Jeri stared at her father, hoping for a punch line that his expression told her was not going to come. “Dad, why are you telling me this?”
Her father squeezed her hand gently. “Because when I die, you’ll be the only person who knows that this information exists. More importantly, you’ll be only person who knows where to find it.”
“But I don’t… I have no idea where to find it.”
Her father’s mouth turned into a shrewd grin. “Do you remember the last time I called you buttercup?”
“You mean other than two minutes ago?”
“Yes.”
Jeri thought for a moment and then nodded. “You mean the time we–”
Her father quickly placed his index finger over his mouth and smiled conspiratorially. “If you remember the time, sweetheart, then you know the place. But be careful,” he reached up and gently stroked her hair with his hand. “I’ve learned from all my years chasing stories that there are some stones you simply shouldn’t look under.”
Jeri stared at her father suspiciously. “Dad, are you okay? I mean, are you sure this isn’t a… a hallucination? You haven’t had any sleep since early this morning. You’ve got to be exhausted.”
“I am,” her father said as he nodded his head wearily, “And while we’re on the subject, you haven’t slept much yourself lately. I want you to go home and get some sleep.”
“I’m not leaving.”
“Go home, sweetheart.”
“No chance.”
Her father grunted his annoyance. “God, you’re as stubborn as I am.”
“Even more so,” Jeri replied as she smiled back at him.
“Well, I expected as much,” her father said. “That’s why I asked the nurse with the pretty green eyes if you could stay in the nearest available room. She said you could. By the way, I think she likes me.” He laughed and waved his hand towards the door. “Go ask her to set you up.”
Jeri hesitated for a moment, terrified to leave his side, before finally relenting to his logic. “Okay, fine,” she replied as she leaned forward and kissed her father on the forehead before standing. “But I’ll be back to say goodnight.”
“That sounds good,” he replied, staring up at her with warm, affectionate eyes. “I love you Jeri… more than anything in this world.”
Jeri grabbed her father’s hand and squeezed it tightly. “I love you too, dad.” She walked to the door, then turned back to him and smiled. “How about we take that hike again when you’re feeling better. Is that a deal?”
Her father flashed her a broad smile. “That’s a deal.”
The nurses’ station for the third-floor patient ward was a short walk down the hallway. As she approached the large elliptical desk, Jeri could see one of the nurses on the night shift eyeing her suspiciously.
“I’m sorry miss, but visiting hours are over,” the small, gray-haired nurse said with practiced triteness as Jeri stopped at the counter.
“I know… I’m here with my father, James Halston. His nurse said I could stay in an open room for the night if one is still available.”
The nurse glared up at Jeri over her bifocals and frowned, deepening the framework of wrinkles around her small features. “Oh she did, did she?”
“Yes, she did,” Jeri replied, glaring back at the nurse.
The older woman huffed and dropped her eyes to the computer screen in front of her.
“Room 307 is empty – for now,” she said tersely, pointing in the opposite direction from her father’s room. “Down the hall and to the right.”
“There’s nothing closer to room 324?” Jeri asked.
The nurse gave her an exasperated glare. “No, there isn’t.”
Jeri nodded and thanked the crusty nurse as she turned and headed down the hallway. She walked slowly, feeling the full weight of exhaustion sinking deep into her body. A few moments later she was standing outside of room 307. She was just beginning to open the door when the loud buzzing of an alarm suddenly echoed from the nurses’ station. Jeri turned and stared in confusion. Almost immediately, two of the nurses stood up and began running down the hallway. A third nurse appeared from a patient’s room and fell in step behind them. As she watched, a sudden jolt of alarm shot through her as she realized where they were heading. Her exhaustion instantly vaporized as she ran after them in terror, crying out a single word.
“Dad!”
She flew into her father’s room, nearly crashing into the nurses as they hovered over his body. Between their bent figures and quickly working arms, Jeri caught a glimpse of her father’s writhing body and cried out in horror. Caught in a massive seizure, her father’s limbs were flailing wildly against the restraining hands of the three women. The nurse closest to Jeri turned and shouted at her to leave, but she could only stand and stare in frozen fear. Suddenly the nurse turned and grabbed her, pulling her towards the bed, shouting for her to help. Jeri quickly grabbed her father’s hand and held it tightly to her chest. As she did, she looked down at his tortured face. Her father’s head was thrown