Page 84 of Wrecked
“Nathaniel.”
“Nathan.” His tone is no more pleasant than mine. “I assume your classless delinquent of a friend is nearby, and that’s why I am on speaker?”
Ash raises his middle finger, flipping off the phone. “I’m blushing, Nathaniel. You always say such sweet things about me. Be careful though, we wouldn’t want to get the wife talking,” he jokes, but I can see the absolute hatred on his face.
“Charming. As always. I guess now that I have you both on the line, I can tell you that your efforts have been futile.” His smug tone has me wishing I could reach through the phone and strangle him. “You’ve been busy, Asher. I’malmostimpressed. But you see, it’s my job to know what my enemies are up to.”
“I made it on your list of enemies? Awe, Nathaniel. I’m flattered.” I scoff at Ash’s mocking tone. He lives to poke the bear.
“If you weren’t so far away, you little shit…”
Rarely does my father lose his cool around others. He’s a diplomat through and through. But leave it to Ash, he always manages to antagonize him. Normally, I would find it entertaining, but I don’t feel great about where this conversation is heading.
“You’d what, District Attorney Westin? You’d hit me for all the Judicial Nominating Committee to see? During election year? Well, that would certainly tank your county bid.” He shakes his head in mock sympathy before continuing. “At that point, you could almost kiss a federal court nomination goodbye!” He gasps, making a mockery of Nathaniel’s chances of being elected. “Not that they’d ever truly consider you.” His voice hardens. “You forget, Nathaniel…you’re not the only man with connections. So as entertaining as this conversation has been, I’m not in the mood to laugh at you anymore.” Asher gets up to walk away, his temper hot after that little sparring session with my father.
“Emily is going to die,” Nathaniel announces as nonchalantly as he would broadcast the weather.
My heart stops. My breathing stops. Time stops. Everything stops. Asher is frozen where he stands, his shoulders tense.
“Is that athreat, Nathaniel?” I feel murderous. Absolutely lethal.
“It’s a fact, Nathan. She’s going to die. Unless I help her.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?!” I demand, sick to my stomach.
“Stage three Renal Cell Carcinoma.” I can hear the smile in his voice, like he is getting enjoyment out of telling me this.
“What is that? What does that mean?”
“Cancer, Nathan. I expected you to be smarter than this.” He can’t help but dig, but I’m not paying attention. My mind is stuck on the wordcancer. I don’t believe it. I refuse to believe it. “She has kidney cancer, a type that normally has a more…favorable outcome. Unfortunately for your sister, the cancer has progressed, and she needs more aggressive chemotherapy and radiation to prevent it from spreading. Even so, they still feel like a transplant is her best chance. I’m funding a clinical trial, so they agreed to accept her in the meantime. Hergoodkidney is no longer functioning well, and she can no longer survive with just one kidney. So, until she gets a transplant…she will need dialysis to stay alive.”
I can’t even believe what I am hearing. She’s too young for this. She’s only twenty years old. She didn’t even tell me. Why would she not tell me? Is he lying? He has to be lying. But he knows I will call her right after we hang up. He knows I would find out the truth.
I look up at Asher, his face just as shocked as mine. We are a mirror of each other, tears in our eyes, two brothers learning their sister has a deadly disease.
The line stays silent for several painful seconds.
“Why do I get the feeling you are not telling us this out of the kindness of your heart.” Asher sneers, his face turning red with anger.
“Because you are apparently smarter than my son, Asher.”
“Fuck you, Nathaniel. I don’t have time for this bullshit. I’m calling Emmy.”
“You might want to hear what I have to say first, Nathan.”
“Why is that?” I seethe. I already know. I already know he is going to use this to control me. I just don’t know how.
“I’m going to take your sister off of my health insurance. I’m not going to pay for her very expensive cancer treatment.”
I just sit here, completely shocked. No. NO. He wouldn’t do that. Not even Nathaniel is that evil. How could he think that would look good for his precious image? There is no way he would actually do that.
“And destroy your precious campaign? Bullshit.” I call his bluff.
“Ah, but son, it wouldn’t destroy my chances of election. In fact, it will make them stronger. The family man who finds out his daughter isn’t his after she’s been diagnosed with cancer. The family man who has been married to a cheating whore? I think that makes me fairly relatable, don’t you, Nathan?”
“Liar!”
“I may be a lot of things, but I have never been a liar, Nathan.” He scoffs, like it’s the most unbelievable thing I could say about him. “Emily is not my daughter. Your mother hasn’t been able to keep her legs closed since the day I found her working in that little diner,” he says casually, as if any part of this conversation is normal. “It works for us. I have her on my arm when I need her, and she stays out of my life when I don’t. We have the perfect little arrangement, Nathan. The kind you should look for yourself, if you are smart.”
