ALEXANDRA looked over at her father’s physician, waiting for another confirmation.

“Yes,” the doctor answered again, nodding at Alexandra with a satisfied smile on his face. “You heard me correctly. He’s well enough to go home, if you’re ready to have him.”

The doctor’s mellow baritone voice sounded slightly awestruck by his own admission, but he couldn’t be as surprised as she was. She let out a breath of relief mixed in with timid laughter, and her misty eyes moved from the doctor, to her father, to Rosa. Her light blue eyes sparkled as she anxiously squeezed her trembling hand.

“Are you serious?” Alexandra was gushing. She tried to scale back her excitement. The question came out a little too high-pitched, and definitely girlish.

When the doctor had called this morning requesting a conference, she was worried he would give them more bad news. He didn’t. He told them that although it would be a long road before her father was back on his feet, he was out of the woods.

She squirmed on the chair she was in. The décor of the small family conference room was a clashing combination of dark blue and cherry red. The wide wall of windows let in enough sunlight to clearly show the dark circles under the physician’s tired eyes, and the lines chiseled into his face. He probably saw the same imperfections in her face, but she prayed he wouldn’t figure out she was a woman underneath.

The doctor gave her more information about her father’s release, smiling and seeming so hopeful that it was rubbing off on Alexandra.

“Mr. Storme’s situation was very serious when he was first admitted. We kept him on antibiotics and a range of other medications, and for the past three days, his vital signs and bloodwork are looking far better than expected.” He paused, giving them a serious look. “Let’s be clear, though. He’s going to need home health care, and he’ll be on IV antibiotics and oxygen apparatus for some time. Thankfully, these are treatments that can be administered at home.”

“That’s the way he would want it,” Rosa replied.

“Good,” he answered. “Also, I hope you know my decision has nothing to do with his constant insistence that we ‘break him out of this joint’, as he keeps putting it.” The doctor laughed briefly, shaking his head. “If I didn’t think it was best for him, he’d be staying. I assure you.”

“Of course,” Alexandra said, nodding enthusiastically. “It’s the best thing for all of us.”

She had told Rick she needed more time to be home. Now she could stick around until Dad made a full recovery. A few more weeks of antibiotics and constant care were ahead, but this news was so much better than hearing Dad might only have weeks of life left. Tears streamed down her face. They were happy tears, relief as she saw how close she had come to losing him.

“How soon can we transport him home?” Rosa asked.

The doctor checked his notes. “If you’re ready to take him home today, we can arrange an ambulance to bring him later this evening.”

“Will we need any special equipment?” Rosa continued with her questioning. She always thought of everything.

Alexandra tuned them out as Rosa and the physician discussed getting her father safely home. She stared out the window at the blue sky. Her mind was years and years away. The day her mother had silently slipped away that dark night, she had sat beside her weeping father and held his hand, telling him she would always be there for him. She would never forget his response.

“I hope you will, Princess. And I wish I could always be here for you, too. But, one day…I won’t be. I won’t be able to. I’ll have to leave you behind, too.”

“A long, long time from now, right, Daddy?” she had asked in a small, uncertain voice. At the time, it felt like anything could happen. In fact, the most terrible thing had already occurred—a parent had been taken away from her.

“I sure hope so, but no matter when it takes place, I want you to remember one thing.”

She closed her eyes and recalled the expression on his face, his blue eyes glistening with unshed tears, his pale lashes fluttering as he blinked them away. They had been sitting in the waiting room while the nurses got Mom ready for one last goodbye. Dad had laced his fingers through hers and talked to Alexandra like she was an adult, acknowledging that losing a parent had a way of forcing a child to grow up quickly.

“I want you to remember to keep going,” he had said. “Be as big as you can be. Do as much as you want to do. And, don’t stop on account of losing me or your mother. Do you understand?”

She nodded to herself now as she stared at the awful clashing décor in the family conference room. She hadn’t fully understood it at the time. It was during these past days—these long, hard days of trying to prepare herself for Dad not making it—that she had gradually come to understand exactly how much he was asking of her back then. She could imagine how he must have felt. He probably wanted to disappear into a dark, secret hiding place and give up living, rather than face a future without Mom. Instead, he was strong, and had encouraged her to be strong too. Alexandra was even more grateful now for his foresight.

With the meeting over, she and Rosa walked out of the building and to the SUV in much better spirits than when they had first arrived. They sat in the massive parking lot, and Alexandra could tell Rosa was processing all that had happened. They were both silent.

“Thank you,” Alexandra whispered after a few minutes. Rosa looked over at her with a soft smile that reminded her of her mother. She wanted to burst out crying all over again, but she choked it back and nodded. “Thank you for taking care of my dad, even when it didn’t look like he wouldn’t come out of this. Thank you for telling me what was going on, even after he told you not to. You don’t know how much I appreciate it, Rosa. And I want you to know how much you’ve come to mean to me.”

“It’s been a tough time for both of us,” she answered, patting her hand before starting the car and backing out of the parking space. “I believe Maxwell got better because of a very specific dose of medicine…you.”

Alexandra didn’t deny it. Love was a kind of medicine. She hadn’t seen her father in months before he got sick, but even at Christmas when she had come home and first got the feeling he had a significant other, she saw a positive change in him. Dad had been happier, less harried and not as preoccupied with work.

The thought made her look at her life in LA before she returned home. It was missing that deep, soul-searing love. Eventually, she would have to go back to LA. She had an album to finish, photo shoots, video shoots, another tour, people to see, things to do. As she watched Rosa drive them home, she had a new burning desire. She wanted to do more than date men where she had no future.

The string of failed pseudo-relationships was frivolous. The empty house in Beverly Hills felt like a waste. She thought about a career change, or moving back to Tucson. That would be complicated, but then again, she didn’t want to think about anything at all right now, except her father coming home to get better. After Rosa dropped her off, she went upstairs and curled up on her bed. She pulled the quilt over her shoulders, and now that she had less to worry about where Dad was concerned, she quickly drifted off.