He knelt in front of me when I was seated on the passenger seat. He cupped my cheeks and wiped the tears with his thumbs, slowly stroking my hair. His blue eyes burned with sincerity as he whispered, “He is Clyde. He’ll be okay. If anything happens… I’m here, Mia. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll stay with you.”
I nodded shakily, clutching his wrist, and closed my eyes to relish the warm feeling when he kissed my forehead. It was okay. James said it was okay, so it must be. He promised me he’ll stay.James keeps his promises, doesn’t he?
I didn’t know when and how he strapped a seatbelt over me or what I said or didn’t on the way. I was too busy overthinking the worst-case scenarios and wondering if it was an early prank for my birthday.
But I know James held my hand the entire ride. His warm, long fingers entwined with my small ones and how each knuckle fit perfectly with mine. The pad of his thumb made soft strokes on my skin, and it eased the bubbling nervousness that was ready to erupt out of me in heaving sobs.
I had already lost my mom. I didn’t want to lose—
No. I won’t. Nothing was going to happen to him.
He’s just pranking all of us.
“Mia, we’re here.” His voice was soft when he parked the car and unbuckled my seat belt. I clutched his hand the entire time. Clenching his arm underneath my fingers when the scent of medicine and detergent hit my nose. It wasn’t loud and people talked in hushed voices, doctors giving sad or happy news to a family, nurses helping patients and… it was just too much.
The glaring white lights looked sickly, and I wanted to crawl out of my skin. A strong arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me close to the warmth of his chest. I sighed and listened to his heartbeat to calm myself as we reached the floor of his room.
James guided me towards the room where my dad was and I let go of him only to see the shutters over the glass panel of the room.
“You must be Clyde’s daughter.” I turned towards the woman in a white coat with a stethoscope around the collar. “Hello, dear, I’m Doctor Ekta.”
“When can I see him? Is he okay?”
“You can see him when he wakes up from a surgery. He experienced a subarachnoid hemorrhage, and he’ll need to undergo a surgery for a coil placement.”
I didn’t care what happened to him. I wanted him with me. Ruffle my hair and call me his Pumpkin. Nothing else mattered.
I sat down on the metal chair outside his room and clutched my phone tightly in my hand. Summer and Emma had told me to keep them updated, but I didn’t know what to say.Hey, Summer, Em, my dad had aneurysm and will undergo surgery soon. Not sure if he’ll be alive or not by the end, though. At least the doctor is pretty sweet. XOXO.
Before I could hide my face and sob, a small bottle of chocolate milkshake appeared in front of me. My eyes drifted to the person holding the bottle.
“I don’t want it.”
“I wasn’t asking, Princess.” He raised his brow, blue eyes staring down at me. “Drink it.”
My stomach grumbled at the sight, and I took the milkshake, keeping it aside. James sighed and sat down beside me, his thigh pressing against mine.
We sat in silence for a few minutes. My dad had complained about a headache in the morning and he collapsed at his office. Thankfully, one of his colleagues noticed and called an ambulance.
“Tell me good news,” I said, glaring at the white paint of the wall across from me. I hated everything about hospitals.
“Clyde has thirty percent chance of survival rate.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat and chuckled. “Of course, that’s the good news.”
“Well, his survival rate would be ten percent if he didn’t arrive at the hospital in time.” He took a deep breath and turned towards me. “He’ll have surgery soon, and when he wakes up, he will remember you and scold you for missing half a day at school.”
I pursed my lips as my throat burned. I wanted to cry. “You’re the one who dragged me here. He’ll scold you, too.”
James gave me a soft smile and kissed my cheek. “He’ll be okay, Princess. I’ll make sure of it.”
My heart felt heavy hearing his words.
“Promise?”
He raised his hand and said, “Pinky promise.”
I entwined my pinky finger with his and pressed our thumbs together, sealing the promise. By the look in his eyes, I knew he would do anything to keep his word.