Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 83994 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83994 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
“No, no, it’s completely fine. We got home fine. But your father…”
She trails off into silence.
And the emotion in her voice tells me everything.
“He’s been bad for days,” I whisper, heart beating quickly. “He’s worse now, isn’t he?”
I notice Casey lift her head and look over her shoulder.
“I’m sorry, honey. I found him in the bathroom. He got out of bed… and I guess he collapsed…” She sounds like she’s fighting tears. Siobhan Whelan is the strongest person I know. She doesn’t ever cry.
But this is her partner of forty years she’s talking about. The man she gave her life to. The man she built her empire with. She knew this day was coming, but how could she ever be prepared for it?
“How bad?”
“You should come. I’m calling everyone in. The doctor thinks it’s hours at most.”
“We’ll be there soon.” I lock eyes with Casey. Sympathy swims on her face. I feel like a hole is opening inside my chest and it’s sucking the rest of me inside it. “I’ll see you in a few.”
Mom hangs up. I lower the phone down numbly. Casey gets up, looking glorious and perfect, shining white and silver as she comes to me.
“Your dad?” she asks.
I nod once, jaw flexing against the tide of emotions filling me. “I have to go.”
“I’ll come with you.” She takes my hand between hers. She’s so small. It always startles me how tiny she is. “I’m so sorry, Declan.”
“You don’t have to. You don’t owe me that.”
“I’m your wife now and I think you’re going to need me.”
I pull her against me and kiss her. I kiss her the way I wanted to back at the courthouse. I kiss her the way I always should kiss her, like she’s the most precious thing in the world to me.
I kiss her because she’s right.
I need her.
Mom gives me a long hug outside the bedroom. “Cormac was here a few minutes ago,” she says.
“Where is he now?”
“Processing, I think. You know him, he needs his space and his silence.”
“Moody fuck.”
“Be nice to your brothers.” She smiles sadly, patting my cheek. “They’re all you have now.”
Casey lingers to the side, saying nothing. She changed into dark slacks and a black sweater before we left. I almost wish she had stayed in the wedding dress, but it wouldn’t have been appropriate.
“Is he awake?” I turn to the door.
“Yes, but he’s not himself.”
“That’s alright. I want to talk to him.”
“Just go easy.” She touches my arm and tries to smile. “A death and a wedding in one day.”
I kiss her cheek and glance at Casey. She nods and follows me into my father’s bedroom.
It smells like medicine. Dad’s lying under the blankets. He doesn’t seem very aware of what’s going on when I pull up a chair. Casey lingers behind me, standing politely back, while Mom takes the other side of the bed.
“Hey, Dad. It’s me, Declan.”
Dad’s eyes flit from mine over to Mom and back again. “Declan… are you here to ask… for more computer time?”
I smile uncertainly and take his hand. His skin is papery and dry. “I haven’t needed computer permission for a long time.”
“That’s right…” His voice is a breathy murmur. His eyes are red and watery. I’ve never seen him like this before. Like he’s barely there and receding fast. “You’ve been out late… proving yourself…”
“I’m here now.”
“Nothing to prove. You’re my son.”
I squeeze his hand. “I’m proud of it.”
“Good… all my boys…” He mumbles something and adjusts himself. “Are you still stuck… on that girl? The Brennan girl…”
I feel Casey stiffen behind me. “Dad, Casey’s here.”
“I told you… that deal is finished… the promise her parents made… you can marry who you like. I told you that.”
“Dad, Casey and I already got married.”
“The girl’s your problem. Let her go. But you liked… that she was promised to you…”
I look over my shoulder. Casey’s staring at me in shock and horror. She steps back, moving toward the door. “I should go.”
“Stay,” I tell her, but she’s still edging away. I want to explain, but Dad starts talking again, this time about some basketball game he took me and Cormac to when we were kids.
She wasn’t supposed to find out this way.
I wanted to tell her one day, after things had settled.
She’s not going to understand.
How could she?
“I have to go.” Casey turns and flees the room, hurrying down the hall.
I look at Mom in a panic. She shakes her head sadly. “Let her be,” she says, stroking Dad’s hair. “We’ll handle it later.”
She’s right. I take a breath and calm myself. Dad groans and trails off into incoherence, and all I want to do is chase Casey, but this is more important. These are the final moments of my father.
I have to be here for him.
Even if I lose my wife while he dies.