Convergence of Fate {Leon x Oc}

Chapter 28: Pale straw of liquid amber

Megan glanced up at her father, tears dripping down to the hospital bed. "What happened?..."

Frank answers her question, "He got into a bad car accident... the man was going over the speed limit and collided with a truck. Thank god he survived but... he's been through surgery to get where he is now..."

Megan glanced at Frank in slight disbelief. "But Dad knows not to do that... was he chasing some runaway? A bank robber? A man on the run?"

Jake gently squeezed her hand. "No, sweet pea... it was none of those things," he said hushedly. "Your old man had too much to drink, and well... things happened."

"Drinking...?" Her voice ached. She looked back at him, not wanting to ask how or why he went back to drinking. She could recall the only times he ever drank was when her mother left them when she was only five years old. With all those empty bottles on the table, she would stand by the door frame of her room to see her father sobbing as he slouched over the table.

The bottles would increase a bit and so would the times he would bicker for the littlest things. It got to the point where Frank had to step in and watch Megan, trying to help his best friend get his shit together or he would be forced to have Megan taken away by child services.

She remembers cleaning up the bottles to try and help him out a bit in the house or gently rubbing his back to soothe him from his heartache. It lasted for a few months till nearly a year and she did her best to get him to stop drinking. When he finally stopped, she made it her life goal to make sure he never relapsed like that again. But somehow in the back of her head, she felt like she was responsible for his relapse of drinking.

Jake could sense the tension in her shoulders as she held his hand tightly. He gently lifted his hand to wipe the tears off her cheek. "Sweetheart... don't make that face... you need to know that this was just an accident..."

"An accident...? You could have died." She stated. Her tears hit the bed. "Why Dad... Was it my fault...? Did my outburst and leaving you cause this...? I didn't... I was just... I'm so sorry Dad..."

"No, Megan... Don't blame yourself for this. This was my fault and no one else's. Truth is... I drank because I was worried that I lost you for good... Ever since the day you left, it felt like hell... Leon was here to keep me company, but I couldn't forgive myself for pushing you away like that..."

He deeply sighed. "I was stubborn... my folks were not very emotional or all that... especially my father. He would tell me that I didn't need to show much emotion to prove a point or something... I know he was wrong, that's why I never spoke to them again... But knowing that I didn't do the same thing to you... made me realize that I was no better... so I decided to swallow my pride and take the first step... by the way, did you ever get that letter I sent you when you were at the police academy...?"

Megan felt guilt for not even reading the letter he sent her, not wanting to tell the truth, she nodded. Her nod made him smile a bit. "That's good... I was worried you'd throw it away or something..."

She shook her head. "I would never... I cherished it... knowing that you wrote to me... made me feel like we can fix things... I... I'm sorry I didn't write back..."

"No need to apologize... you were probably too busy studying, so I understand. You were always deep in the books when it came to wanting to reach your dreams... and I wanted to see you guys graduate, I bet you took many pictures..."

Leon softly smiled. "We sure did... we can show you the many pictures I took while being there." He pulled out his phone to show them the many photos he had taken. After a while, the doctor comes in. "I'm afraid visiting hours are over, you can come back tomorrow if you like."