Page 53 of Coral Prince Conundrum
Layla squeezes my hand. “I’m just happy you’re alive. Once you’re up and running again, have a matcha latte, on the house.” We both chuckle, and she walks to the door. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to have a serious conversation with the prince of the Underworld. See you!” She disappears before her words reach my brain.
“Prince of what?” I mutter out loud.
A minute later, my dad walks in. His suit is disheveled, and his eyes look sunken in. But he’s still my dad, and my soul feels lighter seeing him. “Hey, Dad.”
He pulls up a chair next to me, then leans his head on my hand on the bed. I can’t interpret what he’s saying because he’s…bawling.
“Oh, my precious baby boy,” he mutters against my hand.
I frown in discomfort. I get that I went through this whole ordeal, but Dad has never cried in front of me. He only shed a couple of tears when Mom died. Granted, they were already divorced, but still, he never cries. Now, here he is, pouring tears onto my hand.
I squirm out of his grip, then pat his head. “There, there?”
Looking up, he sniffs and wipes his eyes with his tie. “I thought you died, Daryl.”
My eyes prickle in sympathy. We may not agree on anything, but I don’t particularly like seeing my dad like this. “I’m…sorry.”
He catches his breath through the sobbing. “I’d be furious at you if I weren’t so glad you’re alive.”
“Then it’s a good thing I survived!” I grin, but he frowns.
“Daryl Tishman, I had to see your limp body as the helicopter touched down on this foreign island nation.” He shakes his head. “I couldn’t handle it. Seeing my boy, my only family…I still can’t take the memory.” He shakes his head and squeezes my hand again.
“Aw, Dad. I’m sorry to make you upset. But hey, I can talk now!” I wiggle my toes and grimace. “And I can feel my legs. That’s a good sign.”
“Oh, Daryl.” He leans forward and gingerly holds me. He hugs me, and I breathe in his scent. “I love you, son, and I’m so glad you’re awake and breathing.”
“I love you too, Dad. Thanks for getting me here.”
“What’s the point of making millions if you can’t airlift your son once in a while?” We both chuckle, and he sits down. His eyes are still moist when he continues, “That was my worst nightmare as a father. Seeing you, battered and bruised.”
“I don’t intend to have any more international adventures for a while.” I bite my lip and look around. “Do you wanna…watch a show with me or something?”
He nods. “Okay. But you are moving in with me during your physical therapy, that is final.”
My smile falls as he hands me the remote. “That’s fair.” My crummy apartment has too many stairs for the crutches I’m sure I’ll need. I turn on the TV to a news program of some mystical royal wedding that got cancelled a while back, but the volume is low. “So…you met the Coral Prince?”
Despite the bags under his eyes, he gives me an amused look. “You mean, the boy who’s very much invested in your well-being? The one who like-likes you?”
“Dad,” I whine.
He lifts his hands. “Hey, he insisted on paying me back for the medical helicopter. And apparently, he was putting you up in a mansion. He was obviously sweet on you.”
“He…doesn’t even…we just…” I have no idea how to finish that sentence. Seero and I had something real, but emphasis on the wordhad.
“Oh, son, I know that look.” He squeezes my hand again. “I barely shared it with your mother, but I know love when I see it.”
Love? “Really?” I rasp.
Dad nods and looks down at his knees. “The prince…he looked as if his very heart was leaving his side when we flew away on the helicopter.”
My soul burns at his words. I want to sail back to Seero, but I’m in no shape to travel right now. I could call him, but what would I even say?
“A part of me wants to keep you locked away from the world to prevent…this—” Dad gestures at me up and down—“from happening again.”
I frown, but he continues, “At the same time, you have to pave your own way. The prince informed me in no uncertain terms that your knowledge is helping save the world. You’re making something of yourself, I see that now. And if it somehow leads you to foreign boys who control literal sea dragons…” Dad shrugs as his words trail off.
This is the closest I’ll be getting to approval from my dad. But assuming Seero still wants me—and that his sister doesn’t try to kill me again—how can I forge a future with someone so different from me, so royal?
