King's College (Sequel to Too Young and Blind)

Distraught

Peggy

When I walked to Washington's I didn't expect to see a scene straight out of hell. The front windows were all blown out and police cars surrounded the building. I dropped my purse and tried to run inside but somebody caught my arm, "No! No! Where's Maria?! Susan!" I struggled, I needed to find them.

"Let her through," I saw Mr Washington and the man released me so I ran to him and bombarded him with questions but he just sighed, "I'm sorry...Maria's been...the cameras around the house show that she was kidnapped by James Reynolds and he..broke some of Susan's ribs. She's in the hospital but she isn't in a life-threatening condition. Come to the car, I'll take you to Susan." Maria was kidnapped? Susan was in the hospital? Somehow I managed to get to the car despite my shaking.

Alexander

When I find that man I'm going to end his life. Yes, he hurt Maria, but that was enough to reward him with an ass kicking, but a child?! That's enough to fucking kill somebody. She was so small, I could already tell Susan took after her mother, and now she had tubes and bandages all over her body and inside too. She has never looked so fragile, so breakable, so hurt, so damaged. She was barely half a year old and yet she was in the hospital.

"Alexander," I looked down at my hand when John took it and then looked back at his beautiful face, "I know what you're thinking but it would just make more problems than do good. You could get locked up and it just wouldn't be good." He sighed and looked away.

"John, look at Susan." He did and flinched slightly at the sight, "Two days ago that baby was crawling around and chewing on everything. Now she's in the hospital with broken bones and a tube down her throat. If I see that man again I will make him know pain." I kissed the top of John's head, "Because if somebody hurts the people I love or care about then they have to pay. Like your father, like my father, and now James Reynolds."

John looked away, he opened his mouth to talk but a shrill scream interrupted him. Our heads snapped over as Peggy ran in and fell to her knees next to the cot as she kept repeating apologies. After a few moments she looked at us, "Has she even woken up?"

I looked at John and he shook his head, "She hasn't. When paramedics arrived she was awake and screaming but after pain medicine was administered she passed out. The doctor said...coma." He mumbled.

Peggy's face fell into terror again and she slid down to the floor in tears again. She started punching the floor and screaming, I heard her yell both Maria and Susan's name multiple names until I saw dad walk in and pick her up as if she was as light as a baby and sat down with her in his lap. There were a few moments before he began to speak, "I used to have children too, not just you guys, biological children and a wife." He began and I stared at him with John, we'd never heard about this.

Peggy calmed down a little bit and looked at him with teary but confused eyes so he continued, "I had a wife, her name was Martha, Martha Dandridge Washington, and I loved her. I've only recently learned to get over her." He sighed and looked at Peggy, "I had a son with her, his name was Jacky. He had the most beautiful brown eyes and Martha always threaded his eyebrows because he wanted them done." George smiled and looked out the window, "His hair was buzzed short and he was so smart, God he amazed me, he was so smart. We sent him to college a year early and...one night he was jumped. His head hit the cement, he as in intensive care for days before Martha and I had to finally pull the plug." He looked down and closed his eyes. I wanted to pat his shoulder or something but I didn't dare move, "Martha was so...so distraught."

He shook his head and forced a smile again, "We had a daughter, just a few years younger than Jacky. We named her Patsy. She was a daddy's girl, always wearing pink too. She cried if she had to wear what she called boy colors. She and Jacky definitely looked like siblings but she had really long brown hair, she was so beautiful. Then...one night we woke up to screaming and rushed in on her having a seizure. She died before the paramedics arrived, we were told her seizure was classified as SUDEP. It didn't help to know. SUDEP stands for sudden unexpected death in epilepsy by the way...Martha was too distraught with grief and one day I woke up to her hanging from the ceiling fan."

He finally shook his head one last time and looked to Peggy who had more sympathy than anything else, "But guess what?" He smiled softly, "I've lived through losing the love of my life and my children and I can tell when somebody else has or can or will but guess what? This isn't one of those times." He nodded to Susan, "She's one hell of a fighter and I talked with the doctor. She'll pull through soon enough. Plus Maria won't let herself be pushed around and abused anymore after what you've given her and taught her. She'll fight her way back to us soon enough, just you wait." He patted her side and set her on the seat next to him.

Peggy nodded and kept her eyes on her feet, shuffling them back and forth before leaning into dad, "Thank you...I'm sorry that all of that and-and bringing it up but thank you...I-um...it really did help."

Dad nodded, "I know, Margarita, I know." He closed his eyes and I finally came close to understanding maybe half of all this man has been through.