" I say, my voice is rough.
"hi I'm Dr. Smith" I sit up more, becoming more alert. "your father is with us-"
"what?" I ask turning on the bedside lamp, waking vince in the process.
"yes, he arrived about an hour ago. His wife is with him and asked us to call you instead of herself"
I remove the phone away from my face to look at the screen, the number doesn't look dodgy but how do i know this isn't someone being a little shit.
It doesn't sound like sherry to not want to call me herself.
"h-how... Why-" I'm fumbling trying to collect my scattered thoughts. Me and vince only fell asleep two hours ago after being round at courteneys drinking and playing games.
"your father had a heart attack" my stomach drops as I feel vince turn over again finally realising that I'm on the phone and not just sleep talking.
"wait wait what do you mean?"
"he was brought in by ambulance and his wife asked me to call you, I can't tell you all that much over the phone because its confidential but could you come down to the hospital?"
"i- yes of course"
After ending the call I jump up throwing on track suit pants and a tank top. I know vince has work today so I don't want to keep him awake. I turn the light off and just as I'm leaving the room he speaks up.
"where are you going?" he asks, his voice thick with sleep.
"my dad's in the hospital" I whisper "go back to sleep"
"no no I'm coming with you"
"no vince you have work, you need to sleep"
"jen. I'm coming with you I'm not gonna let you go on your own"
I hesitate, trying to think of a way to persuade him to stay but I know that I do need the support, I don't know what condition my dad's gonna be in when we get there.
"ok" I sigh. I wait downstairs, my knee jigging, biting my nails still more confused than ever as to how I'm not freaking out more or even crying.
I guess it's just the shock of it.
"right ok, come on" vince brings me out of my thoughts as he comes down the stairs holding his hand out for me.
The drive there was silent, thankfully vince went slightly over the speed limit to get us there quickly.
The whole way I procrastinate over what condition dad's going to be in. Will he even be conscious? The thought of seeing him laying unconscious makes my stomach flip so I try to take my mind off it by counting how many cars we pass as we travel along the freeway.

We arrived at the hospital almost 15 minutes later and rush through the front doors, luckily it's still dark out and no paparazzi were around to see us. We rush to the front desk, where she points us down the hall and gives us directions to dad's ward.
"sherry" I say as we enter the room, making our presence known. She's sat by dad's side, if it even is dad. It looks nothing like him. He's pale, eyes shut, monitors attached to chest and arms.
She immediately gets up, walking over to give me a hug, I feel her arms shaking as I squeeze her tighter, forcing myself to look away from my dad.
"I'll sit outside" vince says quietly, walking out and silently shutting the door behind him. I still feel so bad that I woke him and that he's here with me when he has work soon.
"what happened?" I ask sherry as she pulls away, sniffing.
"we were just sat watching TV, and he was sat in the armchair by the fire, you know as usual" she gets choked up. "and I noticed he started slumping slightly not alot but his eyes-" she stopped and took a shuddering breath. I was starting to regret asking.
"anyway, to save you the details, he fell to the floor and I couldn't wake him so Alex called an ambulance and i eventually managed to resuscitate him, you know with the ambulance crew giving directions over the phone until they arrived"
I hugged her again realising that she quite literally saved dad's life.

Sherry left to get a drink not long after she told me what happened so I sat with dad, grabbing his hand in both of mine. It was cold but slightly sweaty which weirded me out but I didn't let go.
As the room was getting light I looked at my watch and realised I'd been sat by dad's side trying not to cry for almost 2 hours and that I'd left vince alone in the hallway. I got up and quietly left the room, finding vince sat on a chair a couple of paces from the room. I awkwardly walked over
"hi" he says as he sees me, immediately standing up. "how is he?"
"he's as good as he can be I guess, still unconscious" I mutter as vinces big arms wrap around me.
"hey you need to leave" I remember lifting my head up off his chest and looking up into his eyes.
"what?" he asks.
"those meetings, your work. It's fine I'll be ok here then I'll get Alex or sherry to-"
"jen" vince says quickly, cutting me off.
"do you seriously think I'm gonna leave you alone when your dad just had a heart attack?" he chuckles
"well i-" I start saying
"I've already rescheduled them for next week. There's no way I'd leave you alone right now"
My eyes well up as I look back into his eyes.
He hand reaches up, the pad of his thumb wiping a tear away just as it escapes my eye. His head stoops as he kisses me softly...

For the rest of the week I barely left the hospital other than to change and get a shower, I still slept on the chair in the corner of dad's room, much to vinces annoyance because he felt bad that my back was cramping up.
Dad woke up on the fourth day of being in the hospital but he was very groggy and didn't remember much but he did make a quip about it being unlucky this was the first time he was meeting vince, which gave me a little hope that he was returning to his normal self.

End of flashback

He only got out of the hospital a month ago but he's been confined to the house for extra precaution so this is the first time in a while I've actually been able to see him face to face.
We order our food, just simple salads and jacket potato's, as we talk about everything that's been happening the past few months.

"so what's happening for the holidays?" he asks as the plates are taken away.
"I actually don't know" I say with a slight smile.
"really? But it's not that far off... What two weeks? You always have something planned"
"I know but things have been a lot more hectic this year" I wink.
"hmmm" dad says with a grimace as I know he's thinking about everything thats happened with Brad.
"daddy.... Don't fret or get angry" I say putting my hand on his "it's over now... Plus I have vince and brad has.... Angelina" I use the break to take a swig of my water.
"how is brad?" he asks cautiously.
"I don't know" I sigh, already fed up with where the conversations gone
"ok how about vince?"
I give him a confused look with a slight smirk not knowing what he truly wants to know.
"well... Is he treating you well?"
"of course he is daddy, you saw how great he was when you were in the hospital. And he was great when we filmed in Chicago. I think it's just the first impression that you get of him is always that he's moody and mysterious.... But he's really not" I smile, my heart feeling fuzzy just talking about him.
"well I'm glad he's making you happy jennifer"
"me too"