Till The Clock Strikes Gone

o4 | a gift

"Your daughter is bipolar." Those first words from William's mouth felt like needles racing through the air as soon as Harvey Scott opened the door.

William was standing there, shivering from the cold. Harvey found it strange that he wasn't wearing a coat in weather like this; Harvey himself was wearing a sweater and a coat even though he was at home, it was that chilly. The boy was turning blue every passing second.

"I assure you she is not, son," Harvey said in his deep voice, the one that demanded attention whenever words stormed out of his mouth. "Now get in before you catch a cold."

The sentence had barely left his mouth before William rushed in and ran towards the hall and out of Harvey's view. Even at twenty-seven, he was still Harvey's most hyper kid.

He sighed and closed the door, following William into the sitting room. When he stepped in, he looked around and found his son-in-law sitting near the fireplace, knees pulled to his chest. The flames gave a warm glow to the boy's face and his features began to relax. Harvey searched around and found the shawl he had been wearing before and picked it up from the sofa. He moved towards William and placed the shawl on him, providing him with more comfort.

William pulled it closer, covering his entire body and leaving only his face in view as he basked in the heat. Harvey placed a palm on the boy's forehead to check the temperature. The boy was burning, close to catching a fever.

Harvey got up from his seat beside William and rushed towards the kitchen. He grabbed his flask filled with hot water and poured a glass for William. He then cut a piece of garlic and dropped it in the water preparing the medicine before taking the glass to William.

When he saw Harvey with the familiar medicine in his hand, William quickly took the glass and drank it in one gulp. Harvey observed the boy as he put the glass down, finally breathing a sigh of relief, and taking a deep breath before turning to face him.

"Your daughter threw me out. She threw me out. Me. Her husband. She threw me out of my own house," William told him, the shock clear in his voice.

"You must have done something or said something. It must have annoyed her. You know Eliza is short-tempered," Harvey commented, calmly.

William stared at the floor for some moment, his face filled with guilt and embarrassment.

"I might have told her the truth," William said, so softly that Harvey had to lean in from the sofa to hear him out.

"That you didn't want to marry her?" Harvey asked, sitting up straight, his eyes on the local newspaper as he spoke to William.

He could see the boy's face from the corner of his eyes. William was surprised.

"How did you know?"

Harvey folded the paper and placed it on the table in front of him.

"I know all that goes in your tiny little brain boy," Harvey said with a smirk.

William looked around in shame before deciding to gaze at the window straight ahead of him.

"I pity you, son," Harvey said to his son-in-law and William was taken aback once more.

"Because I married your daughter?" William threw the sass back at him. Harvey didn't care. He knew William very well and he also knew that the boy didn't care to be in his father-in-law's good graces. He was rebellious and that's why Eliza fell for him in the first place. A part of him hated the boy for wanting to steal his daughter away but when he saw the truth, he couldn't hate William anymore.

Not that William knew what he saw.

"Because you are so impatient."

"I have been patient for long, not anymore," William scoffed.