Turmoil | Spruceworth 5.1 (#Wattys2018)

Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Holden

       Like Shaw promised, he was right there with me when I woke up from the surgery. And even though he gave me a smile as soon as I looked at him, I couldn't help but notice the saddened look on his face. "Are you okay?" I asked.

       Shaw furrowed his eyebrows. "You just woke up from surgery, and you're asking how I am?"

       "Well, you look upset," I said. "And it's obvious how I'm doing. Weak and a little tired. So you?"

       "Apart from the fact that everyone has turned their backs on me, I'm great," Shaw said, making me utterly confused. He noticed the confused look on my face, so he continued. "When you were in surgery, Viola texted me saying there was some sort of emergency. And I thought soemthing happened to her, so I rushed over."

       "Was she okay?" I asked.

       "Yeah," Shaw said. "It was just to get me to her house where your parents, my dad, Viola, and Kendra were to stage some kind of intervention. And it was like they completely turned their backs on me. They're expecting me to just suddenly stop drinking but it doesn't work like that. And to make things worse, Kendra won't let me see the kids until I'm sober again."

       "What?" I asked. "That's not fair. It's not like you'll be drunk or drinking around them. A lot of adults drink when they have kids."

       "Yeah, I know," Shaw said. "She just thinks I'll be violent and unpredictable. And part of me knows she's right."

        "But it's still not fair of her to not let you see them at all," I said. "Maybe once in a while or when she knows you're not drinking, but not at all? That can't be fair. Or allowed. You have joint custody."

       "She can get full custody if she wants," Shaw said. "That's how messed up my life is. The judge will see that I'm unfit to be a father and that's a lot worse than Kendra deciding I shouldn't see them."

       "Shaw, you're not an unfit father," I said. "You're an amazing father and you'll do anything for your kids. You would never hurt them."

       "You're the only one that thinks that," Shaw said as he looked down. "Everyone else just assumes I'm going to self-destruct soon. They don't understand that I've worked hard to be who I am now. All they see is my past."

       "I'm really sorry, Shaw," I said. "I wish there was something I could do."

       "You're already doing enough," Shaw said. "Believing in me when no one else does. Seeing me for who I am now and not who I was a few years ago."

       "Well, part of that is because I was in boarding school then, so I didn't witness it firsthand," I said.

       Shaw actually cracked a smile as he chuckled. "Well, either way, thank you for not giving up on me."

       "I'll never give up on you," I said. "I love you too much, and we did get married for a reason."

       "I love you too," Shaw said, still with a thin smile on his face.

       There was a sudden knock on the hospital door, so I looked over to see Jane standing there. "I'm not interrupting something, am I?" she asked.

       "No, you're not," Shaw said before gesturing for her to come in.

       Jane walked over and sat on the chair on the other side of the hospital bed. "How did the surgery go?" she asked.