Oh Zoe

05 | A FATHER NO MORE

"Zoe, eat your breakfast," Leon instructed.

Zoe stared at the floating Wheat-Bix in disgust. Her stomach had been tying itself in knots since last night when she was informed about her father. Since then, the last thing she wanted to do was eat breakfast.

"I'm not hungry," Zoe whined.

Leon groaned. Zoe had been sitting at the table for the last hour, refusing to eat her breakfast. And Leon was having as much luck as Luca.

Leon left Zoe at the table after ordering her not to move and went to find Elliot. He was in the twin's room helping Bella pack her and Zoe's daypacks for the hospital.

"Zoe's still refusing to eat," Leon said as he popped his head in. Then he went off to his own room, already drained of energy because of his sister and last night.

Elliot finished packing the bags, then ventured downstairs to find Zoe slumped at the table, sleeping. Zoe had only slept for a maximum of three hours in Leon's room, so Elliot decided to let her sleep and address her eating later.

The rest of the crew were separately getting ready, and all secretly dreading the visit to their father. It was not that they didn't want to see him, they just didn't want to see him with a tube down his throat and machines pumping his heart.

When they were finally ready to go at 9, Elliot quietly lifted Zoe from the table and carried her to the car. She dozed the rest of the way to the hospital.

They reached the hospital after a good hours long drive. With Zoe and her father's disability, their mother was always worrying about the time it took to get to the hospital. Was it enough time to take a life?

Zoe had woken up sometime in the car trip. Everyone got out and checked they had everything before they went inside.

Mari had texted Elliot earlier about the information on Rodney's room. He was on the seventh floor in a single bed area. He had been moved to a ward soon after emergency declared they couldn't do anything further.

They took the elevator and Zoe's grip on Elliot's hand was crushing. She was so scared to be walking the halls of a hospital without her father at her side. He had promised when she was young that every check-up she had to have, they'd go together. But now he had broken his promise.

Elliot and Zoe led the way though the ward to bed 3, the others following closely behind. When Zoe saw the grey door with big imprinted 'BED 3' letters on it, she panicked.

"Ell!" Her voice was wobbly as she called for her brother. "I can't. I don't want to go in anymore. I want to go home." She clung to Elliot's waist fiercely. She was so scared the hospital was going take her dad away.

"Zo, mum's in there. Everyone is. Nothing's going to happen. You'll be fine," Elliot brushed off. He had figured that Zoe was still tired from only recently waking up.

Elliot went to pick Zoe up, hoping the contact would sooth her dramatics. "No!" Zoe pushed his hands away. "I want to go home!" She whined. Sobs were now raking through her body and sending her into a fit of shakes.

"We'll meet you in there," Leon said as he guided Bella into the room. Luca followed.

Dismay was starting to settle into Elliot's bones. Zoe didn't even know how critical their fathers condition was and she was already in hysterics.

"Zoe. You really need to see dad, okay?" Elliot didn't know how to phrase the next part to an 11-year-old. He bent down on his knees for a better position. "Dad . . . He's not well, Zo. The doctors don't know if he's going to wake up, so we have to spend as much time with him as we can before . . . before we can't anymore."

Zoe knew what he was saying. She wasn't dumb like everyone thought she was. Her father was dying, dead.

Zoe burst into a fresh round of tears and collapsed to the floor. Elliot caught her before her knees hit the ground. Then swung her up and walked into the room as he left a few of his own tears slip.

Mari beside them immediately. She had heard her emotional daughter from inside the room, along with the rest of the family.

Mari took Zoe from Elliot and started with her tactics in comforting her daughter.

All of Rodney's children were now in the room where he lay on his deathbed. Hollie was cuddled up with Bella on a small window seat, both avoiding looking at their father and instead gazing toward the vast landscape of the city.

The others were all scattered about, quietly talking to each other. Ava was beside Rodney's bed, gripping her father's hand while staring at nothing. Nobody knew how to feel. Their father was here, but he was absent.

Zoe eventually calmed down enough to actually see her father. She had promised her mother she would be brave, for her father. But she couldn't stop her lip from wobbling as she saw his bruised and battered motionless body.

"Daddy's not coming back," Zoe stated. After now seeing her father, she had enough information to make it a statement, not a question.

Zoe's realisation triggered something deep in Mari and she sobbed into her daughter's hair. Mari couldn't cope without her other half, her friend, her husband. He was the world she lived in, the only star in her sky. And he was gone.

Mari was so overcome by her despair and retching sobs that she couldn't respond to Zoe. Ava noticed her mother's reaction and rose to bard in. Zoe was placed on the floor so Ava could lead their mother out for fresh air.

"I'll get Zoe and Bella some food from downstairs. Does anyone want anything?" Elliot asked.

They all bombed him with their orders for lunch, then took the lift with Pete – who was forced to come so he could help carry everything back up.

Zoe was still standing were her mother had left her. Hollie outstretched an arm as invitation for Zoe to join them, and she gladly laid down with her sisters. Bella was squished between the window and Hollie, Zoe on her sister's other side. They were like a big, fat ball of love and cuddles.

Leon and Luca sat on a twin sofa with red eyes while they waited for their food. The staff had brought in more comforting surfaces as a respectful gift from the hospital. Rodney was a well know doctor were he worked and had had the best doctors investigate his situation, but he was officially marked braindead last night after extensive tests.

Ava and Mari returned after a short break, then Elliot and Pete in the next half hour. They had bought enough food for their mother and sister as well, knowing they needed to eat more than ever. Their mothers deep, black eyes and drawn face showed she had not cared for herself properly since the news of her husband's accident.

For a change, Zoe ate her lunch willingly and silently, not having enough energy to cause a scene and refuse. She only ate half, but it satisfied Mari that she ate least ate something.

The day continued on. Bella and Zoe occupied themselves with books and colouring pages they had packed while the older siblings took turns mourning their father.

Everyone was sorrow filled and torn with only one thought left in the back of their minds; this was the last time all the Taylor family would be together.