Black Ink || Harlena a.u.

14.

The hospital was almost quiet, with the exception of the monitors that beeped from all directions.

My mom guided us to the room located on the third floor. She peeked in through the large glass, her head tilting and her face softening.

I looked inside. My dad was talking happily with the old nurse that was checking his monitor. She smiled kindly at him before stepping out the room and letting us in.

"Selene?" His smiled faded, eyes glossy.

"Hey, Dad," I went to him, my arms wrapping around his figure- despite the awkwardness of not being able to do so completely because of the needles hooked up to him.

He hugged me tightly, I felt his lips press on my head as he blew out a breath. "God I've missed you... my little girl turned twenty and I didn't even get to say happy birthday," he kissed my temple as I bit my lip. He had remebered.

Shuffling, I sat up next to him, "That's okay. I missed you too, Dad." I was trying hard not to tear up in front of everyone.

"How've you been, Sel?"

"Better than you have, apparently," I teased. He laughed, eyes wrinkling more than they did before.

It was then that reality hit me hard. I was letting time go by and soon, there wouldn't be any time left at all.

"No, really. What have you been up to?" He patiently waited for me to answer him. In all honesty, I could almost feel my mother's eyes urging me to lie. But I couldn't. He was my dad.

"Well, Anne and I have this nice condo up in the city. She recently got a really great job. I'm working a few cities over in a really nice diner," his smile didn't falter. "Soon, I hope to continue writing, but for now, I'm saving up."

"You know, after these past years, I've come to realize that it doesn't matter what you do anymore. I just want you to be happy," he held my hand in his. "Come back home, Selene."

My mouth went dry at the suggestion. It's not that I didn't want to, anymore. I had grown used to the city. The diner. Anne. We were a team and it would be the lowest move to tell her to come back just because I now had the chance to.

"Dad," I whispered softly, eyes looking down at our hands. "It's just-"

"I know, I know," he shook his head. "I was just thinking out loud, I suppose."

There was an ache inside me that yearned to do whatever he wanted as long as it kept him happy. As much as I wanted to continue to be angry at him, I couldn't. Not after seeing him like this- in a hospital bed, so vulnerable. He's not the intimidating guy anymore. He's the man that taught me how to ride a bike and the man that was fixing a car up for me.

My dad had always been pushing for me to go forward.

"I'll stay for a couple days," I suggested. "Initially, I was just going to stay for the weekend. But I don't mind staying longer."

There was a wide smile on his lips as he looked at me. I turned to look at my mother. She was smiling at my dad.

My eyes glanced over at Justin. But he was already staring back at me.