Right Uppercut

Chapter 15

"I was thinking about something the other day," I broke the silence of my dad's hospital room.

Today was the day I was going to meet my long-lost aunt and I was having mixed feelings. She would be showing up in his room any minute now and I was salvaging the last few minutes of peace with my dad alone. I knew that once someone else was involved, they would takeover, as some desperately needed caretaker of a situation lacking a mother figure.

Obviously, I disagreed and already had a feeling I wouldn't like her, which isn't fair of me because she might be a very nice lady. But I also felt protective of my dad, who hadn't said anything bad about her, but I think it was enough to know that she took their dad's side. The fact that they hadn't spoken since then told me enough.

"What's that?" my dad heaved, glancing up at me from the newspaper I brought him. Things weren't looking any better for his health. I didn't want to, but I was losing hope. He was no longer my father, the one I knew BMD (Before Mom Died) and he barely even reminded me of the dad I knew AMD (After Mom Died).

"I always gave you a hard time about your pot-belly," I began, filling in a number in my sudoku puzzle. "But I actually really miss it."

He chuckled, but his laugh was empty, no longer filled with love and happiness. "That is true. You and your mother always tried to get me to work it off, but I liked it."

"I liked it, too," I smiled, looking at his disappearing figure. His doctor, my mom, and I always tried to get him to lose weight so that he could avoid potential health issues, but he always said that as long as he could wake up to see the next day, what was wrong with a coffee in the morning and a Twinkie at night?

In retrospect, I wish I didn't give him such a problem about it.

"Well, I'm sure I'll gain it all back as soon as I get out of this hellhole."

He was looking back at some article he was skimming, but every time we talked about what would happen when he got better, his eyes seemed as hopeful as I was beginning to feel. It broke my heart. I didn't want to be the kid who lost both her parents. I wanted to be the adult that saved her father when he felt like he had nothing else to live for. I didn't want to write him off as dead already, but I couldn't help but feel that his words were just words to make me feel better, not words he actually believed.

"Well, I'm sure you'll be on lots of medication that'll limit your meal choices," I replied.

He snorted, his head lolling back and forth on the flat pillow. "Like I follow directions."

I laughed with him. It's true, he always did his own thing. As stubborn as that made him, I loved him for that. It's a quality I liked to think he passed onto me.

He folded up the crinkly, inked paper in his hands. I stood up to help him. "Did she tell you any certain time she would be coming?"

He shrugged. "She said she had to bring someone to some practice or something, then she'd be coming here right after. I forget."

I gritted my teeth. She probably has kids and a happy family, and it made me wonder if they knew about us, if they would know about me after she met me today?

"Wait, Dad," I stopped. "Does she know about me?"

He let out a breath. "Of course! She knew about you since your mother and I found out we were expecting a bundle of joy!"

I ignored his cliché and asked, with eyebrows scrunched together, "So why hasn't she stayed in contact with us?"

He sighed again. "It's a little complicated and I didn't tell you the entire story-sit down, sweetheart." I sat down and leaned in to listen to him. "After I left the family, I wanted to stay in contact with my sister. We were close our entire lives, but our father didn't really know we still spoke."