Page 58 of The Wedding Driver
“As a courtesy. I felt you deserved to know what was going on. I’m sorry if I made it sound like I expected you to be here to make any decisions.”
“You didn’t,” Denise said. “Kathy did. She called us first. We were on our way here when you called, arguing over whether we should call you before we got here.”
“Excuse me?” Foster arched a brow. He knew Kathy worked at this hospital when she wasn’t working at urgent care, but why the fuck would she call Victoria’s parents? She knew they wanted nothing to do with their daughter. “I knew she was here tonight, because she’s the one who informed me that Victoria came into the ER, but I had no idea she called you. As a matter of fact, you’re not even on Victoria’s next of kin list, no offense.”
“None taken.” Victor swiped at his eyes.
“Tell him, Victor,” Denise said softly.
Victor let out a long breath. “Kathy told us that you asked her to call. I know that’s not true.”
“No. It’s not.” Foster had no idea what game that woman was playing, or why. Frankly, he wasn’t sure he wanted to find out. “I’m sorry she did that. I can’t for the life of me fathom her reasons.”
“I can,” Denise said. “She thinks bringing us together will be the catalyst that brings the two of you back together.”
“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” Foster said under his breath. “I’ve barely seen her since Victoria went to prison. When I have, it’s never been good. What the hell is she holding on to?”
“Maybe her own guilt,” Victor said.
Foster arched a brow. “I don’t believe that for one second. Not based on my conversations with her, but honestly, she’s the last person I want to talk about. Victoria is who we should be focusing on. You should know that I had taken her in for a cut on her leg and it was infected. She left against medical recommendation and disappeared. I didn’t push as hard as I should have or as I have in the past.”
“No one expected you to.” Victor squeezed Foster’s forearm. “The last seven years have been difficult for all of us and this isn’t the outcome we wanted. Of course we wished our daughter would have gotten help, but when she showed no remorse for her actions that led to Lisa’s death, that’s when we as parents had to walk away. It wasn’t to hurt you; we know you’ve suffered so much.”
Foster held up his hand. “I’ve never blamed you for anything.”
Denise inched closer. “We’ve always loved you and never wanted to push you away, not even when we learned of your affair.”
He grimaced. “That wasn’t my most shining moment and I’m sorry that my mistake is once again shoved in your face.”
“You were stuck in a bad marriage. All you did was pick the wrong woman to try to move forward with,” Denise said. “We don’t know what Kathy’s motives are for calling us tonight and frankly, we don’t care. We’re sorry to leave that at your feet. We’re here to beg you to put all of us out of our misery and not take any heroic means when it comes to Victoria.”
“You have control,” Victor said. “This is your decision, but as her parents, please, end her pain. End it all for us. You can extend her life for weeks, maybe even a month or so, but what purpose would that serve?”
“I haven’t spoken to her doctors. Only the ER ones and they told me she was in organ failure. I’m not sure I understand exactly what that means or how that happened. What have they told you?” Foster stuffed his hands in his pockets and made his way to the window which had a view of the parking garage.
Wonderful.
Well, at least he could see some blue sky. That calmed his soul a little.
“My understanding is that her liver and kidneys aren’t functioning properly, but that’s the easy part of her issues. She went into cardiac arrest. She was dead for four minutes. While she has some brain activity, even if she can breathe on her own, she might not ever be herself again.”
When Foster first met Victoria, they’d been in their late teens. She was already into her addiction, but it had been far from apparent. She’d been vibrant. Fun. Full of life. Not this shell of a human he’d known since shortly after Lisa had been born.
“You’re asking me to take her off the ventilator and let her die,” Foster said softly.
“Yes. It’s honestly the most humane thing any of us can do.” Victor stood beside him, resting his hand on his shoulder. “You’ve looked over her for seven long years. You’ve given up starting your life over. You could have fallen in love, gotten married, had a family. Instead, you chose to be her guardian angel. She probably would have died years ago had it not been for you.”
A guttural sob caught in his throat. “I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”
“It’s both,” Denise said. “That young woman you came with. The wedding planner. She means something to you.”
“She’s been a good friend for a long time,” Foster admitted.
“She’s more than that,” Victor said. “Letting go of Victoria doesn’t mean you’re letting go of Lisa.”
Tears flowed freely from Foster’s eyes down his cheeks. Not once had he ever voiced those words. He hadn’t even allowed himself to think it. The few times his therapist had brought it up, he waved it off like the thought was an annoying fly on the wall. If Marge pushed the agenda, he brushed it under the rug, holding on to the promise he’d made to his daughter.
That was the only reason.
