Chapter 104

We arrived at the mansion before the ambulance. As soon as Victor stopped the car, I ran inside.

Alex was still lying on the living room floor. Benson had covered him with a light throw to keep him warm and stood nearby wringing his hands.

“How is he?” I asked and rushed to kneel next to Alex.

“His breathing is very shallow, but his heart is still beating,” Benson replied. “The ambulance should be here any minute to take him to the hospital.”

Victor entered the room and kneeled beside me. He put an arm around my shoulders as I held Alex‘s hand.

“I love you, Father,” I told Alex.“I can’t lose you yet. Please, stay with me.”

But Alex didn’t answer me or move. He was pale and barely breathing.

Tears ran down my face as I leaned against Victor to avoid falling over.

Even though I knew Alex was ill, it was a shock to see him lying on the floor like this. I couldn’t imagine my life without him now. He couldn’t die yet.

Jennifer led the ambulance crew into the room. I stood between her and Victor as they examined Alex before lifting him onto a gurney.

Then they wheeled him out of the house and loaded him into the ambulance.

“I should go with him,” I said.

“I’ll drive you,” Victor offered and escorted me to his car.

The doctors at the hospital weren’t optimistic.

“We’ll have to wait and see if he regains consciousness,” one doctor told me. “I’m sorry, Miss Wilson, but at this point, we don’t know if he will make it much longer.”

Unable to speak, I nodded and turned into Victor’s arms.

“I should take you home,” Victor said as he smoothed my hair.

“I want to stay here in case he wakes up,” I insisted.

“Miss Wilson, we will call you if he wakes up,” the doctor told me. “We don’t allow visitors in intensive care overnight. You can come back tomorrow and see him for ten minutes.”

“We can’t hang around in intensive care and disturb other patients,” Victor explained. “But I’ll stay at the mansion tonight, so you’re not alone.”

I buried my face in his shoulder. “Thank you so much, Victor. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Even though I knew Alex was seriously ill, the pain of losing him was worse than I had expected.

After he came out of his coma years ago, Alex never gave up trying to find me. And when he did, he changed my life and allowed me to do and be anything I wanted.

Most of all, Alex loved me. I grew up without love, and I knew that a father’s love was a more extraordinary gift than anything he could buy for me.

I shook as I tried not to sob. Victor kept his arms around me as we left the hospital. He pulled me tighter when we got outside, and dozens of reporters shouted questions at us.

The press had heard about Alex‘s collapse, and the vultures had arrived to report on our misery.

But the hospital security guards cleared our way and escorted us to Victor’s car. Soon we were back at the mansion, and Benson ensured the gate was closed and locked.

Victor took me upstairs and let Jennifer get me ready for bed.

“Try to sleep, Daisy,” Victor said gently. “I’ll spend the night in a guest room across the hall. Let me know if you need me for anything.”

I wiped my eyes. “Thank you, Victor. I will. Please make sure if there’s any word from the hospital that I’m notified immediately.”

“I promise,” he assured me and went across the hall.

I didn’t think I’d sleep, but after I was in my bed, Diana spoke softly to me.

“I’m sorry, Daisy, but there is still hope for your father. Have faith that the Goddess knows what is best for us.”

“She will spare him if she can, but if it is his time to go, you must accept it. Have faith that you will see him again.”

With those words of comfort going through my mind, I dozed off.

I awoke the next morning to Victor standing over my bed. It confused me at first until I remembered what happened to my father.

Alarmed, I sat up. “Did something happen? Did my father …?”

“Alex is still alive,” he assured me. “But you’ve been asleep for ten hours, and I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I’m fine,” I said. “After I get dressed, will you take me back to the hospital?”

“Of course,” Victor replied. “But I’d like you to try to eat something first. You have to take care of yourself too, Daisy. You didn’t have any dinner last night.”

“I guess I could eat something,” I said, even though I wasn’t hungry. “Did they say how Alex’s this morning?”

“I was told he’s holding his own,” Victor replied. “Get dressed, eat something, and I’ll take you to see for yourself.”

At the hospital, I was allowed to visit Alex for a short while. He was unconscious the entire time while I held his hand and talked to him.

He looked different, lying in the hospital bed with an oxygen cannula in his nose, tubes in his arms, and a heart and blood pressure monitor beeping next to him.

“Please get better and come home,” I whispered into Alex‘s ear before Victor and I left the hospital again.

Fortunately, no reporters were outside this time, and I was soon home again.

Victor followed me inside and into the living room, which had been cleared of any sign of what happened yesterday.

“Alex could be in the hospital for a while,” Victor said. “Why don’t you keep learning about the business while you wait for him to come home.”

I knew Victor was trying to prepare me as quickly as he could to take over Alex‘s company. There was no guarantee Alex would make it home at all.

But I blinked back my tears and agreed with him. No matter what happens, I must be prepared to take on more responsibility at Wilson Inc.

“Sure, whatever you think I should learn next.”

“I have some excellent books on marketing and distribution,” Victor said. “I’ll have Findlay bring them here, and we can go over them this afternoon.”

Before I could say anything else, I crumpled onto the couch. Things were happening too quickly for me to deal with them.

My tears flowed as fear and sadness held me in their grip.

Victor sat down next to me and pulled me into his arms.

“I can’t tell you that Alex is going to be okay,” he said. “But I promise I will do my best to help you through this.”

He kissed the top of my head. “I will teach you everything you need to know about your father’s business and how to run it.”

“What if I can’t do it?” I sobbed.

“I know you can do it,” he insisted. “You have already overcome so many new and difficult hurdles recently that I believe you are capable of anything you put your mind to accomplishing.”

Victor insisted I eat something again while we waited for Findlay to bring the books.

Then we went to my library upstairs, and Victor spent the next few hours reviewing the information in the books.

I found it interesting and was surprised to find the information stuck in my mind. I did well when Victor was quizzing me.

It was almost time for dinner when Jennifer appeared in the doorway.

“There’s a phone call for you, Miss,” she said. “It’s the hospital about your father.”

I rushed out of the library to take the phone call, praying he was still alive.