Page 77 of The Reaper
“Your friends said they’d be back in the morning,” she whispered and then left.
I had nothing better to do, so I got up and walked over to the bag, unzipping it to unpack what was inside. On top, I found Nathan’s mobile phone, and when I picked it up, I saw one message on the main screen. A message from Leah.
I shouldn’t have read it. It wasn’t my business to look at her messages or his phone, but I did. There was no lock on the screen, and when I tapped into his texts, I saw what she’d sent.
Leah: Please don’t be mad. I know you don’t like me staying out, but I’m safe. I’m staying with Devon tonight. I might stay a few nights. Dad, he is the best thing to ever happen to me. I know you’re a little cynical, but please trust me. He’s so amazing, and I can’t wait for you to get to know him properly. He treats me like I’m a princess. Better than that sometimes. I love him. I really hope you do too someday. I’ll call you in the morning. Remind Hilda to fetch the flowers from the florist ready for Tuesday’s service. I love you. L x
I should have left it there. I should have put the phone down, but I couldn’t. Instead, I typed out a response and held my breath, hoping I was doing something that might put us on the right track.I checked through a few of his older messages, making sure I kept a similar tone, and I pressed send, trying not to overthink what I was doing.
Dad: Sweetheart, it’s not that I’m cynical, I just worry. I want the best for you. Thank you for messaging me. I can’t say that I’m happy about you staying out, but knowing you love him makes it a little more bearable. As long as he always treats you like a princess, that’s enough for me. Just know, I loved you first. You might be his princess, but to me, you’re a queen.
I saw the three dots dancing, indicating that she was responding. It worried me that she was awake, but when I saw her response, it put my mind at ease.
Leah: Oh, Dad, you’re always so soppy, but I love you for it. He might be my knight in shining armour, my prince, but you’ll always be my king. I love you, Dad. Speak tomorrow. L x
I put the phone back into the bag and left it where it was. It was enough to know she was okay. I had to focus on getting us through this night, and then whatever we had to face the next day, we would. It wasn’t going to be an easy road, but we were here, at the start, and we would take that journey, no matter how long or how torturous the steps.
* * *
I stayed overnight, watching Nathan as he slept. In the morning, the nurses came in and brought tea and toast. Nathan was still out of it, but they handed it to me and said they’d be back with more once he woke up. As they left, I heard one nurse turn to the other and say, “Now there’s a son to be proud of. I don’t think my Mark would sit up all night with his dad like that. He won’t even make him a cup of tea, let alone watch over him.”
They thought Nathan was my father, but I didn’t like to correct them.
An hour or so later, Nathan began to stir, and when he opened his eyes, he stared at me, blinked, and then in a gravelly voice he said, “Where am I?”
“Sandland General. I brought you in last night.”
“Does Leah know?”
“No.” I decided to come clean. He’d find out eventually anyway. “I sent her a text from your phone. I pretended to be you and told her everything was okay. I didn’t want her to worry.”
“Thank you.” He was quiet, a little disorientated, but he frowned and then asked, “Have you been here all night?”
“Yes. I wasn’t about to leave you on your own, and even though they said they could assign a one-to-one nurse, I felt better doing it myself.”
“You watched me?”
“I watched over you. It wasn’t anything sinister, Nathan.”
He nodded, but from the look on his face, he was confused.
“Believe it or not, I do care. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
He didn’t speak, just wrung his hands in his lap.
“I’ll call the nurse, get them to bring you something to eat.” I pressed the buzzer above the bed, and moments later the same nurse came bundling into the room.
“Morning,” she said to Nathan, taking a thermometer from her pocket to take his temperature. Then she checked his blood pressure and glanced across at me. “You’ve got a real diamond there. There aren’t many sons who would do what he did last night.”
I expected Nathan to announce that I wasn’t his son, to show disgust, but he didn’t.
“I know,” he said quietly. “I don’t want to be a burden.”
“Enough of that.” The nurse scoffed. “No father is ever a burden.”
My own father left when my mum was pregnant. I’d never met him. My stepfather degraded me, hurt me, beat me until I felt soulless, useless and unloved. My fathers weren’t a burden, they were a gaping hole of disappointment. Two dark figures that tainted my past, but that’s where they stayed, buried deep in memories that weren’t worth a penny.
The man lying in bed next to me was so much more than that. Once upon a time, he’d been her everything. He’d raised her, given her values, hopes, dreams, and because of him, she’d become the beautiful woman she was today. For that alone, I had to give him the respect he deserved. Without him, there would have been no Leah.
