Page 124 of Protected By West
She looked up when she saw movement in the gap of the curtains and her heart came to a sudden and screeching stop.
"Dad?"
Seamus Fagan was standing just outside the curtain, his hat literally in hand.
Tracy opened her mouth to speak and while she didn't expect that she'd say anything worth noting but her brain had almost disconnected from her mouth.
"I didn't think you'd wear your hat inside."
Her dad looked down at his hat and nodded. "Old habits."
When he looked back up at her she got a good look at the man he'd become instead of the man in her memories.
Seamus Fagan was still tall, but she was sitting down. When she stood up, she knew she'd be closer to his height now. He looked thinner.
Not weaker, just leaner, with less big muscle than he'd had before.
"So..." She pressed her lips together and almost smiled when she saw him do the same. "Are you just passing through? Or-"
"I heard about the standoff through dispatch. Weston had one of his team call me to let me know you were involved." He looked at his hat, turning it a quarter of the brim with his fingers. "I followed the progress from my office."
Tracy felt a little crestfallen at his words.
He'd heard, but he didn't come to the scene.
"I knew it was you, but I didn't come to the scene, I was afraid that I'd just make things difficult for West." He cleared his throat softly. "And, by extension, you."
Tracy swallowed, a little afraid of what might come out of her mouth.
She felt a strange weight in her chest at the heaviness of his voice.
He was saying he cared.
That he was trying to stay out of the way to let Weston and the others do their job.
She felt like there was an ache in her chest but didn't know if it was from hope or disappointment.
Her emotions where it came to her dad were complicated.
Like cubist painting complicated.
Or maybe surreal art?
That might be more accurate.
Bent and pulled like taffy.
Yeah, her feelings were still messed up when it came to her father.
"I'm... I'm waiting for Weston to come back with the discharge papers."
Her father nodded. "So they're not keeping you for observation for that hit you took to your head?"
Tracy felt something settle in her chest. "You know about that?"
"I followed the progress from my office. I didn't watch all of the video feed." He drew in a breath and his gaze lowered to the floor. "I couldn't keep watching it all. I thought I... I might lose my mind."
His voice was lower. Rougher than it had been before.
