Bad Robot by John Benedict

Author:John Benedict [Benedict, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781728727516
Publisher: Kindle Direct Publishing
Published: 2018-11-05T00:00:00+00:00

Thursday, May 24, 2 p.m.

“Hello,” Brandt said softly, holding his phone in one hand and a Yankauer suction catheter in the other. He saw the call was from Kaycee and was immediately worried. Things had been a little rocky all week and it was unusual for her to call him at work.

“Hi Brandt. It’s Kaycee.”

“Hey, what’s up?” He set the suction catheter down on his patient’s bed and walked to the corner of the room for some semblance of privacy. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You don’t sound it,” Brandt replied, his worry growing. She seemed to have been avoiding him all week, ever since he’d returned from the camping trip. He was hoping to smooth things over this weekend when they celebrated their anniversary. He had made reservations at Harvest for Saturday night, two days hence.

“No really, I’m okay,” she said.

“Hey listen, Kaycee, what’s up? I’m kind of busy here—I can call you later.”

“Well, I have a problem,” she said, sounding unnaturally subdued.

Brandt didn’t like the sound of that, or the fact that Kaycee was being awfully slow about getting to the point. Suddenly a panicky thought blazed across his mind. Was she dumping him?

“What’s the matter?” he asked, swallowing hard.

“My mom just called. Dad’s real sick and she had to take him to the hospital.”

“Oh—that’s terrible,” he said, projecting as much sincerity as he could muster, although truth be told, a wave of relief washed through him. “What’s wrong with him?”

“They’re not sure yet,” she said. “They’re running a bunch of tests.”

“Is it his heart again?” Brandt asked. Kaycee still sounded odd—evasive, almost. And it wasn’t like her not to have a better fix on her father’s condition.

“Still not sure,” she answered mechanically.

Definitely odd, he thought. “What can I do to help you?” he asked.

“Well, it’s about this weekend,” she said uneasily, her voice taking on an ominous tone.

“Uh-huh.”

“I feel like I need to go see them—make sure Dad’s okay.”

Damn it, he thought, clenching his fist, but he didn’t say anything.

“I know it’s our anniversary weekend and all,” she continued, “and I know we have plans—but I’m just not sure what to do. You understand, right?”

“You’re going to fly out to California?” Brandt felt himself getting heated up and struggled to get it under control. “When are you leaving?”

“Early tomorrow morning,” she said.

“When will you be back?” he asked, his voice still higher and squeakier than he would’ve liked.

“I’m not sure,” she said. “I haven’t booked a return flight yet—it depends on the situation.”

“Can I stop by to see you tonight?” he asked and immediately regretted how needy he sounded.

She hesitated, then said, “I don’t think so, Brandt. By the time you get out of work tonight, it’ll be late. I gotta go to bed and then get up at four to get to the airport. I’m sorry.”

Brandt bit his lip to stop himself from saying anything he’d regret; he didn’t want this to escalate into another argument. After all, it was hard to argue with someone whose father was probably having a heart attack and was being admitted to the hospital.

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