Soar With Me (✔️)

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲-𝐓𝐰𝐨

Evelyn

"You can see him. He's in room seven." Iris, the nurse, says with an affable smile.

"Thank you." With my spine straight, I stride down the hallway and open the door. The room spreads into a small space that is painted a green pastel color with brown furniture.

"Hello." The masculine voice catches all of my attention.

"Hi. I'm Evelyn." I wave at him and flash a bright smile hoping it'll make him feel comfortable.

"Evelyn. Such a gentle name. I'm Oscar Melgren." The softness with which he speaks melts my heart like ice cream.

The man in front of me is my dad. But now he's a stranger.

"Oscar, I'd say you have a rather sophisticated name." My heart cracks inside. I'm supposed to call him dad.

"Exactly. I don't even watch the Oscars."

I relish his voice.

"Can I come in?" With his approval, I proceed and take a seat on the couch. Dad sways back and forth on a rocking chair and somehow the movements bring me peace.

"I've never seen you here before."

My mouth dries up quicker than my throat. How will I get through this?

"This is my first time."

"And you've chosen to spend your time with me?" The gentle way with which he teases me drives me back to childhood.

"Yes. I wanted to be closer to..." you because I miss you so fucking much.

Setting aside his crisp newspaper he folds his hands in his lap and stares at me inquisitively.

"You look, distressed child. Can I help you?"

Get out of here. My mind chants.

"I'm fine." I lie, hating myself on the inside.

"Huh! Those words. I say them all the time. Sometimes I mean them. Sometimes I don't. Which one is it for you?"

A laugh breaks through me and liquefies the tension brewing in the room.

"The latter." My teeth gnaw on my lower lip as my heart speeds up in my chest.

"Tell me. I've heard I'm a good listener."

Dad used to be a terrible listener. However, mom, on the other hand, excelled at it. I would always run to her to whisper my worries into her ears. And she'd always listen to them.

The delicate organ in my chest punctures with the bullets of memories. Pain streams through all of the chambers, filling them with a sense of loss and grief.

"There's this man that I love, I mean loved. We met in high school and quickly became best friends. I fell in love with him but he broke my heart." My eyes find dad and I notice how engrossed he is in my story. "It's been a decade and now he's back. I see him trying hard to make up for what he ruined between us. But I can't let go of the past. The pain he gave me is still somewhere inside of me. And to be honest I'm scared. That he'll hurt me again."

"I understand."

I know he doesn't. He doesn't remember mom or the things they two went through. He doesn't even remember me. I'm sitting right in front of him.

There's a lot that I don't wish people to ever experience in life. Dealing with a memory loss parent ranks on the top of that list. Watching them trying to piece together the past is heart-wrenching.