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  The entire congregation laughed, as did Joe and Noreen, who also nodded and mouthed the words Thank you to their son-in-law.

  Curtis spoke a few more words, left the podium, and the children’s choir director led them into the sanctuary and into the choir section of the church. They were all smiles, and Charlotte couldn’t be prouder. None of MJ’s family members could be prouder, and when it was time for him to sing his part of Hezekiah Walker’s “Every Praise,” he sang straight from his soul. His voice was beautiful and powerful, and now Charlotte wondered if singing might be the purpose God had for him. As a matter of fact, all the children sang brilliantly, and while the adult choir had sung this song many times before, this was the first time the children’s choir had performed it.

  Many of the members, including all of MJ’s family, stood and clapped along with the choir, and Charlotte couldn’t help crying. Curtis looked at her and then pulled her close to him as they continued admiring their only grandchild. Charlotte hadn’t wanted to be there, but now she was glad she’d come to witness such a joyous occasion. It was a good day, and she was happier than she’d been in a while—but then her father suddenly grabbed his left arm, squeezed his eyes shut, and dropped back down in his seat. He looked to be in total distress, and Charlotte couldn’t move. Not even when she heard Curtis yelling for someone to call 911 and then for any doctors who were in the building.

  She watched as Curtis, Matthew, and one of the elders carefully transferred her father from his seat onto the carpeted floor. She gazed in terror and wondered if her father would be okay. He just had to be, because she couldn’t imagine life without him.

  Chapter 15

  It just didn’t seem real. Charlotte’s father had collapsed out of nowhere, and while they still hadn’t seen the ER doctor yet, all signs were pointing to a heart attack. Which didn’t make a whole lot of sense, because Charlotte’s dad had always eaten well, and he walked every single day of his life. Even during the winter months, he either walked on the treadmill in his home gym or went to one of the nearby malls and got in a mile or two there.

  Charlotte held her mom’s hand, and although they looked at each other, sighing, they didn’t say anything. They didn’t have words, not to mention they didn’t understand why this was happening. Curtis sat on the other side of Charlotte with his arm wrapped around her shoulders, and MJ lay across the bench-like leather seating with his head resting on Stacey’s lap, drifting off to sleep. Matthew, on the other hand, was beside himself, and Charlotte wasn’t sure she’d ever seen her son so sad or worried. He was her parents’ only living grandchild, and he had always been very close to them. To be honest, Joe and Noreen loved Matthew and MJ more like children than grandchildren.

  Alicia, Levi, Dillon, Porsha, Curtina, and two of the leaders at the church, Elder Jamison and Elder Dixon, quietly spoke among themselves, but the overall atmosphere was very grim. There were other families waiting as well, either to be seen by a doctor or to hear the diagnosis of a loved one.

  Curtis looked at his watch. “They’ve been in there for a little while.”

  Charlotte nodded. “I know, and I just wish they’d come tell us something. Anything.”

  “I’m sure it won’t be much longer,” he said.

  “I should’ve known something was wrong,” Noreen said. “I should’ve known something wasn’t right.”

  “Mom, why do you say that?”

  “Because for the last few days, your dad has seemed a little tired. He still walked every morning, and remember I was just telling you last week that he’d gone to his retirees’ luncheon. But now when I think back on it, he wasn’t as energetic as he normally is.”

  “Well, he didn’t look the greatest at church this morning, and that’s why I asked him if he was okay.”

  “I’d asked him the same thing before we left home, but when he told me he was maybe coming down with a cold or the flu, I never thought much more about it.”

  “Wow, and knowing Daddy, even if he’d been feeling bad for days, he wouldn’t have said anything. He would have blown it off like it was no big deal.”

  “When he called me last week, he sounded fine,” Curtis said.

  “I just don’t know what I’d do without him,” Noreen said, sniffling. “I don’t even want to think about it.”

  “And we’re not,” Curtis said. “We’ve already prayed for God to heal Joe, and we’re going to trust and believe that.”

  “Exactly,” Charlotte agreed. “Daddy is going to be fine, Mom. You’ll see.”

  Noreen pulled a couple of tissues from her purse and dabbed her cheeks and the corners of her eyes.

  Charlotte wondered how much longer the doctors were going to take, and then it hit her. What if her dad’s illness was punishment for all the complaining she’d been doing about the church—God’s sacred house? About her role as first lady, and how she no longer wanted any part of it? What if she was reaping all that she had sown? She didn’t believe that God would bring harm to her father, but she did believe that He allowed certain things to happen. He sometimes allowed the enemy to cause problems and destruction, and the reason she knew this was because God had the power to prevent anything from happening if He wanted to. So when He didn’t prevent bad things from happening, Charlotte believed there was a reason. Not everyone would agree, but sometimes when all was good in a person’s life, they became too comfortable. They spent less time talking to God and less time asking Him for direction. They became lax with their overall relationship with Him, and Charlotte knew she was guilty of all of the above.

  They sat for a few more minutes, and finally a thirtysomething nurse with a very compassionate smile told them that Dr. Simmons, the cardiologist on call, wanted to give them an update. So Noreen, Charlotte, Curtis, and Matthew followed her through two wide automatic doors, down a short corridor, and into a conference room.

  Shortly after, the cardiologist walked in, shut the door, and introduced himself. “Hello, I’m Dr. Simmons,” he said, shaking everyone’s hand. “So, we’ve done a lot of tests on Mr. Michaels, and we’ve discovered that he definitely went into cardiac arrest. And on top of that, he has seventy percent blockage in his main artery.”

  Noreen covered her mouth. “Oh dear Lord.”

  Dr. Simmons nodded. “I’m so sorry that I don’t have better news, and given the fact that the blockage is already at seventy percent, we really need to get him ready for an angioplasty. That way, I can go in and insert a stent.”

  “Is this our only option?” Curtis asked.

  “Well, normally we would consider trying medication and lifestyle changes, but when the blockage is this severe, I always suggest having the angioplasty done as soon as possible. Which is a lot less invasive than bypass surgery. I’ve even spoken briefly to Mr. Michaels, and while he’s fine with having the stent inserted, he also wanted Mrs. Michaels and his daughter to make the final decision.”

  Charlotte swallowed hard. “So once you do this, will he be okay?”

  “He should be fine. Your dad is in great health otherwise, so that’s a plus, but he will need to make some changes in his diet and likely take meds for his heart and cholesterol and a baby aspirin daily from now on. He can still live a normal life, though.”

  “Can we see him before you take him for the procedure?” Matthew wanted to know.

  “Yes, but only for a few minutes. We need to begin prepping him right away.”

  “Is there anything else we need to know?” Noreen asked.

  “No, I think that’s about it, and I really do expect everything to go fine. Of course, there are always risks with any surgery or procedure, but as long as we don’t find any other major blockages we should be good.”

  “Thank you, Doctor,” Noreen said.

  Dr. Simmons stood up. “You’re quite welcome, and if you’ll all follow me, I’ll take you to see him.”

  “Would it be okay if I go get my son?” Matthew asked. “MJ is my grandfather’s only great-grandson.”


  “Of course. Normally we can’t allow so many people in all at once, but as long as you only stay for five minutes or so, we can certainly make an exception. And if it were me, I know I would want to see my little great-grandson, too.”

  When they left the conference room, Matthew went to wake up MJ, and Dr. Simmons escorted them to the room where they were holding Joe. As expected, there were all sorts of monitors, and an IV in his arm, but more than anything, Charlotte noticed how pale he looked.

  One of the two nurses smiled and moved away from the side of the bed.

  Noreen moved closer. “Hi, honey. How are you feeling?”

  Joe half smiled and spoke in a weak voice. “I’ve been better.”

  Noreen kissed him on his forehead. “Well, you’re going to be fine. Dr. Simmons is going to fix you right up.”

  “He sure is, Grandpa,” Matthew said, grabbing MJ’s hand and standing next to Noreen.

  Joe looked at both of them. “My two favorite young men in the whole wide world.”

  MJ reached out and touched his great-grandfather’s hand. “Are you going to be okay, Grandpa?”

  “I sure am. You just wait and see.”

  MJ smiled. “I love you, Grandpa, and when your surgery is over, I’ll be waiting for you, okay?”

  “Sounds good to me, and I love you, too.”

  “And even though Curtina didn’t want to come in with us, I’ll tell her you said you love her, too,” MJ told him.

  “Yes, please tell her for me,” Joe said, and Charlotte wished Curtina had in fact come in to see her grandfather. When Matthew had gone to wake up MJ, Charlotte had heard him asking Curtina if she wanted to join them, but she’d shaken her head no. At first, Charlotte hadn’t been happy about her response, but then she’d seen the terrified look on Curtina’s face and tears rolling down her cheeks. She was afraid that her grandfather was going to die, and knowing Curtina, she didn’t want him to see how upset she was.

  Matthew leaned over and kissed Joe on the forehead. “I love you, Grandpa, and we’ll be right out in the waiting area.”

  “I love you, too, Matt.”

  Charlotte and Curtis switched places with Matthew and MJ, and Charlotte burst into tears.

  “Now, now, sweetheart,” Joe said. “I’m going to be fine. You hear me? I’m not going anywhere.”

  Charlotte hugged her father and cried even more. “I love you so much, Daddy.”

  “I know you do, and I love you from the bottom of my heart. And I want you to stop crying.”

  Curtis held Charlotte close to him and then said, “Before we have to leave, let’s have a word of prayer.”

  They all joined hands, and Curtis laid one of his hands on Joe’s head. “Dear Heavenly Father, we come before You with humble hearts and great faith. We ask that You would guide the hands of Dr. Simmons, and that You will make this procedure a successful one. We ask that You would prevent any and all complications, and that You will keep Joe safe from start to finish. We ask that You would bless the hands of all the other staff members who will be providing care for Joe, before, during, and after the procedure, and that You will allow Joe to experience a very fast and full recovery. Please take care of him, dear Father, and bring him through this trying time. We ask You for these and all other blessings in Your mighty Son Jesus’s name. Amen.”

  “Amen,” everyone said.

  “Thank you, son,” Joe said. “And you take care of my family, you hear me? And tell my granddaughter to remember what we talked about before service started. And that I love her.”

  “I will,” Curtis said. “But you’ll be up and about and able to do all of that in no time.”

  Charlotte wondered why her father was telling Curtis to take care of them, and she quickly pushed the thought of him dying from her mind. She refused to think about anything of the sort, because she knew her dad was going to be fine, just the way Dr. Simmons had told them. In a couple of hours, he would be in recovery and all would be well. Life for each of them would return to normal, and soon this entire day would become nothing more than a distant memory. It would seem as though it had never happened at all.

  Chapter 16

  It was early evening, and while everyone else had gone home, Charlotte, Curtis, and Noreen sat waiting to see Joe. His procedure had ended a while ago, and Dr. Simmons had just finished giving them an update. Everything had gone as well as he’d expected, and he’d told them again that with a few lifestyle changes, Joe would be fine. However, it was the “lifestyle changes” comment that Charlotte still couldn’t understand.

  Noreen crossed her arms. “It’s been a really tough day, but thank God, everything turned out well.”

  “Indeed,” Curtis said. “God is as good as always.”

  Charlotte nodded. “That He is, and I’m so grateful. But, Mom, there’s something I don’t get.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Dr. Simmons saying that Daddy needs to make lifestyle changes.”

  “Hmmph. Well, I’ll just say this: Your daddy doesn’t eat the way you remember. He stopped doing that right after he retired.”

  Charlotte scrunched her forehead. “Really? Because it never seems that way when you guys drive here for dinner or we come to Chicago.”

  “I know, but that’s only because you haven’t paid much attention to it. He’s made a lot of unhealthy changes, and I’ve been on him about it for more than a year. Remember how he always ate oatmeal for breakfast? And one scrambled egg?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Well, now he eats three scrambled eggs, three pork sausage links, two pieces of toast, and a huge glass of orange juice.”

  “No way. I had no idea.”

  “I’m sure you didn’t, and remember how he almost always ate tuna for lunch or a chicken Caesar salad? With no croutons?”

  “I do, and he’s always done that.”

  “Well, not anymore. Now he wants very little to do with a salad and would much rather fry two large patties of ground beef in a skillet, top them off with two slices of cheese, and place them on a ridiculously sized bun. Then he either deep-fries frozen French fries or he cuts up a white potato and fries those instead.”

  “Mom, are you kidding?”

  “No. And no matter what I say to him, he doesn’t listen. He even gets angry if I talk about it too much.”

  Curtis half laughed. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Joe cooking cheeseburgers and French fries?”

  Noreen shook her head. “Mm-hmm. Double cheeseburgers, too. So really we shouldn’t be all that surprised about his having a blocked artery. If anything, we need to be happy it wasn’t worse.”

  Charlotte was stunned. None of this made any sense, and she still couldn’t wrap her mind around any of it. “Well, by the time he eats all of that for breakfast and lunch, what does he have for dinner?”

  “I’m almost afraid to even hear,” Curtis said.

  “And you should be, because dinner is sometimes his biggest meal of the day. Pot roast, fried chicken, fried pork chops, spaghetti and meatballs. You name it, and your father-in-law has probably had it sometime within the last week or month. I even suggested a while ago that if he was going to have spaghetti, maybe we could try whole-grain pasta and turkey versus ground beef.”

  “And?” Charlotte said.

  “He looked at me like I was crazy and never said a word.”

  “Mom, this is awful, and why hadn’t you told me?”

  “To be honest, I didn’t know this would be the result. At least not this soon, anyway. I also hadn’t fully thought about how terribly he eats seven days a week. But things are going to change big time now. He can get mad all he wants, but I’m not losing my husband to food.”

  “Exactly, Mom,” Charlotte agreed. “I’ll be staying on him, too.”

  Curtis crossed his ankle over his knee. “I’ll talk to him, too.”

  “I don’t know how he eats that way and never gains weight,” Charlotte said. “I mean, he might be
maybe ten pounds heavier than, say, a couple of years ago, but that’s it.”

  “Your dad has a very high metabolism,” Noreen told her. “He always has, and walking every day helps him, too. So that’s why I think he believes he can eat whatever he wants with no consequences. But even the skinniest person can have a heart attack or stroke. Especially if they’re loading up on fatty and sugary foods all the time. Plus, you know your dad has always struggled with high blood pressure. Eating healthy, walking, and taking his medication every morning has always kept it under control, but his new eating habits must have changed everything.”

  “This should be a wake-up call for all of us,” Curtis said. “I’ve always tried to eat pretty well, but now I’m going to make sure of it. I’m not saying I won’t ever have red meat, anything fried, or a large piece of cake every now and then, but moderation will now mean a lot more to me.”

  “I agree,” Charlotte said.

  “Me too,” Noreen added. “I do pretty okay, anyway, but now I’m going to become even stricter so your dad can get better. I’ll be cooking for him and eating the same things.”

  They chatted a bit more and then Curtis’s phone rang.

  “Oh, this is Trina,” he said, getting up and heading closer to the entrance of the surgical waiting area.

  Charlotte watched as he smiled and walked farther away, and although she would never say out loud what she was thinking, she wondered why Trina was now calling all the time. Even more, she wondered why Curtis dropped whatever he was doing when she did so he could talk to her. Charlotte fully understood how ill Trina was and that she and Curtis were trying to make up for lost time, but over the last three days, she’d called multiple times every day—and today was no different. Curtis had gone to visit her again on Wednesday, but not on Thursday. Then, because he and the elders had an important meeting scheduled on Friday and he’d wanted to write his sermon, he hadn’t gone then, either. And yesterday, he had attended the men’s annual breakfast. So maybe not seeing her brother for four days was bothering Trina. At first Charlotte hadn’t thought much of it, but Trina had called Curtis three times yesterday, and then again this morning while they were getting dressed for church. Then she’d called while Charlotte’s dad was having his angioplasty, and now she was calling again. And actually, the more Charlotte thought about it, Trina had called Curtis on Friday evening, even though he’d already spoken to her earlier that afternoon.