I knocked on Dad's door, wrapping my coat around me, blocking out the cold wind. 

No answer.

Odd, I thought. I told him I was coming for a visit. 

I knocked again, louder this time. Still nothing. I pulled out my phone, and called him, waiting as the phone rang and rang.

You have reached the phone of Peter Ivanov-Howell. Please leave a message and I'll call you back as soon as possible.

I let out a frustrated sigh. "Dad, it's Kay. I'm standing outside your door, please call me back as soon as possible. Love you."

After 10 minutes I tried opening the door, and to my surprise, it was unlocked.

That's when I realized something was very wrong. Dad never left his door unlocked.

"Dad?!" I called, walking into the lounge. "Dad, it's Kay! Where are you?"

Nothing.

Panic set in.

"Dad!" I yelled, running into his bedroom, only to find him on the floor, passed out.

I stood for a moment in shocked silence before I snapped back to reality and dialed 999.

                         ***

I paced around in the waiting room of the hospital, waiting for news.

"Mom."

I turned around to look at Lily.

"Mom, I know you're scared, I am too, but pacing around is just going to work you up. Also it's making me more panicked than I already am. Working yourself up isn't going to help grandpa Peter."

I sighed and sat down next to her. "I know,but I can't help it."

We sat I silence for half an hour before a nurse came out. "Ms. Howell-Ivanov?"

I practically jumped up and followed after her, Lily trailing behind me. We were asked to take a seat in another rolm and were told that a doctor would be here shortly.

Not long after the nurse left, a tall man with brown hair came in. "Ms. Howell-Ivanov? I'm Dr. Michaels, nice to meet you." he shook both mine and Lily's hands, then took a seat.

"What's wrong with my dad?" I asked as son as he sat down. I didn't want small talk, and he could tell.

"It was a stroke." he informed me, diving right into it. "Mr. Peter is in a coma at the moment. We're going to do everything we can to help him, but to put it bluntly, you need to be prepared for the high possibility that he may not make it."

He let that sink in for a moment before continuing. "However, we are remaining optimistic that we can help him recover. We must take into account his age though, which may make recovery a bit more difficult."

After this we discussed treatments and costs, how to proceed from here.

I thanked him an hour later when we were leaving, then walked out. We were told that we couldn't visit Dad just yet.

When Lily and I got into the car, she stopped and looked at me. "Mom, do you think he'll be okay?"

I gripped the steering wheel. "I don't know."