Page 58 of Spoil
My knuckles are turning white the harder I grip the steering wheel of my car. It’s eleven at night, and I’d FaceTime’d with my girls earlier today. I jerk the steering wheel hard, darting around traffic to get to the suburbs of Northern Virginia and to my girls; my daughter.
Flashbacks of my sister assault my vision.
The phone call. The doctor’s office. The funeral home. The funeral. My father comforting my mother as if they both weren’tdirectly responsible for her death. My stomach aches and clenches in on itself with anxiety.
The logical part of my brain is screaming that kids get fevers and that Nell notices things like this and already said her fever was down. The father part of my brain is drowning out the logic - running on fear and adrenaline. I’ve never felt as out of control like this in my entire life. I’ve never been so scared.
I just need to lay eyes on her. To prove to myself that she really is okay. To stay up and watch her tonight so I can keep an eye on her fever. It’s not that I don’t trust Nell, but the part of me that loves Danny needs this.
My car bumps roughly over the end of their driveway as I park crookedly, shut off the engine and toss the keys back in the car. I’m at the front door in three strides.
The front door gives and opens, and part of the fear turns to anger. Why the fuck isn’t their door locked? Anyone could have come in, and my girls are exposed.
I take the stairs three at a time and throw open the doors. First bedroom’s empty. Second bedroom - empty. Third bedroom has a just woken, terrified Gen in a sleep gown.
“Nell. Danny. Where are they?” I bark, my voice just short of shouting.
Startled, she points behind me. “In their room. In the basement.”
Ice slides through my veins, but my need propels me . I saw the basement door by the garage when I came for family dinner. I take the stairs back down three at a time before storming through the kitchen and taking the basement stairs three at a time.
What I see threatens to unravel me as a man. Unfinished walls, cement floor, a few blankets and rugs and two mattresses on the floor - one holding a shocked Nell, and the other a sleeping Danny.
All of this is wrong. All of this is unacceptable. And I try not to let the situation hit me personally, but fury roars through me at the sight.
“Daniel? What’s wrong?” Nell asks.
I clench my jaw, biting back the words I know are too harsh, too rash.
Danny looks so small on her mattress, hugging her unicorn plushy to her body. She looks pale too, although it may just be the fluorescent lighting coming from the entryway.
In an instant, I’ve made my decision.
“I’m taking her to the hospital,” I say, kneeling so I can scoop her sleeping form into my arms.
“What? Why? Her fever’s down,” Nell says, scrambling to her feet to follow me. She grabs her bag and slips on some flip-flops, and jogs behind to keep up with me.
I bite back a response. I’m self-aware enough to know I’m not in control of myself right now, and I don’t want to say anything I can’t take back.
Nell doesn’t push. She jogs in front of me to open the back door of my car. I lay Denny gently down in the back seat before sliding into the driver’s seat. Nell beat me to the passenger seat.
“Are you okay to drive?” she asks simply.
I nod once before starting the car, throwing it in reverse and pulling out onto the street. Luckily, the nearest ER is less than ten minutes away. Nell’s silent the entire car ride.
I pull up into the emergency bay, leave my car running and scoop Danny back up into my arms again. She’s so small. She weighs almost nothing. It could take something as small as a fever to take her from me. And that fear pulls the air from my lungs.
I march up to the reception and begin to explain what we need. The nurse behind the counter is already on the phone, so she holds up a finger to me to wait.
I press the button on her phone to end the call.
She narrows her eyes at me, but I really don’t fucking care.
“We need to be admitted. I need a private family suite, and Doctor Nguyen if she’s on call,” I demand.
“That’s not how this works, sir. You need to fill out some paperwork and have a seat. You’ll be called for your turn.” Her voice is unamused and full of ice.
Fuck that.
