Page 72 of Jane
Something seems to wake me up, I start to open my eyes, but remember I’m not supposed to till I see the doctor again.
“...my sunshine.” I must be dreaming, it can’t be who I think is singing. If I am dreaming, I don’t want to wake up. Listening for another minute, I realize that I’m really awake and this is real.
“You’ll never know my Jane, just how much I love you.”
“Da-daddy?”
“Yeah, sunshine, it’s me.”
“What? How? Is it really you? I’m not hallucinating, am I?”
“Beautiful, I think you’d have to have your eyes open to hallucinate him and I can tell you he’s very much here.” Ror chuckles at me.
My dad hugs me and I can’t help but let the tears flow. I thought I’d never feel his arms around me again. I don’t care how old I get, there’s nothing like getting hugged by my dad. I can’t find it in me to let him go.
“Your men’s younger brother, Max, is one fine attorney, Sunshine.”
“He looked into your case? I wanted him to, but you were being so stubborn and not letting me get you a new attorney.”
“Sunshine, I didn’t want you spending your hard-earned money on something that wasn’t likely to work.”
“Did you guys do this?”
“We would’ve, baby, but Pa got to it before us. Stated he owed you something big for getting him back in riding shape. He also knew of your dad and respected him and his reputation,” Juan shares.
“You aren’t going back to your old club are you, Dad? I know Uncle Ben and Uncle Tim were mentioning possibly settling down here.”
“I’m not goin’ anywhere, Sunshine. I’m gonna be here to be part of your life from now on. But we’ve got to talk about something first.”
“That’s never a good thing.”
“Always so observant, my girl.”
I know it’s bad news, just trying to figure out just how bad.
“Rip it off like a Band-Aid, Daddy, just like you always said.”
“Uncle Ben is definitely planning on settling down here like me. Sunshine, the fucker who hurt you went to your place before he came and took you.”
“What happened?” Getting a little freaked out here, so I reach out with my hands to grab onto Dad, but must make a noise when I touched him and the pain radiated up my arms.
I feel a strong hand on my leg.
“Babygirl, careful, you don’t want to rip your bandages.”
“Was Uncle Tim hurt? Was anyone else?”
I can tell it’s Juan who starts rubbing my arm.
“Mario was shot, but he’s going to be okay. He’s already being released. Anna is insisting he stay with them so she can make sure he’s okay.”
“That’s good he’s gonna be okay, but what about Uncle Tim? Is he here in the hospital? Was he shot too?”
“Yeah, baby, he was shot. But when he was shot, it triggered a heart attack. He didn’t make it.”
All I can do is cry into my dad’s chest for the man who was family to me.
???
