The Forbidden Fruit (DISCONTINUED)

Chapter Four: Never The Right Time...

I could literally feel the color drain from my face. "Tell me exactly what happened to him," I said to Natalie. "All the doctors told me was that his kidneys failed after he fainted." My mind went into lockdown, but my body went into overdrive. I sprang up from the wooden library seat, out shuffled quickly our the door. I struggled to balance my light sweater and my bag while running through the halls, but it didn't matter. My only concern at this point was my father. My dad meant everything to me; no one loves me like he does. If anything happens to him, what's going to happen to me?

I could hear to pairs of feeting running behing me as I zoomed down the stairs. Natalie and Chris came running next to me. I turned to Chris, "You don't have to come with us, Chris. It's not a problem." Chris shook his head. "No, I want to come. I want to be there for you," He said, linking arms with me. His actions comforted me, but weren't enough to console me completely. Natalie reached the ground floor before Chris and I. I busted through the doors of the school without caring who was trying to stop me. Natalie was in the passenger's side of their car, while Alexa was sitting in the driver's seat. Chris and I scurried to the back seat. "Step on it," I mentioned to Alexa, out of breath, before my half of my body was even in the vehicle. Nothing else was important to me at the moment. I just had to see my dad.

Within seconds, the car was going sixty miles per hour. We sped down the interstate, and the wind whipped through my hair, which I decided to let down today. The car was in completely silence. I simply stared out the window. The sun beamed down on me, making my face hot. The collection of Atlanta's skyscrapers laced the horizon. I could feel Chris grab my hand, but I didn't look over at him. My mind and reflexes just weren't in the same place. "Val, don't worry," he said to me. "Your father wouldn't want to see you beat yourself up like that." I didn't respond, but I squeezed his hand back, just to let him know that I was listening.

Alexa pulled up to the emergency entrance of the hospital, and all four of us jumped out the vehicle. When we were in the lobby, I stood at the receptionist desk, out of the breath. The receptionist looked up at me through her glasses. "May I help you?" "I just need to see my dad. Jason Daniels," I said, exasperatedly. That's when Chris and Alexa stood behind me. The receptionist traced her fingers in a thick book on her desk. "Ah, Jason Daniels. He's right in room 248A." That's when she looked up at the three of us. "Only one person is allowed to visit a patient per day." Alexa and I looked at each other. She sighed, "You can go first, Valerie. He's your real father, not mine." I smiled faintly, and hugged her. "Thank you so much." I departed from the group and returned to the receptionist. "I'm going to visit him." She stood up from her desk, and began to walk through some double doors. "Follow me this way." As I followed her through the doors, I mentally prepared myself. I was hoping for the best, but expecting the worst.

The doors led to a long hallway, at the end of which was room 248A. When we arrived at the room, the receptionist put her hand on my shoulder. "He's right in here," she said, with sorrowful eyes. With that, she turned and walked in the opposite direction. I walked into the room to find the inevitable. My father was there, plugged up to a million machines, all of which were helping his stiff body breathe. I immediately started crying; seeing him in this state caused me to cringe. I found my way over to him, and cried on his chest. "What the hell happened, Dad?" I said out loud. "I honestly don't even know, Val," he said back to me, weakly.

I looked up to him in awe; I didn't even know he was conscious. That consoled me, a little. "All I had was a cold, and it escalated." I have flashbacks of him coughing from yesterday. It seemed so harmless... "Did you eat anything out of the ordinary recently?" He thought about it, and shook his head. At that moment, the doorknob to the room turned, and a doctor came in. "Are you his daughter?" I nodded, and sniffled my nose. He proceeded to sit in a chair across the room. "My name is Dr. Simpson. We've been running some test on your father, and it turns out he has a highly rare disease, only found in people with double o negative blood. It's called Diezeitbombe, German for 'time bomb'. It's commonly contracted by construction workers, due to the nature of the elements they work with." This fact sent chills down my spine, knowing that my father was a construction worker. "The disease is harmless if treated within a certain time of catching it. Unfortunately, your father was not treated in time. He's already begun the three final stages." All I could do was stare at the ground, and breathe heavily. "What are the three final stages?" "First, it's flu like symptoms. Your dad already underwent this. Then, it's kidney failure, which already took place. And lastly, the rest of the organs shut down simultaneously. Usually, the heart is last. So that leaves a span of about 3 days to live."

My whole world came to a halt. 3 days to live. The gruesome words echoed off of every inch of my skull. The only thing I could feel was the tears running down my cheeks, for everything else was numb. 3 days to live. In three days, chances are I will be fatherless. I need a miracle. "Ms. Daniels, are you okay?" Dr. Simpson asked me. I looked up at him, even though I couldn't see him through my tears. "Would you be okay if someone told you your dad had three days to live? Not months, not weeks, but days?" I snapped at him. I could feel my dad pat my back. "Val, don't talk to him like that," he said. I could still hear the weakness in his voice. I simply sighed, and rested my head in the palms of my hands. Dr. Simpson stood up. "No, I understand. I'll leave you too alone now." He turned to me, "I wish you all the best, Ms. Daniels." I thanked him, and he escorted hisself out of the room. I looked over to my dad, who was looking over at me. He tried his best to smile through this dire situation. Another of many reasons I admire him. Yet, it only made me more distraught. I cried lightly into his chest. "I don't want to lose you, dad."

"Look at me," he said. I looked up at him, and he cuffed my face with his hands. "Valerie. I want you to stop beating yourself up over me. If anything happens, I wa-" I cut him off, "Don't say that, dad! Nothing's gonna happen!" He sighed, "Val, I know you don't want to accept the fact; no one does, but you have to. It looks like its going downhill from there. So if anything happens, just know that I will always be here with you. Even if its not physical." He reached for his shirt pocket, and pulled out a chain, with a feather pendant. "You may not see it, but I always keep it on me," he said, handing the chain to me, "And now I want you to keep it with you." I fiddled the golden chain in my fingers. "Open it," he said. The feather was a pendant. Inside was picture of me, when I was about 6 months old, my dad, and my late mother.

More tears came to my eyes. I didn't know what to say. My heart felt heavy. "Now you'll always have a piece of me-of us," he said. "I love you, Valerie." "I love you too, Dad." At this point, the tears were readily streaming. "Val, go home, and get some rest. I don't want you worrying about me." I didn't want to leave him here. I simply ignored his suggestion to depart ways and continued to cling to his body. "Valerie, go home. Come back tomorrow. Do it for me, please?" I looked into his eyes, sighed, and did as he wished. Before I left the room, I looked back at him one more time. He mouthed the words, "I love you," and smiled. I faintly smiled back, and left. Every single moment I'm not with my dad is going to kill me inside. I know it. I walked back with the group, who all stood up on my arrival. Chris was the first to approach me. "How's he holding up?" He asked me. I shook my head and sniffled my nose, "Not too well. He wants me to leave and rest until tomorrow, so lets just get out of here." Chris nodded, and the four of us solemnly walked back to the car. Alexa started the engine, but stopped it when the receptionist came running through the doors. "Ms. Daniels! Come back, your dad is suffering the heart failure!"

Just like in the library earlier that day, my mind went into lockdown, but my body went into overdrive. I jumped out the car and ran back into the hospital. I could see dozens of doctors crowding around his room from here. I ran down the long hallway with record time, only to be stopped by the doctors at his door. "No one is allowed in the room at this time, ma'am." I tried my best to get into that room; I kicked, I scratched, and I yelled. All to no avail. "That's my fucking father in there!" I shouted. I did manage to see into the room before they closed the door. I saw his body, convulsing involuntary as doctors around tried to save him. Even more reason to find away inside. That's when Chris, Alexa and Natalie came up behind me, and grabbed all my limbs to prevent any further attempts to get into that room. They kept me in restraint on the floor so the the doctors didn't have to. So I laid there on the floor, and sobbed. And sobbed. And sobbed.

*

Thirty agonizing minutes later, and someone finally came out of the room to speak to us. I sat up with quickness, despite every part of me was aching. "How is he?" I asked, bluntly. The doctor cleared his throat. Hesitantly, he spoke. "I am sorry to inform you..."

"Your father is dead."

The four words you never want to hear. I could hear Alexa scream and start crying behind me, and I could hear Natalie curse up a storm. As for me, I sat there. Numb. Unable to move, cry, think. My tear ducts were probably dried out by now. The scene felt so surreal, like one of those overly realistic dreams. Overly realistic nightmare. Chris came by my side and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "I am so sorry Valerie. I truly am." I continued staring at the ground instead of thanking him. I was a teenage girl with no parents; just an evil stepmother who would now become my legal guardian. My world came crashing down within a matter of hours. How does one handle that? All I could think to do was open the locket. "Now you'll always have a piece of us." I sighed. "Give mom a kiss for me," I whispered.