Chapter 37 - Julian Falls
I reached Massachusetts General in nineteen minutes.
Marcus met me outside the emergency department.
“What happened?”
“He lost consciousness.”
“Heart?”
“They don't know.”
“Was he injured?”
“No.”
I pushed past him.
Julian lay behind a curtain connected to monitors.
He was awake.
Angry.
“I’m fine.”
“You collapsed.”
“I stood up too quickly.”
“The CEO of Vanguard does not get admitted because he stood up too quickly.”
“Executive chairman.”
“Not helping.”
The doctor entered.
Blood tests.
Imaging.
Neurological scans.
Hours passed.
I sat beside Julian holding his hand while every fear I had spent years mastering returned at once.
Eleanor arrived with Allison.
She climbed carefully onto the chair beside him.
“Daddy?”
“I’m okay.”
“Promise?”
Julian looked at me.
Then back at her.
“I promise I’m here.”
Better answer.
The diagnosis arrived at midnight.
Cardiac arrhythmia.
Treatable.
Not immediately life-threatening.
But serious enough to require a procedure and major lifestyle changes.
I cried in the hospital bathroom.
Not because he was dying.
Because for a few hours I had imagined a world without him.
It terrified me.
After the procedure, Julian spent two nights in recovery.
Robert visited.
He stood awkwardly near the bed.
“I suppose this proves money cannot buy immortality.”
Julian glared.
“Wonderful bedside manner.”
“I spent forty years cross-examining people.”
“I noticed.”
Then Robert became serious.
“Take care of yourself.”
Julian looked at him.
“You too.”
It was the closest they had ever come to friendship.
At home, I became unbearable.
Low sodium.
Medication alarms.
Exercise schedule.
Cardiology appointments.
Julian complained constantly.
“You're enjoying this.”
“Yes.”
“I feel oppressed.”
“Excellent.”
One night, he found me awake at 2:00 a.m.
“Meredith.”
“I’m fine.”
“No, you're checking whether I’m breathing.”
“I wasn't.”
“You put your hand under my nose.”
I sighed.
He pulled me against him.
“I’m not leaving.”
“You don't know that.”
“No.”
His voice softened.
“But neither do you.”
I looked at him.
“We spent years fighting people who tried to control everything.”
“Yes.”
“And now you're trying to control death.”
I hated his accuracy.
“I almost lost you.”
“But you didn't.”
I buried my face in his chest.
His heartbeat was steady.
Real.
Present.
“We have time,” he whispered.
May you like
I closed my eyes.
For once, instead of planning what came next, I allowed myself to believe him.
