Dying Wish

Chapter 16

Steven's hands shook as he held the bottle of pills. He was sweating, unsure if the time was right or not. He closed his eyes. He had to do it. He couldn't go insane forever. Slowly, he opened the bottle of pills. He dumped at least thirty into his large hands and grabbed his glass of water. I'll count down from five, he thought. "5...4..." He counted as the pills moved nearer to his mouth. "3...2..." He opened his mouth, ready to take the pills. Ring! Ring! He put the pills back into the bottle. He breathed short sigh of relief. He looked at his phone. His manager, Gary, was calling.

"What?" He asked, irritated.

"Hey," said Gary, "someone called this line for you, but I don't know who she is. She said her name was Aubrey. She said she had a kid with you or something sixteen years ago and wanted to tell you something. I'm only saying something to you because I promised. Do you even know this girl?"

"Yes!" Steven's mood immediately improved, knowing that he could try to make things right with Aubrey and his child whom he did not yet know. "Did she leave a number?"

"Uh, yeah..." Said Gary inquisitively. "Let me give it to you."

"Great, thanks!" Said Steven as he hung up. After hanging up he flushed down the pills and dialed the number, seeking to make things right. He would at least feel better if he tried at all.

"Hello?" A soft, familiar voice answered. Must be Aubrey.

"Is this Aubrey?" Asked Steven.

"No, this is her daughter," said the voice.

Excitement chilled Steven's bones because he thought she might've been his child. "May I please speak to her?"

"Sure."

He was a little nervous, not knowing how Aubrey would respond, but he didn't care.

After a few seconds, a light voice answered. It was like an egg; it was hard- but breakable- and soft on the inside. It was a voice that spoke the tone of the soul. There was still tenderness, but it was covered up. "Hello."

"Hi- uh- Aubrey?" Asked Steven, nervous and clammy.

"Yes, who is this calling?" Asked Aubrey, apparently not recognizing the voice of her ex-boyfriend. She probably blocked it out after he must've caused so much pain for her.

"Steven...it's Steven. My manager told me you called," he said to start.

"Ah, yes," Aubrey responded, "well I have something to tell you."

"As do I," said Steven, cutting her off. "I have to get this off my chest. For sixteen years I've been a huge, selfish jerk. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I abandoned you and our child. I was scared and unprepared, but I know you were too. I should've stuck there with you and gone through it with you. I can't believe I forced you to be a single mother. I'm so sorry."

Aubrey sniffled, finally hearing the genuine words she felt she deserved to hear. Steven left her and their daughter in the dust for selfish, rich fame. "Thank you."

"You deserve it," he said. "I want to send you some money. I want to help. I want to be a part of our child's life. Will you please let me?"

Wow, Aubrey was shocked. Saying all of the things I've wanted to hear forever. "Yes," said Aubrey, "I think that will be fine."

"Thank you, thank you so much!" Thanked Steven, very relieved. He was so glad his pill plan foiled. "So could you tell me about our child?"

"She is the one who answered the phone," said Aubrey. "Her name is Laura. She has a daddy. His name is Andrew. While you were gone I got married to him when she was too little to know anything. She's grown up believing he's her biological father. He never adopted her, though. And we aren't married anymore. I don't know how we'll break the news to her."

Steven was a little disappointed to hear that there was another man she was calling "Daddy," but he supposed it was best because he didn't step up to the plate in the first place. It's not like he could've expected her to wait sixteen years to have a father figure, a daddy. "Okay. I don't know either. Maybe you and Andrew could sit down with her. I don't know if she'll want to see me. But please tell her I want to see her."

"Sure," agreed Aubrey. "We'll get it figured out. I think she needs to know the truth."

He nodded on the other side of the phone, saying, "I agree. What does Laura look like? What color eyes does she have? What does her hair look like? What does she like?"

"She's so pretty," smiled Aubrey, "but I'm not just saying it because I'm her mom. She spends time with her friend Tobias most of the time. Her eyes are green. Her hair changes a lot, because she wears wigs."

"Why wigs?" Asked Steven, confused why a teenage girl would wear wigs.

"She doesn't have hair anymore. Which is actually why I called you," Aubrey sounded less confident now. "She has cancer and has had it for ten years. Chemotherapy made her lose all of her hair. Actually, that's where she met Tobias. They can really identify with each other."

Steven couldn't believe it. He had a daughter who he ignored for sixteen years, that was slowly being killed by cancer for ten years. "Cancer? How bad? Could she beat it?"

"Doctors say no," shrugged Aubrey, "but I say yes. Laura is strong and ha made it this long so she might be able to make it longer. It's pretty severe. It started as a brain tumor but it moved to several spots in her body. She passed out yesterday, which is why I called you. She must be getting worse, because I think she hallucinated. She told me God talked to her."

"Maybe he did," supposed Steven.

"You, of all people, believe in that stuff?" Questioned the stunned Aubrey.

"I know pretty open minded. Anything could happen," said Steven. He never lived as a Christian, but he also didn't completely shut down the idea of God. He only wanted to live as his own and didn't want to serve the Lord.

"Well, whatever. She's going to the doctor for it," said Aubrey. "Should something happen, I just wanted you to know. I want you to have an opportunity to make things right with the both of us."

"I want that too," said Steven.

"Well, I have to go. Keep my number on hand. I'll save yours in my contacts. I'll text you when Andrew and I tell her. Right now I have to go tell him. Bye."

"Bye."