AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My dad hasneverbeen anything other than a tyrant in my eyes, who never thought I was enough, who never saw anything in me other than what I could do for him and my mom.
But now, he looks like someone who’s been struggling to survive. I see someone who doesn’t know which way is up and made decisions blindly to try and keep things afloat.
I see someone who’s terrified of failing when he should know what he’s doing.
I see a man I can understand.
“Why have you never told me this before?” I finally ask.
“Because a man hates to admit that he’s failed,” Dad says dully. “You were so successful. And I couldn’t do it. Pride, I guess.”
“Why are you telling me now?” I ask.
“Because I thought about what you said. I hate fighting with you. I hate that we can’t be in the same room together. And at some point, a man has to admit when he’s wrong. And I’m there, son. I was wrong. I guess…” he takes a deep breath. “I’m trying to say I’m sorry.”
When tears well up in his eyes, something inside me cracks. He reaches for my dad and squeezes his arm, and when I do, he breaks down. He sobs in the coffee shop in a way I’ve never seen him cry before.
“I can’t lose her,” he cries. “But I’m terrified I will. We will. I’m scared that this is never going to end. I didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye because I was at work for a change when she took a turn. I was at the stupid office when all she needed was for me to be there. And now it might be all over.”
A lump rises in my throat.
“I’m sorry, too,” I say.
“You have nothing to be sorry about. You’ve been here for us no matter what hell I’ve put you through.”
“We have to hold on, Dad,” I say. “We have to keep holding on. It’s not over yet.”
“I think we should admit that it might be,” Dad says hoarsely.
He blows his nose loudly in a paper napkin and gulps down half his coffee before he takes a deep breath, pulling himself together again.
“I just wanted you to know how I feel. Because if we do lose her, it’s just you and me, Mason. And the two of us are the only ones who will remember her, and miss her, and know what a gem she was. And I can’t have this thing between us. Not if it’s my fault to begin with.”
I don’t know what to say. My dad is just a broken man. I’ve never seen him like this.
And he’s right. We have to stand together.
“Is,” I say.
“What?”
“What a gem momis.Not was. She’s still here.”
Dad nods slowly. He’s giving up. He’s letting her go. But I’m not ready for that, not yet. It’s not over until the whistle blows.
We finish our coffee and head back to the hospital together. I walk my dad back to my mom’s room.
When we get there, my mom’s gone.
“Where is she?” Dad asks, and he pales. “Where is she!?” He spins around, his eyes frantic. “No, no, no. Not again! I can’t not have been here.”
A nurse appears in the room.
“Where is she?” Dad demands. “Where have they taken her?”
“They’re prepping her for surgery,” the nurse says, looking confused. “Didn’t someone call you?”
“For what?” I demand to know.
