Our Sick Inheritance (editing)

Chapter 52 - Who's Important

Colin loved waking to mornings like this, with her soft long golden hair lying lazily on his naked body and arm that her head rested on. He watched her sleep then a frown creased his brow and anger started to fill his eyes. He jerked his arm from under her and she disappeared into the bed.

Thoughts of what he needed to accomplish today filled his mind. He felt strong and alive. Colin was excited at the prospect of getting some alone time with the house. He finally felt energized but jumped out of bed too fast, got dizzy and fell to the floor. The shock from such a quick fall allowed him to do everything he could mentally not to pass out. Once the flashes of stars he was seeing left his vision, he stood up. His body was sore as if he had just skied three of the tallest mountains in the world consecutively. Sometimes Colin forgot he was sick, or at least he tried to. He wasn't going to let it beat him today. He was going to ignore that his body was being eaten alive of cancer.

Though he was able to regain his composure from passing out, he was not able to ignore the instinct to puke, so Colin ran for the bathroom door. He hated starting his day this way, deep mind jolting pains that resulted in vomiting. Trying to clean himself up, Colin spat blood into the sink when he coughed and washed away the offending color. Every morning was the same, hacking out the inside of his lungs without ever having been a smoker. He didn't feel it was fair and thought this could be payment for his sins. If so, he hoped to go quickly for he didn't think he could handle this for more than a few months again. Not that the doctors gave him that length of the timeline, he just knew his luck was running out. Often, he began to wish for death before the real pain came, but he always stopped halfway through the prayer in case it happened. Colin wanted to have everything in order when he passed and wasn't ready to relax enough to let death take over. The paranoia that he was losing precious time too quickly as it was made him get out of bed every day and function the best he physically could. He was happy his mind was stronger.

The warm misty steam of his shower layered his skin with warmth as his mental contradictions volleyed back and forth. Hot wet mists bounced off the walls in smoky clouds.

"I miss you." A familiar female voice whispered and slipped up behind him, wrapping her arms around his body in the steaming shower.

"I miss you too love." He said as he soaped up his body with her weightless touch. He knew Dana's ghost in his shower was a short-term fix for his aching muscles that even his imagination couldn't loosen up but it was worth the effort. The memories of their showers together fueled his needs.

Afterward, clothes hung slightly on his body from the loss of weight he was fighting to keep. She watched as he dressed. He was fascinated by her and still couldn't believe she had forgiven him. Without movement, she laid on his bed under the covers, as if waiting for him to return. It was going to be impossible to get rid of her Colin knew. He blew her a kiss and watched her fade away as he had things he needed to finish.

Colin checked his phone and listened to a message his daughter left him the night before after he had fallen asleep.

"Hi Daddy, I just wanted to tell you I love you and I am settled in at the lodge. I'm having a blast. We stopped for skiing and got in a few hours before ordering room service goodies. I accidentally knocked over a lady on her honeymoon and she hurt her ankle, so I paid for their week. I didn't think you would mind considering I saved you a hospital bill which would have been three times more. You're welcome!" (Anna then laughed into the phone.) "I have to go because we are watching scary movies. I hope you are having a good time too. I love you, Daddy, please eat, bye bye." Colin smiled at Anna's message.

Colin relaxed even more. His shower left him feeling invigorated. From his thoughts, he felt strong like he owned the world, and this day was a declaration of peace. But most importantly his good mood stemmed from Anna staying out of trouble so far. Colin hoped she was sticking to this mind frame for the rest of her trip.