College Fund

//I Love You, Okay?//

"And you're Richard Clark's daughter?" The hospital receptionist questioned, clearly skeptical.

I mean, sure, my brown hair was tangled in one huge knot and my eyes were bleary and pink from lack of sleep and crying, but just because I looked like a hobo doesn't mean she could deny my relationship with my father.

I sighed, struggling to be patient. "Yes, I'm Cassidy Clark, and this is my... honestly I don't even know what he is, but his name is Eric, and we aren't criminals, so please, please let me see my dad. We've come all the way from Toronto." I was near tears at this point, barely holding myself together. My father was in here, somewhere, and I needed to be with him.

The receptionist still didn't seem convinced, but I guess she didn't want me crying at her desk, so she called over another nurse and told her to take Eric and I to my dad's room.

"Hello, Cassidy," the new nurse greeted me warmly, and I already liked her 20 times better than the receptionist. "My names Lydia, and I'll bring you to your dad's room."

I wasn't able to force out words, my throat was tightening up as I realized that I was finally going to see my dad. It was a bittersweet feeling. I'd travelled so far, and spent so much time worrying about him, and now I would finally see his face. At the same time, the realization that something horrible had happened to him was hitting me, hard.

Lydia led Eric and I to the elevator and hit the button for the top floor. "I have to warn you, your father is in a critical condition." I gulped. "Do you understand what that means, Cassidy?"

I shook my head, and my heart sunk. I was finally going to learn exactly what condition my dad was in.

"Your dad is in a coma."

My dad. My hard-working, loving, always-there-for-me father was in a world between the living and the dead.

"I don't know if anyone told you this, but he was in a serious car accident involving his taxi and a drunk driver's truck, along with numerous other cars. He suffered serious head and chest injuries. It seems like he has been unconscious since the moment of impact, and is currently unable to breathe on his own."

I guess I was crying, because the nurse wrapped her arm around me and gave me a half-hug. "I know it's hard to hear, darling, but someone needed to tell you the truth."

After she released me, Eric grabbed my hand and squeezed it reassuringly. Lydia's eyes snapped in his direction. "Are you Cassidy's brother?"

"No, I'm her ugh... her, ummmm..." Eric stammered, clearly unsure where we stood. I felt the same way he did, we were clearly more than friends now, but were we really ready for the next level? While Eric stuttered and looked like a total idiot, I decided to stop wasting time and answer for him.

"He's my boyfriend," I explained to Lydia, and Eric turned to stare at me, his shocked blue eyes boring into my grey ones. A faint blush still lingered on his cheeks, and the shock turned to euphoria as he comprehended what I had said. I could sense my Facebook status changing from 'single' to 'in a relationship'.

The elevator chime shocked me back into reality. I was in the hospital. My dad was my main priority, not Eric.

"Oh, I see," Lydia smiled as she led us out of the elevator and into a hallway that reeked of sanitation, like hand sanitizer. "Well, I'm afraid only immediate family can see Mr. Clark at this time. Eric, you are welcome to wait out here in the hallway while Cassidy visits her father."

A look passed over Eric's face, a look that was becoming almost as recognizable as his trademark smirk. It was a look of determination, a look that showed he wasn't going to stop until he got what he wanted. "No, I'm going in with her."