The Storm

Chapter 3

Atlas

Three years ago, Cody has admitted to me he'd known who Sierra's father is for a while. He's given me his name and address, told me I could do with it as I pleased.

I planned on telling Sierra, but let's be honest, I chickened out.

Cody was right. if she ever found out, Sierra would do anything to get to know this man. And as much as I'd be happy for her to find her long lost family, she's been through too much pain already. I wanted to protect her from even more.

But now that we're in a hospital, talking about my daughter possibly having inherited some kind of...what? Disease? Finding out if Sierra's father's family has something our kids can inherit seems far more important.

"Mommy," Allie cries, holding her hands out for Sierra. "Arms." With a nod from Dr. Sokolov, Sierra rushes over to our daughter, picking her up and holding her close for some cuddles.

Without thinking about the time, I give Cody a call. He's about to murder me when he picks up, but I don't let him. "I need you to give me the phone number of Sierra's father. It's really important." The second I mention Sierra's name, Dr. Sokolov stares at Sierra like she's some kind of puzzle that has to be solved.

Half asleep, Cody manages to groan. "Huh? What for?" That means he has the number, right?

"I'll explain later."

"Nah, dude. You're calling me at three in the morning wanting some man's phone number because it's important...I demand an answer now." Not that he has a right to.

"It's about Sierra's health history or whatever. I just need to know if her father's side of the family has hereditary illnesses." I can hear him gasp through the phone. "Sierra is fine. But Allie has a fever and we're kind of at the hospital right now, getting asked too many questions we have no answers for—"

"I'll send it to you." Alright, good. He hangs up, and a second later my phone chimes to signal that Cody has sent me the phone contact of Michael Emerson.

"Do you want to talk to him or...?" Sierra shakes her head. I can tell she has way too many questions inside that head of hers, yet she doesn't know which ones to ask first.

"Can I put her clothes back on?" Sierra asks as I click dial on my phone.

I'm not sure what they're saying next because that's when a man picks up the phone with a slightly confused sounding "Hello?"

"Is this Michael Emerson?" I ask, getting a confirming "yes" in response, at the same time as Dr. Sokolov's eyes snap to mine with surprise. Something about her expression doesn't seem right, but I ignore it. "I'm Atlas Storm..." fuck, how does one start this kind of conversation?

"The CEO?"

"Yes, but I'm not calling for work reasons or anything." Though I wish I was. "I'm married to your daughter. One you probably have no knowledge of existing. Though, if you know me you have probably heard of her as well. Her name is Sierra Bloom, well Storm ever since we're married—" why am I stalling? I don't get nervous. The Atlas Storm doesn't even know what nervous feels like. "But that's not really important right now. Do you happen to know of some illnesses that could be passed down in your family?"

He's quiet for a long while, but I can't blame him. I mean, I did just drop a whole "you have a daughter you don't know of" bomb on him. At three in the morning.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Storm, could you repeat your question, I kind of zoned out." I can, and I do, because that's the only thing right now that truly matters. Getting an answer to this very question. "My mother had a genetic disease that could be passed down through family members."