The Other Branning ~ Eastenders

Love you, Dad

Grace, Lee and Johnny were making their way through Walford hospital, trying to find Ollie's ward. "Lee, Grace, Ollie's gonna be ok, he's one of us after all. A Carter." Johnny was hopeful, "he's our little brother and were here for him if he's not ok. And then there's Mum and Dad, who could think of two people better to deal with this than them? They're the strongest people I know and they won't let Ollie be any different to other kids. They managed to keep strong when I was born, they can do it for Ollie too, we all know it. Dad will forgive Nancy soon anyway, I'm sure of it." Johnny nodded. Grace was distracted.

"Lee, they're shouting Jack Branning, through there..." She was confused. She stopped walking the same way as the Carter brothers and towards where her Dad was being shouted for.

Lee sighed. "I'll catch you up, Johnny." He then proceeded to run after Grace. "Gray, I don't think you can just walk through here, only Doctors and Nurses and hospital people are allowed through here." He tried to guide her out. Grace was frozen in place. Slowly, her arm lifted and she pointed, shakily, to a bed in the far corner.

"That's my Dad." She whispered, in shock.

"Excuse me, Sir, Miss, you shouldn't be in here." A Nurse tried to shoo them out. Grace and Lee stood their ground.

"That's my Dad, what's wrong with my Dad?" Grace demanded. "His names Jack Branning and I'm Grace Branning, his eldest child. Tell me what is wrong with my Dad. Just tell me!" Grace was on the verge of shouting at them. The Nurse sighed.

"Ok, your father is in a critical conditional. He was found washed up along the coast. we don't know how or why this has happened, but he is not in a good way. He has pneumonia and a pneumothorax, which is a punctured lung. We don't know if Jack is going to make it through the night." The Nurse paused. Grace couldn't take it all in. The man who had looked after her all her life, who she adored and loved endlessly, her Dad, was most likely going to die that same night. "You're both welcome to sit with him tonight." The Nurse told them.

Grace nodded a little, she couldn't take her eyes off of Jack. "Lee, can you go home and get Amy? We should be here with him if these are going to be his last moments. You'll have to go and get her early from school. I couldn't live with myself if Amy and I didn't stay with him." She asked her fiancé.

"Yeah, I'll go now. Babe? Everything's going to be ok, I promise you." Lee hugged Grace quickly before making his way out and in the car to get Amy. Grace shakily made her way over to her Dad, it was as if her legs had just stopped working properly. Seeing her Dad, lying there so vulnerable, when he was the strongest person she knew, had shaken her up and she didn't know how to deal with it. Jack's eyes darted over to meet his eldest daughters, he was full of sympathy and hurt.

Jack knew he wasn't going to live to walk Grace down the aisle, meet his grandkids, see Amy grow up, tell Roxy how he really felt about her. "Dad?" Grace wasn't sure if he could hear her.

Jack placed his hand on Grace's and took his oxygen mask off. "I'm here, Grace, I'll always be here." He wheezed out, shoving his oxygen mask back on weakly and taking deep breaths, he relied on that mask to keep him alive. He took it off again. "I'm going to die tonight," he had tears in his eyes, "But I'll never stop being your Dad and I'll never, EVER, stop loving you and Amy." He promised, leaning back and taking deep breaths from his oxygen mask again. "I'll always be with you, wherever I am, don't even doubt it." He spluttered.

"Who did this to you?" Grace sat down by his bedside, she would make them pay for killing her Dad. Jack shook his head. "Just tell me, please." Grace begged.

"Some hitmen." He told his eldest daughter. "Ronnie hired them." He coughed. "I left her for Roxy, she didn't like it. If she couldn't have me, then Roxy definitely wasn't going to." He weakly explained. "But it doesn't matter now, its done. Rox will be here soon. I wanted her to sit with me while I die, I didn't want to put you or Amy through it."

"There's no way I'm leaving you. You've never left me in my life, you've been the best Dad I could ever want. I-I don't know what I'm going to do without you." Tears streamed down Grace's cheeks.

Jack managed to reach up and wipe his daughters tears away. "I used to do that when you were five and couldn't find your favourite dolly." He managed a weak chuckle. "You're going to have a fantastic life, that's what you're going to do. You're going to live life in the moment and not let anything worry you, because you never know when it might end. You and Lee are going to have a happy marriage and he'll love you endlessly, because you're the most beautiful and kind girl in the world. I'm so proud and grateful that I got to be your Dad, and Amy's. And nobody can ever take that away from us." He held his daughters hand as tightly as he could. Grace could feel him slipping away. "You're my little girl."

"Dad, no-"

"Gracie, don't fight this. We can't fight it anymore. I'm a goner, but you aren't. This isn't goodbye, its just see you later. You will see me again, Grace. Because I'm your Dad and I love you." Jacl told her as he closed his eyes and his hand went limp in Grace's. Grace burst into tears.

"Love you, Dad."