Upon Meeting You

28

It's been too long!

IM SORRY!!

Anyways... let me know what you think.

Lenora Dalsing;

I charge through the hospital room, with Goren's hand in mine. My eyes are drawn to my father who is sitting up with the help of the hospital bed. His head is leaned back, relaxing as he talks to a man beside his bed. The man's back is turned but I know instantly who he is.

"Wilhelm?" Goren asks.

"Goren!" He exclaims, cheerfully, but he is interrupted when a look of confusion covers his face. "So it's 'Wilhelm' now? I thought we were friends."

"We were. Not anymore." Goren squeezes my hand, giving me reassurance as he looks up into my eyes.

"I understand..." Wilhelm's eyes travel from Goren to myself. "Hello, Nora." I nod my head in response to him, fearing my voice may crack from emotion.

"Hi, dad..." I look past Wilhelm, to my father.

"Nora," He smiles at me warmly. I walk over to his side along with Goren.

"What the hell happened?" I furrow my brows, searching for any kind of sign as to what may have happened to him. Too tired to answer, he looks to Wilhelm with a begging face as if asking him to explain it to me.

"It seems as though the day of the incident with Goren," Wilhelm gives me a knowing look as he speaks, reminding me of the day we spent together before removing Goren from the monster I have grown to know as my mother. "He and your mother got into an argument, as Goren said, but it had gotten extremely heated... to the point where your mother decided to take a large chef's knife and impale your father's abdomen. It managed to pierce his liver, gallbladder, stomach and a small portion of his colon. His gallbladder was ruptured as it endured the most damage but the surgeons here thought it best to put him into an induced coma in order to allow his body to heal properly."

"Oh." I say simply. I am in shock. I have no idea what to say other than that. I notice that my father has fallen asleep once again, most likely due to the fact that his body is on overdrive as it attempts to function properly. Wilhelm then looks to Goren who is staring wide eyed our sleeping father.

"Goren..." Goren looks to him, not saying a word. "I know you're upset with me, and you have every right to be... I hope that one day we can be friends again, should you choose to forgive me, but I also just wanted to say... Your father did not leave you. His body went into shock after your mother did what she did and he walked out the door, searching for help. His mind hadn't been working as it normally would and he lost any sort of recollection of his surroundings. That's why you were left with your mother. He never meant you any harm. He loves you, Goren." Wilhelm's eyes were soft and full of emotion. He then shifts his eyes over to me once again, "Someone found him about a block down the road. You were never alerted because he had no form of ID on his person. No one had any idea of who he was."

I nod in response.

"I will fix this." He says, standing. "I promise you, I'll do everything in my power to help him." He turns away and begins walking to the door.

"Wilhelm." I finally speak up, causing him to stop and look at me in shock. "...thank you." I peek at his face before quickly looking away, but not before seeing a small smile on his lips.

⟷

Wilhelm took the incident to court and after a month or so, it was eventually decided that my mother would serve a life sentence for First Degree attempted murder above her 12 years minimum for child abuse. It was said that in 20 years she could try for parole but we all knew it was highly unlikely she would receive it.