Dreamer ~ A Daniel Seavey Fanfiction

Chapter 24

DANIEL'S POV

Turns out, waiting sucks. Every minute that ticks by, I get more and more anxious. What if Harper's siblings didn't want to see her? What if they don't want to remember her? What if I brought her to more heartbreak and more pain?

What if...

What if...

What if...

I bolt to my feet as if electrocuted and ignore the nurse's reproachful face as I walk deliberately down the hallway. I have no idea where I'm going until I hear Harper's voice.

"Don't start. You're in a hospital bed, and I'm trying to explain my dramatic story, and you're worried about the boy?"

Hailey laughs. "Always."

Their voices are nearly identical, but I know Harper. I would find and follow her voice to the pits of hell if she led me there.

Now, I can hear the voice of her brother, Dexter. "This Daniel, he's...He's good to you?"

I pause, my heart hammering out of my chest. I know I'm good to her, believe me I try, and I hope Harper knows how hard I'm trying, too.

She pauses and I can practically hear her smile come across when she says, "I don't know how serious it is yet, but yes, he is."

I stand outside the door, half paying attention to the conversation while my chest swells with pride. Harper has been to hell and back and back again, and I'm trying to be the one good thing in her life, the spot of light where all she sees is darkness. I listen to the trauma she's been through, the trauma her family has been through, and I can't help but think that the world produces the strongest angels from the deepest parts of hell.

"So..." I can hear Hailey saying now. "When do we get to meet this Daniel boy?"

I immediately beam.

Harper laughs again. "I told you, I don't know how serious we are yet, but he was the one who convinced me to come here today and offered to drive me." Her next words come in one big rush: "And he took me out on the best first date and kissed me."

I try my best to hold in laughter and bite on the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling so hard.

"He's here? Now?"

"He what?"

"Yes, he's here, and we kissed." Harper answers both of their questions in one breath.

"Don't know how serious it is my ass, Harp! Can we meet him now?"

"Hailey, let the poor girl get to know him first." He pauses. "And maybe kiss the kid a few more times."

Deal. I don't mind.

Hailey groans dramatically. "Ugh, fine, I'll wait. But-"

I make up my mind before she even finishes her thought. I tap lightly on the door and it cracks open, allowing my eyes to meet Harper's. She smiles as she turns back to her siblings and says, "I guess now is a good time to meet him after all."

She waves me closer, and whispers teasingly, "What happened to waiting?"

"It drive me crazy," I tell her truthfully. "Not knowing if you were okay nearly killed me in there."

Harper laughs so softly, it barely reaches my ears. "You're almost as dramatic as she is," she says, nodding toward Hailey, who's watching me with an eager grin. "Almost."

I notice her brother staring hard, trying to figure me out, so I start with him. "Daniel Seavey. Good to meet you."

He returns my handshake. "Dexter, but I'm sure you knew that," he answers, throwing a sly look at Harper. "Nice to meet you too, Daniel. This is—"

"Hailey," the girl says, cutting her brother off. She looks at him, playfully annoyed. "I had to get my stomach pumped,  it my brain inspected, Dex. I remember my manners, mind you."

Dexter raises his hands in mock surrender and looks at me. I just laugh, and so do the twins. Harper rests her cheek on my arm, and I pull her into me.

Hailey sighs happily as she looks at me and Harper. "It's good to know that our baby sister has something good in her life."

"Believe me," I say, looking down on Harper. "She makes life good."

I should kiss her then and there from the appreciative look she shoots in my direction. I almost do, but her phone starts chiming in her jacket pocket. I hand it to her.

"Ugh," she says, looking at the screen. "Lawyers. I'll fill you in later." She accepts the call and excuses herself to the window across the hall. Within five minutes, she's back in the room raking her hands through her hair—not a great sign.

"You okay?" I ask her quietly.

She shakes her head. Then, she says to the room at large, "Those were Mom and Dad's prosecutors. They need me to testify on account of 'insufficient evidence.'"

Immediately, I'm angry. "What do you mean 'insufficient evidence'? They drugged you and then put your life in danger for God's sake!"

"I know," she says, and I hate that she sounds defeated. "Believe me, I know. I was there."

"Are you going to do it?" Hailey asks.

"I have to," Harper says, looking right at me. "Or they walk out of that courtroom with no punishment for what they did to me." She looks to her siblings with fire in her eyes. "What they did to us."

"When?" I ask quietly. "When do they need you to do this?"

My heart plummets to the floor at her answer. "Three days."

~