Regal [h.s]

Chapter Fifty Five

"Sweet dreams of holly and ribbon"

♔ ♔ ♔

Harry

Marlie's dad was not in a good way, that much was obvious. He was still in hospital a week later and the press were making it their whole personality. In fact, they were pretty much camped outside the hospital, waiting for some kind of movement.

It hadn't been released to the press of why he was in there or what was wrong with him, but there had been a statement released saying that he had been taken ill. That much was obvious.

We had still been left in the dark over what the actual issue was. Louise refused to contact Amalia and she had even refused to contact Frankie. So we had no idea of what was actually going on.

I could tell it stirred up some slight anxiety within Marlie, though she wouldn't admit it, I could tell that she had been on edge, she'd make sure her phone was with her throughout all hours of the day, she'd sleep with it right next to her, the ringer on full volume just incase she were to get the call.

It was the inevitable now, though we weren't aware of his condition, Estelle had tried to worm her way into the communication team and get some information, we didn't know much but we knew it wasn't looking good.

I think it scared Marlie at first. She seemed upset for a while, but then very quickly had a change of heart and decided that it was none of her business what happened. Her family no longer spoke to her and so I guess in her mind, she had brushed them aside.

She wasn't expecting to hear this news though. I think her initial response was to not care, or at least to act like she didn't care. She completely pushed it away and it seemed as though she really just didn't care. I think she was trying to force herself to care. I think she felt bad that she wasn't in a sobbing mess, so she was trying to act how she thought she had to act.

She was putting on a front and pretending that it bothered her when I knew it didn't. She was moving on. She had bigger and better things to worry about, like providing a happy Christmas for our daughter and making sure she was nice and calm to prevent an early arrival from dinky.

She had a family to worry about now, a real family. So why would she stay hung up on a family who never showed her love? Why would she hang around when she wasn't appreciated for who she really was?

The whole thing seemed strangely confusing, but I was mainly baffled by Marlie's unpredictable emotions. Perhaps it was just hormones but I was treading very lightly over the situation, one moment she didn't care, the next she was constantly checking her phone for updates.