Just a Dare

Chapter Seventeen

Three years ago

I glared at the floor, wishing as hard as I could that it would just swallow me up. Someone cleared their throat, and my stormy eyes flickered up to the doctor standing in front of me. He was dressed in a crisp suit, his white-streaked hair combed gently to the side. I wanted nothing more than to grab him by his stupid black tie and strangle him to death if it meant that I didn't have to see that fucking sypathetic gaze on his face. "I'm sure that your mother has already informed you of this fact, but I'm afraid to tell you that your father has fallen into a comatose state." he said solemnly.

I could now clearly see the image of the life leaving his eyes and the color draining from his face, but it did nothing to calm me down. Instead, it ignited a spark that lit a roaring inferno of rage inside of me. "What the fuck did you just say?" I hissed. I could feel my whole body shaking as I tried to keep myself seated in the chair.

He didn't look phased by my reaction, which only made me angrier. His eyes softened and he said, "I understand your frustration, Mr. Williams, but you have to be-"

"-patient?" I snarled, cutting him off. I jumped out of the chair and took a threatening step toward him, clenching my fists. "I was patient when the paramedics came to my house and took my dad away. I was patient when he was whisked away to surgery to fix whatever the fuck was wrong with him. I've been patient for the past week, but I'm over that. Fuck you and your damn patience! I want to know why he's, as you put it, in a comatose state, when he's been in the care of the best doctors this damned hospital has to offer!"

"I'm going to ask you to please calm down and take a seat, Mr. Williams," The doctor's voice was soft but firm, "or I will have to ask you to leave." He paused for a moment before saying, "And yes, I do have that ability."

I sat stiffly back down, but in no way was I calm. The hairs on the back of my neck were standing on end, my anger like electricity burning its way though my veins, crackling and popping dangerously. One wrong word and that was all the reason I needed to lunge for that stupid tie around his scrawny, wrinkly-ass neck. I drew in a deep breath and exhaled, realizing that getting pissed off at the doctor was definitely not going to get me the answers I wanted. "I'm calm." I snapped. "Now talk."

He never lost his professional air, something which I had to admit was impressive. If I was in his shoes right now, I would have beaten the shit out of...well, myself.

Setting aside the fact that it would have gotten me fired, of course.

"As I was saying, your father has slipped into a coma." I gritted my teeth. "We hope that he will eventually regain consciousness, but I found something quite interesting in his medical file that needed to be brought to light."

My eyes bore into his, desperate that he wouldn't say it had anything to do with this. It had been slowly draining the life from him on its own, sending him in and out of the hospital's doors throughout his life.

"It says here," I just noticed that he had been holding a file folder in his hands the entire time, having been too preoccupied earlier to see it, and he was now leafing through it for a specific paper. I closed my eyes, because I knew what he was going to say. "that your father has a condition called Systemic Lupus Erythematosus?"

I swallowed hard and nodded my head. There it was.

He closed the folder. "And I assume that you realize the severity of his condition at this point in time?" I stared blankly ahead, not wanting to face the reality of the situation. The doctor sighed. "I'm afraid that there is a high chance that your father will not be able to recover."