Done Being Friends (7 page)

“Good. Everything went rather smoothly in the end. There was quite a bit of a jam here and there, and I thought I wouldn’t be able to make it home in time.”

Dylan nodded and waited for her to continue, so Faith told him the summarized version of the problem she had faced when searching for retailers.

He shook his head throughout the story, and Faith could tell from the stern look on his face that a lecture was coming up.

“You shouldn’t put yourself through all these troubles. It was in a country where you were not familiar with how things worked and all. Next time, just stick to what the church plans,” Dylan chanted.

Faith forced a smile. That was Dylan, he was always nice and sweet to her, but had never really bothered to listen and understand how important these trips were to her. Perhaps having a new school or factory in their world wasn’t newsworthy to him, but it meant a world of difference for some.

Dylan took Faith’s hand in between his. “I know you love those trips, but you’re spending way too much time there. Take a break for awhile.”
 

Nodding, Faith answered, “I’m not heading out anytime soon.” Mainly because the frequent trips were tiring her out, and because the longer the time she spent away from Zac, the more she missed him.

After Dylan left her house, Faith washed up and plopped onto her bed. Leaning on the pillow, she tossed and turned around in her king-sized bed. Mentally, she came up with a list of excuses for Zac on why he had missed dinner without informing her. When she had exhausted all possibilities on that list, she turned her mind to building another list. One that included all the efforts that had gone to waste that day.

She closed her eyes, but knew that her mind would just keep churning out more possibilities and maybes until she got an answer.
 

Frustrated, she sat up to check her phone again. Nothing. Not one message. Not a phone call. She gave an annoyed sigh and threw, with more force than required, the phone to the table beside the bed.
 

Instead of the loud thud she was expecting, a melodious tune rang, causing Faith to jump. Thinking that Zac had finally called, she reached over to grab her phone, ready to unleash the peevishness that had built up within but the name across the screen wasn’t Zac’s.

“Mum?” Her mother didn’t usually call unless she wanted to force Faith to go to some ridiculous dinner to entertain ridiculously rich people.
 

“Your father! Your father!” her mother said between sobs and immediately, the worst thoughts ran through her mind.
 

“What is wrong?” She half yelled as she scrambled out of bed to grab her purse with her free hand. Clipping the phone between her shoulder and neck, she grabbed a sweater with the other hand.

“Your father had a heart attack! We are on the way to the hospital.”
 

Faith’s heart skipped a beat.
No! God, please let him be all right.
 

Faith felt as though a car had smashed right into her. Her chest constricted, and she couldn’t breathe. It took her a few moments before she drew in a shaky breath and responded to the news.

Getting the details of the hospital they were heading for, Faith rammed the engine and sped away. That was when her phone rang again. Thinking it was her mother, she picked it up without looking at the caller ID.

Chapter Four

“Mum?”
 

“Um, no, it’s me.” Dylan, she recognized his voice immediately. She explained what had happened, and told him she was on her way to the hospital.
 

Tears started streaming down her eyes as she prayed and hoped her father was fine. She brushed off her tears with the back of her hand and forced herself to focus on the road. There was no use crying or thinking of the worst, neither of it would help.
 

When she finally got to the hospital, Faith didn’t bother with parking her car properly. She pulled into the parking lot and probably took up two spaces with her hazardous parking, but she couldn’t care less. They could tow her car if they wanted.
 

Getting out of the car, she sprinted to the emergency room. Despite the late hours, the emergency room was packed with people. She scanned the room and immediately, she saw her mother and grandmother pacing the hall. She gave them each a hug as they filled her in on the details of what happened.

Heart attack. He should have cut down on the red meat.
 

Soon, the doctor came out with a solemn expression on his face. “Mr. Preston’s condition is stabilized for the moment.”

All three of the Preston ladies sighed aloud, not realizing that they had been holding their breaths.
 

“However, our scans showed that his arteries are not in good condition. A heart bypass surgery will be necessary.”

Faith’s grandmother broke into tears and wailed while her mother buried her head in her hands and wept softly.
 

A nurse who was standing behind the doctor stepped forward and whisked Faith’s mother away for the necessary paperwork.
 

“We will take Mr. Preston to his room in a minute. He is under medication and will not be up until later in the morning.” Ending his sentence with a tight-lipped smile, he stepped away and continued on to the rest of the patients.

Faith stayed beside her grandmother until her mother came back. She stood silently while her grandmother continued to weep.

“Faith, you mentioned a Doctor Leran before. Do you think you can get an appointment for a second opinion?”
 

Faith looked up and saw how the past few hours of turmoil had aged her mother. She had gotten to know Doctor Leran, a world renowned cardiologist, during one of her mission trips. Being over fifty, Doctor Leran was like a father to everyone on the trip, and she was sure that he wouldn’t turn down her call for help.

“I’ll call him right away and see what I can do. The two of you should go home and get some rest. The nurse said he won’t wake up until later in the morning. Go home and get some rest.”

Both her mother and grandmother hesitated, but Faith refused to back down. “There is no point in having all of us sitting around in the room. Go home and get some rest.”

After her grandmother and mother left, Faith called Doctor Leran and he had graciously promised to see her father first thing in the morning and, if required, would personally see to his surgery. He even called his hospital and arranged all the necessities for her, letting her know the time when the ambulance would pick her father up for the transfer.

When that was done, Faith walked to a full length glass window and looked out. She wanted to be beside her father, but she needed a moment to herself.
 

She gazed out of the window and looked at the city that was aglow with light and the background noise of hospital movements reduced to a buzz as she stood there in a daze. Standing there and looking out at all the lights made her feel lonely and lost. She wrapped her hands across her waist and her fists curled up, grabbing onto the sides of her sweater.

The adrenaline that got her rushing here had faded; and now, a sense of emptiness loomed. Forcing her eyes shut, Faith refused to let the fear that was drumming in her system take hold.
 

No, he will be fine. He will be fine.
 

Looking down at the phone she held in her hand, she realized that her hands were shaking.
Where are you, Zac? I really need you now.

Out of nowhere, a pair of arms hugged her from behind. She lifted her hands and gave the arm a tight squeeze.

Dylan. She had been around them long enough to differentiate between them.
 

Turning around, she leaned into him and sobbed. She had held in all her fears and concerns before her mother and grandmother. She had placed a brave front before them because someone had to take care of things.
 

Now that someone else was here, her fear exploded and the tears that she had managed to keep in check burst forth, streaming down her face, unabated. She really needed a hug; needed someone to tell her that things would be fine.
 

Dylan hugged her close and stroked her hair. “It’s all right. Don’t worry, everything will be fine.”

Zac walked into the emergency room and scanned the busy room. Nurses and doctors scurried about while worried family members gathered in the waiting room. He strode briskly around the emergency room before heading over to the information counter.
 

“Is Jonathan Preston here?”
 

The nurse on duty frowned at the interference of her work but still, her fingers went into action, typing in the name before looking up to tell Zac that Mr. Preston had been transferred to a ward and gave him the number.

Zac half-ran to the ward; dodging people along the way. His heart thumped wildly, worried about what Faith must had been going through. Then, he stopped, not caring that he was obstructing a busy corridor.
 

He stood there looking at them - Faith, in Dylan’s arms. Her face buried in his chest and sobbing away.

How his heart ached when he saw that. When he saw how forlorn she looked, all he wanted to do was to go over and console her, to take her into his arms and tell her that everything would be fine. Yet, his feet seemed to be glued to the floor.
 

Dylan was already there; there wasn’t any point in walking over. The last thing Dylan needed was for Zac to walk over and monopolize Faith’s attention.

Dylan would harp about it nonstop for the rest of his life. Perhaps, this was the chance for Faith to see how good they would be together. Even as he told himself that, he felt his heart break. Did he really want them to be together?

He had been more than willing to clear all his appointments and meetings to have dinner with Faith. He was rather relieved when he heard that Faith had chosen to have dinner with him and not cancel even when Dylan had asked. Perhaps it was because he had asked her first, but he had allowed himself to scarcely hope that she preferred him over Dylan.

An internal war raged within him as he wondered if he should just walk over and break the two of them up before stealing Faith for himself, or to walk away.

The loyalty side of him won.
 

Hesitantly, he turned and walked away. He had to drag his feet away from them, walking out of the hospital and into the cold night.
 

He slipped into his car and drove around. It was slightly after midnight, and there was nowhere to go. He had buried himself in work all night. Correction, he had
tried
to bury himself in work all night, but to no avail.
 

His thoughts kept wondering about what Faith was doing, if she was enjoying herself or if she was wishing that Zac was with her instead of Dylan. He would have called earlier, but he didn’t want to get Faith on the phone while Dylan was there.
 

When he finally did call, George had told him what happened and he had beaten himself up for not doing so earlier. He darted out of his office and sped all the way to the hospital, with the sole purpose of being there just to comfort her, but he was too late.
 

Zac drove around, not knowing what to do or where to go. His thoughts were all over the place.
 

He just kept the car moving forward, that was the only thing he could make himself do. Otherwise, he would be back in the hospital with Faith in his arms in an instant.

He let out a frustrated sigh. Why was he so bothered by what he saw? He had been stepping out of Dylan’s way so that he would get a chance with Faith. He should have expected that this would happen someday.

What he didn’t expect was how his heart seemed to be aching so badly, how it felt like his heart was crushed as he saw her in Dylan’s arms.
 

Until then, he had never expected that he would lose Faith. He hadn’t truly considered having her in the arms of another man. He hadn’t thought about losing her kind smiles to another person. All those thoughts were now consuming him all at once, magnifying the mixed emotions of jealousy and regret that were coursing through him.

Before he registered what he was doing, he had made a U-turn and was heading back to the hospital. He made a decision that he knew would cause some trouble between Dylan and himself, but he was done stepping out of the way for Dylan.
 

They could both fight for her and let Faith decide for herself.
 

By the time Zac made it back to the hospital, hours had passed. As he drove into the parking lot, a throng of people had gathered outside the hospital. Reporters, no doubt. That was when he realized this was just the beginning of her troubles.
I will be there for her
. Just like she had been for him.

He pushed the door ajar, making sure that he didn’t make too much noise but the slight movement caught both Faith’s and Dylan’s attention.
 

She broke into the warmest smile before jumping out of her seat to hug Zac.
 

“You’re here,” she whispered as she leaned in.

It felt great to have her in his arms; he wrapped his hands around her protectively. “Should have been here earlier, I’m sorry.” He leaned his head down and sniffed her hair; lavender, her organic shampoo.
 

Dylan caught that action and narrowed his eyes, studying him with suspicious, but Zac ignored him.

Faith curled her fist around his shirt. She stayed in his arms, listening to his steady heat beat and breathing in his cologne. She felt so secure in his arms that there wasn’t a need for him to tell her everything would turn out fine. Being in his arms was enough to make her feel as though nothing could hurt her. She was certain he would do anything to take care of her.

She closed her eyes and allowed his heartbeat to drum away all her apprehensions. She snuggled closer, hoping to stay there for as long as she could.