Monsters

Part 3

We entered the room again, and it looked like Dad had been crying a little since his eyes were kind of red, but he still managed a smile when he saw us. 

I climbed up and sat on the edge of his bed, and he took my hand in his. 

"I'd like to speak to my little girl alone, if you don't mind."

The nurse nodded, and left the room. Mom didn't, which caused Dad to look at her. 

"You, too, honey."

Her eyes filled with sadness and understanding, so she slowly got up and left the room.

"Roxy, sweetie," he said quietly. 

I looked at him, and he gently brushed a stray strand of my blonde hair out of my face. 

"I might not be coming home tomorrow. Work got a bit more serious than I thought it would."

I looked at him in confusion. "But you promised you would. Will you be back before lunch?"

He smiled, but I saw his lower lip quiver a little. "I don't know, sweetie. Only God does. But I want you to understand I won't always be around for you. My time here is shorter than you think. God might take me home sooner than I thought, but we never know. So if He chooses to take me home early someday, I need you to promise me you'll stay strong, for both you and your mom. Okay?"

I nodded. "I promise." This was because I thought I knew what he was talking about, but in reality, it was way different. 

He smiled and kissed my hand again. "I love you, Roxy. You'll always be my little girl, no matter what. I'll always watch over you."

A couple minutes later, his heart monitor started to beep frantically, and the nurses and doctor came rushing in, Mom struggling to pull me away from him because I refused to let go of his hand.

"No! Daddy!!" I cried, not understanding what was happening as I looked around the room. But everything was a blur. 

"Roxy! You need to let go so they can help him!" Mom said, panicking. 

"He needs me, Mom! I need to be there for him!" Tears were rolling down my cheeks now, but within minutes, the heart monitor made a final long beep and the line went flat. She let go of me and I ran back to his bed, but his eyes were closed now, tear streaks at the corners of them. 

"Daddy! Wake up!" I cried. "You promised you'd come home!"

The nurse tried to calm me down. "Sweetie, he's gone. There's nothing more we can do. He's at peace now."

I shook him a little, but he didn't wake up. "Daddy!!!" 

Mom was crying now, having collapsed into the chair at the end of the bed, too much in shock to come near us. 

Tears flowing down my cheeks, I fell into him, clinging to him as I sobbed, finally realizing he was gone. The monsters who shot him had won, and he couldn't protect me from them because they'd already killed me, too. They killed a part of me when he left, and there was no one who could protect me from that. The one promise he'd ever break, because of the monsters who killed us.