The Mercenary's Daughter

Silas was a mercenary in a violent merc group, he was one of the top guys. Eleven years ago he married his love, but she died in a tragic accident about 7 years ago. They lived near a nuclear power plant and one day something went wrong and the plant failed and radiation leaked into the city. The radiation sickness killed his wife, who was a worker at the power plant. Silas barely managed to evacuate with his 2 year old daughter. They did not manage to make it out unscathed however. Both of them were exposed to high level radiation and had to undergo treatment. To this day Silas lives with the after effects of his radiation poisoning and gets sick occasionally because of it. His daughter however, is not so lucky. Due to her weak immune system and young age at the time of exposure her radiation poisoning affects her in a differently and worse way. After a year of exposure his daughter's skin began to mutate and darken. Her skin started to look like the bark of an ash tree, and because of this Silas couldn't send her to school, for fear of his daughter being bullied and teased. His daughter, now nine, lives in the hospital and is slowly dying of an unknown disease caused by the radiation. Her skin is rough and dark and most people who see her are disgusted by it. Silas still treats her like she is perfectly normal however, and visits her whenever he is allowed the opportunity. Her medical bills are expensive though, so he is constantly on missions earning money to pay for her medical expenses. His daughter was smart though, so she could tell she was different. She would always ask why she looked different from everyone else. Silas would always give her the same answer "Because you are special sweetheart, and everyone else is jealous that you are so special, because you have this cool feature no one else has, and that's what makes you unique" and she would always smile and forget about it for a while. One day, the doctors took Silas aside and talked to him about her condition.

The doctors sat him down in their office and began in a solemn tone "We have been trying to cure your daughter for a while now, but it seems the best we can do with our current treatment is delay the inevitable...unless something changes in her, or we make a breakthrough, I am afraid your daughter will die within the next year. The likelihood that we will be able to save her is.....highly improbable. I am sorry but, your daughter is most likely going to die. At this point in time there is nothing more we can do for her. Even if we did everything we possibly could it would do nothing for her. She is too far gone and treatment will no longer have an effect on her. We have extended her lifespan as far as we can so far and now we have reached the end point of our abilities. Our advice would be to take your daughter out of the hospital and spend as much time with her as you can, make her last year of life one filled with memories" the doctor finished. Silas sat in silence with his head hung low. He remained silent for a few minutes before speaking.

"You are absolutely sure there is nothing else that can be done then. Very well. Let's have her discharged. I will make sure my daughter dies with no regrets" He said in a pained tone.

Three days later his daughter was discharged and he took her home. He had kept her room exactly the way it was, and made sure it stayed clean for her. She had been in the hospital for about 2 years. As soon as she saw her room she smiled and ran to her bed. "Daddy it's been so long since I've seen my room! I missed my bed so much!" She exclaimed. Silas cracked a smile and replied. "I kept it just the way you liked it. Also I got you this as a homecoming present" Silas said as he pulled a large stuffed bunny from the bag he was carrying. She squealed in delight and hugged him tightly. She held the bunny close to her chest and looked up at Silas. She has the cutest smile in the whole world Silas thought to himself. In that moment, with her looking up at him clutching that bunny, Silas knew without even thinking that she was everything, his whole world, and if he could live in that moment for all of eternity, he would. He also knew that nothing lasts forever, and that his whole world would come crashing down in only one year. She looked up at him and asked "Daddy, can I go to school? I want to make friends and live like a normal kid from now on" her smile was too sweet for him to resist. It was too painful for him to tell her that she was going to die, but he thought, maybe somewhere inside, she knew, but was ignoring it. He knew she might be teased or bullied at school, but he would be damned if he would let that happen, if any kid dares to bully her they will have to deal with him. Silas hugged his daughter tightly before patting her on the head and saying "I have a bit of work to do alright sweetheart? So you can just go play wherever, don't worry about making a mess I'll clean it up for you. Just try not to break anything alright sweetie?" Silas said gently. She nodded with a smile, still hugging her white bunny. Silas gave her a kiss on the cheek before heading downstairs to his study. Silas didn't want her to have to waste her time cleaning up after herself, he just wanted her to enjoy this last year as much as possible, and he would do anything to make that happen.