Damien's attraction

Chapter 64

She stared at her hands as they shook from fear. Her head was resting on the car window as Damien drove. Damien turned at intervals to see if she was okay. She had not said anything since they had left Aaron's house and he didn't even know what to say. He knew something was wrong the moment she had asked him to drive her to the hospital.

October tried to keep her hands calm as she took deep breaths but it didn't seem like it was working. She could hear her own rapid heartbeats.
Was he dead?
It terrified her because she had studied this. She knew what cancer did to people. Her chest was hurting so bad. She covered her mouth with her hands to suppress her cries but he heard her.

Damien glanced over to her side. Something was definitely up. He had never seen her cry before. He slowly parked the car to the side of the brightly lit lonely road.

"I'm not going to sit here and pretend like everything's okay." Damien said. She had tried to hold it in but now, everything just came rushing out.
He waited for a while before she could muster enough strength to say something.

"I did it." She said in between sobs. "I caused it. He's dying." She quickly reached for the door handle and opened it. She stepped out.

"What are you....." Damien came down too. He walked over to her. "I need you to calm down and talk to me."

"He's dying." She whispered. "He's dying." She whispered over and over again. He didn't need her to say  anything else to know she was referring to her father.

"Come here." He pulled her in for a hug. "It's not your fault." He rose his hand and hesitated for a moment before he patted her head. If she was not in this mood, she would have been surprised that for the first time she didn't push him away. "I'm not forcing my opinion on you, but I think what's best now is that you go back home. If you don't do it while he has a short time left, you might regret it later."

**************

"Thankfully, he's awake." The doctor announced to all the people in the waiting room. The tension in the waiting room reduced a little. Adesuwa, Ayomide, Jennifer, Aaron, Kcee and Lawrence and Leslie had been waiting there since they rushed Jim to the hospital. Adesuwa looked like she had almost had a heart attack a minute ago.

"But is he going to be okay?" Lawrence asked the doctor.

"I can't say, but let's hope so. For now, all you need to do is keep him happy stress free." The doctor replied. "Mrs Obiakor, can I see you for a moment?"

Adesuwa nodded and followed him out.

"Where's your sister?" Ayomide whispered to Aaron and he shrugged meaning he did not know.

"All this is just bullshit. " Lawrence scoffed as he walked out angrily.

***********

"Anything yet?" He opened one of his eyes. He had forced everyone to go home, except Adesuwa who had gone downstairs for a while.

Wale looked outside the room door and sighed for the hundredth time.
"No, sir." He turned back to Jim who was lying down comfortably on the hospital bed in his private room.

Jim scoffed.
"Does she need to hear that I'm dead before she thinks about coming here?" He shook his head and sat up. "Did you tell the doctor what I told you?"

"Yes, sir. But he's not sure he can keep up with this much longer. He's scared of what your wife would do if she found out the truth."

"What does he mean? Doesn't he watch these movies of nowadays? I just need him till that stubborn child decides to come back home."

"Sir, when would that really happen? I mean she probably hates you."

Wale was the closest person to Jim so it was not unusual for him to talk informally.

"I don't know what I ever did to that girl to deserve such treatment." Jim rubbed his temples.

"Basically sir, you kicked her out, stopped all her agencies from working with her, blocked her entry into all universities that accepted her for about two years, -"

"I didn't ask for an account Wale. Besides, she should have just let all these things go. What did her mother teach her?" Jim was saying before someone knocked on the door. Wale checked to see who it was before he opened the door. The guard got in quickly and Wale locked the door after him.

"Well?" Jim asked before he could say anything.

"She just arrived sir."

****************

"To be honest, I thought you really wanted me dead. Seeing you here now by this hour makes me think otherwise." Jim broke the silence in the room when he knew she wasn't going to start the conversation.

October fidgeted with her fingernails nervously. She had told Damien to wait in the car expecting that this would be a quick visit. She had never thought she would be the one to reach out to her father but as fate would have it today, here she was again in front of the man who had taken everything from her. It was sad enough to see him on the hospital bed looking sick.

"Well someone recently told me that sometimes, vengeance makes you fail to see what you want, until it's out of your grasp." She looked down as she talked.

"And what is it that you want?" Jim asked her.

She took a moment to think.
"I want- " She paused. "I don't know if this family was never not complete without me, but before it gets to the next few months when it would never be the same again, I want things to go back to the way they were. So if my chances are still available for me, then I'm willing to come....home." She summoned the courage to look at him.

"Well you should have realized that sooner. I'm dying already." Jim took his gaze away and gave a small chuckle.

Look at him, taking his death lightly.

"But I have one condition."

He looked at her.

"You won't try to set me up again with anyone."

"I wouldn't make any promises yet but I'll try." He smiled weakly. "I really missed the times we talked Uju." October wondered if he was really sincere. "I missed the person who could stand up to me fearlessly. Whenever you're ready, the doors to the house are always open. Your things, your accounts, your businesses, they're all intact."

She nodded. If she would have known this would have happened before, she would have made up with him a long time ago. Now she only had a few months to make everything right again with him. Her heart ached at the thought of that.

They were interrupted by a knock on the door followed by Wale opening the door a little.

"It's okay, we're done. You can come in." October stood up.

Wale nodded and slowly walked in. October took one last look at her father before she walked out. Wale waited till he was sure she was long gone.

"Did it work out well, sir?" Wale enquired.

Jim stood up from the bed. He pulled out his handkerchief quickly and coughed into it, a familiar feeling lingering in his chest.
"Be prepared for the homecoming party soon." Was the answer Jim gave him. Wale grinned.

"By the way, I just got off the phone now with AVCAR oil. Everything is ready." Wale informed him. Jim just waved him off. He took the cue and left the room.

Jim slowly unwrapped the handkerchief he had kept in his hand tightly.

Bloodstains again.

He closed his eyes and chuckled softly. This was what he feared. It was happening.