The Reunion

Chapter 4 - Karlie

"Kar?" Dwayne asked in a very raspy voice. He sounded like he had smoked an entire pack of cigarettes before going under. "Is- is that really you?"

"Yeah, Dad. It's me." Karlie said quietly as she stood up slowly. It felt too awkward and left her feeling out of place to stand next to him, so she stood at the foot of the bed.

"You came all the way here?" Dwayne whispered. "What are you doing here?" he asked, coughing from the pain of speaking.

"Your sister called me. I tried to get here as soon as I could." She told him.

"Lisa? Why did she call you?"

"She's on a vacation with Uncle Jack. She said she wouldn't make it here in time." Karlie said plainly.

He flopped his head back onto his pillow, looking at the ceiling. "Oh... right. Her cruise." He let out an exacerbated sigh. "You didn't have to come here."

"You had a heart attack, Dad." Karlie lifted one shoulder and dropped it. "Who else should she have called?"

He shook his head, not having an answer. "Why now Karlie? Why come back after all these years?"

"She wanted someone to be here for you... with you. So here I am, Dad. I know I'm not the first person you want to see, but ..." She trailed off almost deflated. She could hear his heart monitor picking up in pace. The beeping sped faster and faster.

"K, maybe let's not do this right now-" Kaia started, but Dwayne cut her off.

"It's not like you come around anymore anyway. Not like you want to. I wouldn't want to mess with your perfect life down there. He said, determined to stare a hole into the ceiling tile.

"Mr. Harris, it's important for your recovery to try and stay calm," Kaia did her best to try and reassure him, but it was to no avail.

Karlie sighed, shaking her head. "You know why I don't come here anymore. So, don't act all innocent now." Karlie turned to her things, shoving her tablet into her bag. "I didn't come here to fight, Dad," she said softly as she turned back to him. "I came to make sure you were alright."

He scoffed at her words.

"Mr. Harris, I must urge you to take a few deep breaths. Now might not be the best time for this. You need to rest."

"Rest?" he rolled his head to look at Kaia, face full of confused shock, "while she's here? She doesn't want to be here." He looked at Karlie, "just go home, Kar. Just go home and forget about me here."

Karlie didn't want to be upset. She didn't think anything would have set her off so quickly. But here she was standing in the same room with her father and her old high school best friend. Both of whom had completely dropped her, stopped caring about her and let her down in so many ways.

"You wrote me off after your mother died. It's as if you wished I had died instead of her. Don't think I don't know that." In the corner of Karlie's eye, she could see Kaia stiffen, wanting to back out of the room and not be present for this conversation. Hell, Karlie didn't want to be there either. "You didn't want to be there anymore."

Thanks to all the virtual therapy calls she had had over the years she could see through all the harsh words he spewed. His guilt and self-hatred were aimed at her. Whether he meant how he felt towards her or not, she knew he was still mad at life and the fact that her mother was taken from him.

Karlie zipped her bag closed a bit too aggressively, the sound stinging the tense air around them. As she spun on him, she threw the bag over one shoulder. "You know exactly why I stopped coming around. And it wasn't entirely because Mom died. So, stop blaming her." she said sharply. She couldn't help it; every time she thought of him or heard his voice it raised a hot anger within her. To now finally hear how he thought of her, even after all these years, the white rage took over every sense in her body.