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“I know, but don’t you dare let that stop you. The only reason that he was able to even find you was because of Jenson.” I don’t know if it’s too much too fast, but I won’t lie to her.
“Oh my God. He said something to me in the elevator yesterday that I just blew off about the accident. If he was involved in this, I think he may have been involved in that too.” That fucking son of a bitch. I’m going to fucking kill him. He’s been behind it all. He deserves to rot in jail.
“Don’t worry, I’m here now, and I don’t intend on leaving. Although I’ll be honest with you. Once you are better, we are all leaving for New York. I’m not waiting any longer. I want you and my family safe. You alright with leaving sooner?”
“Maybe she should come home with us.” I spin around and see, whom I assume are, her parents. Fuck.
“Mom? Dad?” They rush over to her, and she begins to cry again. Her mom cries right along with her, but her dad is just whispering gently to them both. I’m starting to feel out of place, it’s a feeling I don’t often have, and I fucking hate it. I don’t know if I stay or give them time alone. Just as I decide to give them some time, I hear Mel calling my name. Instinctively, I rush over, and she gives me a smile just emphasizing the damage to her beautiful face. “Keith, I want to introduce you to my parents. This is my mom, Cindy, and my dad, Jim.” Her mom hugs me.
“Thank you for saving her.” I feel myself getting emotional again, but clear my throat.
“Always.” She pulls back and smiles at me.
“You are just as handsome as Mel said you were.” She giggles when her husband steps in front of her. He isn’t as welcoming as she was, but I’m not going to back down. This is my girl. I stick out my hand to him.
“Pleased to meet you, sir. I’d much rather it be under different circumstances though.” He sticks out his hand and shakes mine, never taking his eyes off mine.
“What exactly are your intentions with my daughter?”
“Dad!” I turn to Mel and see even through the swelling and bruising, the mortification on her face. I give her a wink and turn back to her father.
“Sir, I am completely in love with your daughter. My intentions are to make her happy and take care of her for the rest of my life.” You can tell he was an amazing undercover agent. He doesn’t even move a muscle in his face, just continues to stare me down.
“I’d say you’re off to a shitty start.” I feel my blood begin to boil at his accusations.
“Jim, that’s enough. If it wasn’t for Keith, we may have lost our little girl.” She begins to cry, but neither Jim nor I will break the eye contact to even look her way.
“With all due respect, sir, I did everything I could to protect your daughter. I wasn’t there when it happened, but when I couldn’t get in touch with her I rushed right over. Not for nothing, sir, but where the hell where you?” I can see the rage in his eyes.
“Listen, you little shit. If I had known my little girl was in trouble, nothing would have stopped me from rushing to help her.” I raise my eyebrows.
“Exactly, sir. Had I known, I would have been there a hell of a lot sooner.” He looks at me with a bit of respect now.
“You’ve made your point.” He looks at his wife and daughter before looking back at me. “You better take care of my daughter, because I know how to get rid of you and make it look like an accident.” I hear Mel and Cindy giggle, but I have no doubt that is a serious threat.
“You have my word.” He gives me a shake of his head and finally slaps me on the back.
“I hear you are an officer for the NYPD, impressive. We’ll have to talk shop sometime.”
“I look forward to it.”
After a bit of time, I excuse myself, not only to give them time together, but also to find my mom and sisters. I need to tell them what’s going on. I go back to the waiting room and find Karen asleep on my mom’s shoulder while she and Connie talk quietly. I walk over to them with a small smile on my face. Connie jumps up, and I wrap her in a hug. “She’s awake. Her parents are with her right now.” I sit down next to my mom, and she smiles at me.
“Keith, I’ve never in my life seen you so tortured, and I hope to never see it again. You will make that girl one hell of a husband.” I chuckle and shake my head.
“Thanks, Mom, but let’s take this one step at a time. I don’t think either of us is ready to walk down the aisle just yet, but I do know that she will be the one that eventually walks down to me.”
Connie decided that she was not waiting any longer and went to force her way into Mel’s room, so my mom and I have been sitting with a still sleeping Karen.
“Mom, why don’t you take Karen home? There is nothing else any of us can do tonight.” She looks at Karen then back at me.
“Alright, I think I might do that. Connie drove herself anyway. I assume you won’t be coming home tonight?” I grab her hand and squeeze.
“Not a chance in hell.” She laughs and nudges Karen.
“That’s what I thought. Hey, Keith, I’m going to be totally honest with you. You’ve taught me a lot of things in life, but tonight was the biggest lesson of all. I’m determined to live my life only surrounded by people who love me as much as I love them. It breaks my heart to think that if something like this happened to me, your father wouldn’t be sitting here waiting on me. He’d be out drinking, and for the first time in my life, I’m okay with that. The love that you have for Mel, that is what we all deserve, even an old lady like me.” I can’t believe she just said that, but holy shit, it makes me so happy. Finally, after all this time, she sees her true worth.
“Mom, I couldn’t agree more. You deserve so much more. Now go home, get some sleep, and start packing because we are leaving as soon as possible.” Karen sits up and wipes her mouth.
