Broken Promises

Chapter 17

Mikayla POV

"Are you serious?", I asked the doctor.

"I'm afraid so", he said, "I told the nurse to inform you two that this might happen. I'm truly sorry".

My mum was hysterical right now. My dad couldn't be dead. To remove the bullet had to be such a simple procedure.

"I'm sorry", the doctor continued, "the bullet was too close to his spine. There was nothing we could do".

I could feel the tears hitting my shirt, and my mum was pulling my arm. I could hear her muttering to herself, and I knew she was losing it. My mum didn't handle loss well. When my brother died, she took it harder than I did. Sure, she got over it quicker than I did, but she initially took it harder. She didn't talk to me or my father for weeks. She alienated her friends, and she lost like 50 pounds.

"Honey, why is this happening?", she asked me through her sobs.

I didn't really have an answer for her.

"Give it a couple days, and you can take him home", the doctor told us.  

My mom stopped crying abruptly.

"Home?", I asked, "Why would we want to take a corpse home?"

"Corpse? Your dad isn't dead. What gave you that idea?"

"You shook your head!", I told him, "what else was I supposed to think?"

"I told the nurse to assure that he wouldn't die! And, he didn't! You're smart. I thought you realized that".

He had a point.

"So, what did happen? What were you referring to?"

"Your father is paralyzed", he said, "he won't ever be able to walk again. But...he is not dead".

I could practically hear my mom smile.

"He's alive?!"

The doctor smiled at us and nodded.

"He is very much alive. I think he's awake, actually. Go ahead and go see him".

I pushed past the doctor and ran in there to see him. When I opened the door, a face was beaming at me.

"There's my girls", he said.

My mom quickly kissed him and wrapped her arms around my father.

"I'll leave you two alone", I told them.

"No, you will not", he said, "come here for a second".

My dad patted the seat beside him, and my mom walked to the opposite side of the room. I sat beside him, and he smiled at me.

"Your mother tells me that you and Louis broke up".

"Mum tells you stuff that you don't need to worry about. It's unimportant".

"No, it's not. You're in love. That's never unimportant".

"That doesn't matter, Dad".

"Yes, it does. You love Louis. And, I've seen the way that he looks at you. He loves you too. So, what's the problem? At your age, that's all someone should want".

"It's not that easy!", I shouted, "love isn't enough".

"What is up with your depressing view on love, honey? What made you this way? Why do you believe that?"

"If love were enough, then Mike would still be here!"

"Wait. What?"

He and my mum were confused.