Awoke

Chapter Two:

The rest of my hospital stay was long and hard. Once I fell asleep it was hard to stay asleep. I feared for my life while being in the hospital. So much had happened to me in just a short period of time. Dr. Neyer discharged me after three days and requested a follow up appointment with him in 6 weeks as long as I felt okay.

Getting home from the hospital wasn't ideal either as now I have to plan a funeral for my mother who gave her life up for me. On top of that, someone had to take over the business now that my mother is gone. This is the kind of stress Dr. Neyer wanted me to stay away from. This whole thing was just one nightmare that I felt like I was never going to wake up from.

After spending a week at home, I decided to go into the office building. Walking past the sign that read "Beresford Capital" made everything about the situation much more real. The fact that I almost died, that my mother did die and that I was now the CEO of this company. My old heart would have had palpations at the thought of all this but my new ticker could take it. I continue past the sign to see some of the employees standing around to welcome me back. They all stand in front of a "welcome back" sign. I hear many welcoming phrases as well as condolences for my mother.

"Thank you for all of your kind words. I truly appreciate them all. I also appreciate you all holding the business down for me while I was away. My mothers service will be tonight at 6pm if you would like to come. Until then, let's get to work." I said to the employees. They clapped and went about their business. I walked into my office where piles on top of piles lay on my desk. It was this exact moment I knew I needed my own assistant like mother had. But how do I trust someone like that again? Sam took all of my trust with her.

I hear a knock at my door just as I'm getting situated for the day. "Come in", I shout. It was a petite lady who I grew up calling Sue. It was short for Susan and she had been my mothers assistant for as long as I could remember.

"Hi Clayton. Is this a bad time?" She asked.

"No not at all Ms. Sue. Please have a seat and excuse my messy office. That's what I get for being gone too long." I explain.

"No worries. I'm happy you finally got a new heart. It's terrible what those people tried doing to you. And I'm so sorry to hear about your mother, Clayton." She said with extreme sadness on her face. I knew her and my mother were close, so I could only imagine the kind of hurt she's feeling.

"Thank you, Sue. You can call me Clay though." I smiled at her.

"Before all this happened, I was set to retire. But I'm pushing retirement back until you can find a trustable assistant. I have a whole process that I will go through to help you hire a new one." She explains. 

"That really isn't necessary, Sue. You go retire, I got this."  I said to her. I truly thought I had it.

"Your mother will haunt the rest of my life if I don't at least help you find a new assistant and get you ready for success. I have interviews today so I will be in the conference room if you need me." She hugged me and kissed me on the cheek. "I've always looked at you like the son I've never had. And I just have to say how proud of you I am for you to over come this and take over this company." She let go of me and turned around to walk out the door.

"Thank you, Sue." I said to her as she closed my door. I sat down at my desk to see the endless piles of paperwork to start going through.