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I stood there, doing my best to relax, breathing in and out for a few minutes before I finally walked back to the door. Reaching up, I knocked once, and a second later, Wolfgang opened the door.
“Are you all right, ma’am?” he asked when I handed him the phone.
“Fine, thank you. Please let everyone who needs to know, know that my sister and I have officially cut all ties permanently. I don’t want an update on her ever again. Am I clear?”
“Perfectly,” he replied.
Nodding, I walked back down the hall to the door. I rolled my shoulders, and only when I was ready did they open the doors, and the smile returned to my face. “You must forgive me about that…where were we again?”
I rolled him outside myself, parking his chair right in the center of the trees so they surrounded him on every side before moving to bend down in front of him. He still looked dazed, but I reached up and took his hand.
“Father, look. Do you know where we are?” I asked him.
He didn’t respond, and so I tried to lift his head up slightly. His breathing quickened. And it took a moment, but slowly his eyes shifted, glancing around at where he was. He couldn’t really move half his body, but he didn’t need to in order to see.
“You recognize it, right?” I grinned.
He shook, and slowly a smile crossed his face. I kneeled in front of him and grabbed his hands.
“Dad,” I whispered, and when he turned to me, I bit my lip, grinning.
“…gah…” He tried to speak as he held on tighter. “Ga…ga…le.”
“Yes! It’s me! Welcome back, Dad.” I held him tighter, not wanting to let go of him.
“Sweetheart?” my mom said, coming up beside us, kneeling in front of him, crying already.
He looked at her and, what looked to be all his strength, reached out to touch her. She grabbed him.
“Hi.” Her voice was hoarse as she fought back the tears.
“H…hon…ey.”
“I’m here.” She kissed his hands. I let go of him, stepping aside and letting them have their moment. Reaching up, I cleaned the corner of my eyes before turning to his nurse. “Quickly, call my sister!”
Chapter 27
“He came back! The cherry blossoms brought him back!” He was so happy and was nearly pacing in our bedroom. “I was so worried he’d slip away before Eliza came but instead, he became clearer and clear, Odette. It was like a miracle. I mean, he still struggled to move and talk, but he understood us. He wasn’t just lying on the bed like a zombie anymore. He was there. Happy. Surrounded by us.” He exhaled so deeply his shoulders sank. “Thank God. Maybe the doctors are wrong? Maybe he could make it a bit longer, right?”
“Yeah, I think maybe taking him out every day would do him good—”
“Exactly what I was thinking,” he said, quickly walking to his bedside.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Taking him out would do him some good, but what if I can move him to a room where he could at least see the garden from his window,” he said, taking a seat and texting. “Just a continual reminder, you know.”
He was desperate. If you told him throwing salt over his shoulder would do something to help his father, he’d have Balduin carry a tray of salt with them wherever they went. And I wasn’t going to tell him to do otherwise. I wanted him to have hope because each time it came to his father, it was like…he reverted back to a little kid and I could see how scared he was.
“Tomorrow we have to visit the opening of the new hospital. I think I’ll take him back out again once we get back.”
“Oh, right, the hospital!” I put my hand on my face and lay back on the bed.
“You forgot? Isn’t it in your schedule?” he asked, looking up at me.
“It is! And Wolfgang even talked to me about it today. I still forgot. Ugh… I really don’t want to go out in public right now. They are definitely going to be taking a picture of my stomach. I just got into my second trimester. I still want to wait, but it’s not like I can really hide behind sweaters anymore,” I said, touching my stomach.
“I don’t think we’ve been able to keep this a secret at all,” he said, placing his hand on my stomach, too. “The whole palace knew almost immediately when we came back. But thankfully, no one has spoken to the press. That means everyone is loyal in here. You did a good job cleaning house.”
