“I know about Tobias Grimes,” I blurt. “I know everything.”
Her head snaps around to me, her face falling. Her shoulders sag. “I wondered when this day would come.” Her eyes drop to her lap. “I am so sorry, sweetheart.”
“Were you ever going to tell me?”
“I wanted to. I’ve hated lying to you all these years but we felt it best you never find out.”
“Why? Surely, I had a right to know.”
“To know I was manipulated? To know the man I cheated on my husband with went after me purely to get to the man I was married to? That he got me pregnant on purpose? No. I know he has his faults but even with your father’s flaws, he has been more of a father to you than Tobias ever would’ve been. You have every right to be angry with me and your fa—”
“I’m not angry,” I cut her off. “I’m disappointed that you’ve lied to me my whole life.”
“Ka—”
A female doctor rounds the corner into the waiting room. She’s young, maybe late twenties, ash blonde hair cascading down her back. “Peter Watson’s family?”
My mother leaps up from her chair. “How is my husband?”
“My name is Doctor James, I operated on your husband. He’s stable and out of surgery. He lost a lot of blood due of the gunshot but the bullet missed any major arteries or organs so the removal was straightforward. We have given him a transfusion to replace the lost blood, and for now he’s sleeping.”
My mother sighs with relief. “May I see him?”
Doctor James smiles. “Of course.”
My mother turns to me over her shoulder. “I’d really like ifwe could talk more? Maybe when your father’s back home?”
“Okay.”
She smiles before following the doctor to my father’s room.
It’s almost half an hour before my mother reappears in the waiting room doorway, announcing that my father’s awake and she’s going to grab some coffee, and I use the opportunity while she’s away to drop in on my dad.
He’s surprised when I step inside his room. His heart monitor beeps beside him, below are two different drips being fed through tubes that disappear into his arms.
“How are you doing?” I ask.
“I’m alive.”
I’ve never seen him look so sick and weak. It’s unsettling. His skin is ash grey, like all the colour and life has been drained from him.
It’s hard to see him like this.
A lump forms in my throat. No matter what’s happened between us, he’s still my dad and a part of me will always love him whether I choose to or not.
He clears his throat. “Kaia—”
“I didn’t come here to talk. I’m only here because you saved mine and Killian’s lives and I wanted to thank you. I wanted to see you’re okay. Aside from that, nothing has changed. You might not be my father by blood, but you are the man who raised me and for that I’ll always love you whether I want to or not. But there’s been too much. So many things I hate you for. I might be able to forgive you in time, but right now? I can’t. If youdocare about me and you want to be a part of my life, you’re going to have to prove you deserve my forgiveness.”
“And your child?”
“My baby will grow up with two parents who willneverstop telling them how much they love them. They’ll never have to question it. They’ll never have to worry about being a disappointment or be scared to follow their heart.”
Despite being as stone-faced as always, my words have affected him, his emotions carried through his eyes. There’s a tinge of sadness in them, something I’ve never seen before.
“I’m glad you’re alright,” is the last thing I say before leaving the room.
49
