“Daddy?” I clutch his hand, looking at his pale, tired face that bears an array of bruises and a bloody lip. “You’re okay.You’re okay. I’m so sorry I wasn’t here,” I say through the tears streaming down my face.
Aaron hurt him. Hehurthim.
“My Aurora,” Dad rasps, and I nearly break down at the sound of his voice. That’s all I need. I just need him to be okay.
“Miss, we need to get him to the hospital. You can ride with us if you wish, but we need to go now”
“Yes, yes, let’s go!” I’m running after them immediately. “Sava!”
“Don’t worry, I’ve got Emett,” he shouts, and the ambulance door slams shut between us.
The EMTs start connecting him to the machines, but even before the heart monitor is hooked up, I can tell the heartbeat was weaning.
“Daddy! You need to hold on for me, okay? You need to hold on before we get to the hospital.” I’m clutching his hand for dear life. A life I’m hoping to infuse into his shattered eyes.
His disease had almost taken all of him, but we still have some time. I know we have it…and Aaron is trying to steal it from us. I’m not ready. I can’t…
“My baby girl,” Dad rasps, his frail hand reaching for my face, and I bend down, pressing it to my tear-streaked cheek as the sound of the siren fills every inch of space.
“Daddy, hold on a little longer. Please.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be better. I’m sorry I let you down so many times.”
“You haven’t.”
We never had much growing up but he’d never come home without something sweet for us. We’d run up to door when we heard it opening and wait there, eyes wide and excited to see what candy he brought home.
It was never anything big, and most of the days they were the free lollipops you could grab in the bank’s waiting area, but it was everything to me.
He manages a weak smile. “You were always too good, too kind for this world, and I should’ve protected you better. Done”—he coughs and I see blood—“done more.”
“You were perfect. The best dad and grandpa.” I lean in, putting my hand on his face.
His blood-soaked lips tug into a faint smile. “Hmm, my Emett, just like you. You make sure he makes it to the big dogs, yeah? Have that fella”—he coughs again—“Sava, have him help. Ask for help, Rory. Don’t try to carry the whole world on your shoulders alone anymore.”
“He asked me to marry him. I’m getting married, Daddy, and you need to be there. Okay?”
“Married,” he muses slowly with a serene smile. “Good, good. That’s good.”
His heart rate is slowly dropping, and panic begins to shake me from within as tears drip down my cheeks.
No, no, no, no.
“Daddy! Please, d-don’t leave me. I love you.”
“I’ll never leave you, my baby girl. You were a gift from heaven. Martha didn’t want to keep you, and I begged her to leave you for me. You were my gift. My Rory. I just knew I needed you.”
“Stop, please stop talking like that. You’re not dying! Not yet! The doctor said you have at least another good year in you.”
But it’s as if he can’t hear me. His mind is elsewhere. In between, and he’s desperate to get all these thoughts out.
“Tell Em…Emett, I love him,” he wheezes. “Always. And Stella. Yeah?”
As quick as a lightning switch, the small flicker of light in his eyes has gone off and with it comes a long, deadly sound of a flat line.
“Daddy!” I scream, squeezing his hand, my body shaking as the EMTs push me aside, trying to perform CPR. But the line remains, and he never squeezes my hand again.
They wheel him away as soon as we arrive, and a second later, strong arms are wrapped around me.
