Lost and Found - 30

30

Sol looked coolly at the man he knew had been the instrumental factor in his downfall all those years ago, and now here he was menacing yet again.

                “Parkin!” He acknowledged with a straight unemotional face. Glancing at Amelia he saw shock and possibly fear on her face. Squeezing her hand he tried to make her strong.  Alex had the content look of someone with the upper hand, but from where Sol stood he could do nothing to hurt them, not now.  “What Max thinks of anything is no concern of ours...or yours.”

Alex sauntered further into the room, “on the contrary, I think he’d love to know that whilst he’s been at death’s door in hospital, his daughter’s being fucking the man who ruined this family!” The laugh that followed the insult was bone chilling.

Amelia who had been sat, stunned until this point, was suddenly kicked into life, jumping down from the work surface she squared up to Alex, regardless of the fact she was so scantily clad. His eyes lingered over her bare shoulders and the slope of her breasts before they were covered in the lace of her camisole. Sol must have sensed the direction of his eyes as he nudged him as she spoke.

                “You haven’t even contacted him Alex, so don’t act like caring nephew that you’re NOT! You stand there preaching about my father...I left you dozens of answer phone messages explaining what happened, you didn’t even reply!”

Alex shrugged, “good job really. Gave you enough rope to hang yourself! Wait til he finds out about THIS!”

It was then she saw the greed in his eyes, and realised what his motivation was. “Oh My God! That’s what it is, isn’t it? I thought you were just malicious, enjoying seeing someone else suffer, that the fact your parents don’t give a shit about you , made you want time and affection from someone else’s parents. But that’s not it. Is it? You want to inherit this, his estate...MY inheritance. Don’t you?” He failed to answer, so shaking her head in disgust she turned to Sol, “I can’t quite believe this. Will you wait for me to get changed? I’ll leave when you do. I’m not staying here with this ugly pig!”

Upstairs in the bedroom they’d been using, Sol turned to Amelia as she started to dress, “I’m not leaving you here with him, he’s evil. You need to come back to London.”

Shaking her head she pulled on a sweater, “I have to go and tell my father, I’ll follow you to London afterwards I promise. Leave me at the hospital. I’ll speak to him. If he needs a hand when he comes home I’ll stay at the pub I promise.”

Sol was torn, he really couldn’t not go back to work, on the other hand, this was more important than anything else. Alex had caused chaos in the past, but they were older now, controllers of their own destiny, she was no longer under her father’s control and they were financially independent.  But he had this sick anxious feeling about her cousin the upstart that was Alex. He’d never liked him, never trusted him, and wasn’t about to change either one now.

                “Call in, tell him, I’ll wait...”

She shook her head, “I owe him a proper explanation, I want to sort this out, and I need him to accept you. So go, do your work. Then I’ll follow. I promise! If I need to stay tonight I’ll get a hotel. I won’t come back here, ok?”

There was no sign of Alex when they left the house. But very quickly they’d loaded their bags into Sol’s car, which fortunately started first time. The goodbye at the hospital was tearful and Amelia clung to him, fighting tears, hating that their bubble was bursting.

                “I’ll call you when I get home.” He kissed her lips a final time. “Are you sure you won’t come now?”

                “I have to sort this out once and for all Sol, I love you.”

With that she climbed out of the car, with just her overnight bag, and entered the hospital.

Alex!

She should’ve known when he’d left the house that he’d outdo her. As she walked into her father’s side room, he was sat cross-legged beside the bed with a smirk that warranted a smack across the cheek, plastered across his face.

Her father lay on the bed looking a little better than he had done, but as her eyes met his, he shook his head slowly, “Amelia, I won’t have that thief in my house.”

Amelia sighed, “Dad, don’t be like that.”

                “He stole from me Amelia, and for that I will NOT forgive him. The thought that he was in MY house...with MY daughter...” he shook his head as thought the thought of her and Sol being together was repulsive. “This is sickening and a disgrace. I won’t tolerate it. Do you hear?”

                “I stopped being ‘your’ daughter the last time you decided to listen to Alex over anyone else, and I most definitely not sixteen anymore, I make my own decisions and choices. I came back here because I wanted to make things better. But if you make me choose here I’m taking the door. You’re wrong about Sol Dad, both of you are!”

Maxwell Parkin tried to lift himself up, wanting to shout, argue, “You’re no daughter of mine if you go to him!”

                “But then I never was Dad, was I?” Amelia took a step back, there was Alex his feet up, ankles crossed, amusement on every inch of his face, this was what he wanted. Suddenly it was all very clear. He wanted her and her father to be estranged, hell he was probably benefactor in Max’s will. This was playing into his hands.

Turning she glared at Alex, “shall we work out why you care so much Alex? Why you’re ALWAYS there to stick the knife in?”

Her father was croaky, this was all a bit much for him, “he’s like a son Amelia, and when you weren’t here, he was.”

Amelia shook her head, “you’re joking right? I called him the day I found you ten days ago. He’s not as much as called to see how you are. But he’s been back five minutes and he’s destroying what little relationship we have left. Can’t you see it?”

The blank look on her father’s face was answer enough. He didn’t know, and he didn’t care. She shook her head sorrowfully, “I gave up everything for you Dad, at sixteen. I’m not doing it again, I love Sol; he’s everything I want, everything I’ve ever wanted! So you have ten seconds to decide whether you fell there’s anything here to fight for!”

Picking up her bag, she looked at her father’s face, then suddenly realised that his impassive expression, his lack of response wasn’t due to apathy, but due to him looking very unwell.

                “Dad? Dad? Are you ok?”  She rushed to his side and reached for his hand, but there was no response. “NURSE!” She shouted as she reached for the emergency button. A wail emitted from the wall, and within seconds a resuscitation team were in the room. She was moved to a relative’s room by a friendly nurse, and as she lowered herself into a seat, she realised that Alex was nowhere to be seen.

Pacing the room, she waited and waited. Every time a nurse appeared from the ward she rushed to the door, but it was never news for her.

The peeling paint, the chipped formica tables, and the torn plastic covered seats, it seemed that she knew EVERY inch of the waiting room. At some point she glanced at her phone and saw a missed call from Sol. She couldn’t think about him at the moment. She needed to see her father, know he was well.

When a doctor appeared, he was grim faced.

                “Miss Parkin? Your father is being transferred to cardiac ITU, we think he’s had a huge heart attack...he’s been under a lot of stress recently I gather?” She shrugged, had he? It was a sad fact that she knew so little about him. He’d been stressed about her, about Sol, but prior to that she had no idea. Great estranged daughter that she was.

                “We need to do an emergency bypass, but he’s not stable at the moment.”

The room started to spin, and instantly she felt sick, despite their distance he was her father, all she had in the world other than Sol. She could barely fathom it. “What does that mean?”

                “He’s a very sick man, if he survives the day he’s got a chance of going for surgery, but if not...” everything started to move again, she hadn’t been close to her father, but now...her and Alex arguing had precipitated this, if she’d gone away, left with Sol her father would be coming home, as it was he was fighting for his life. Suddenly all the years of their separation hit her in the face and she was stunned. This was her one and only relative, after all the years of no identity, she’d spent the last week finding herself again. Now it was all about to blow up in her face and she was scared. Petrified. She couldn’t lose anyone else.

She gulped a breath, “he might die?”

The doctor nodded, “it’s a distinct possibility.”

Amelia slumped into a seat, guilt was her overwhelming emotion, second to the confusion of the whole thing. Within seconds a nurse appeared and offered to accompany her to see her father. Nodding she followed her along various corridors to yet another waiting room. After what seemed like hours, she was eventually allowed to see him.

Walking across the eerie room Amelia felt as though she was someone else; that this couldn’t be happening to her. But there, at the top of the room looking whiter than the sheets he lay on, was her father. His usual ruddy face pale and gaunt, a large tube came out of his lifeless lips, and his eyes were closed. Gasping she reached for his hand and gripped in intently, it too was flaccid and clammy. Glancing up at the nurse she knew her face was etched with the fear she felt.

                “It’s ok!” the nurse came over, “he’s sedated to keep him calm so we can control everything. He’s critical, but stable.” Amelia could barely begin to comprehend the explanations of the screens, the monitors and each lead attached to his skin. Every time an alarm sounded she jumped up out of her seat, literally.

It was all a lot to take in. And it was after ten at night before she even thought of anything other than her comatose father. The nurses had promised to call her at the first opportunity of change, but despite that she opted to sleep in the waiting room.

It wasn’t comfortable, but she couldn’t sleep anyway. After pacing, sitting, walking the corridors and then lying on the rock hard seats, she sat and cried, for the first time. Looking for a tissue in her bag to wipe her eyes, she saw her phone. There were a dozen of missed calls from Sol, and of course messages, mainly from him too, but also from Li.

Sol. Her heart pained at the thought. He’d be so worried about her, but she now had another obligation to her sick father. Glancing at her watch she saw it was two am, but she had to speak to Sol, she owed him that.

The phone connected and he answered after two rings.

               

                “Meals? Bloody hell! I’ve been worried sick. I was all set to drive down if I didn’t hear from you soon.” She could hear the worry, the concern in his voice and she felt pain lance her chest. “What the hell has happened?”

                “My father. I got here and Alex was already at his bedside spilling the beans...then I was trying to make him understand...” she interspersed her story with hearty sobs as she tried to formulate her thoughts. “He collapsed. He’s on a ventilator...he might have heart surgery tomorrow, as long as he survives the night.”

                “Shit! I’ll get dressed. I can be there in an hour.”

She shook her head even though she was talking into a phone, “no. You’ve got too much on, and anyway, I don’t want to upset him even more. I’ll be ok, knowing you’re there is all I need, I promise.”

Sol sighed, he could hear the negativity in her voice, “don’t push me away Meals, I love you and I’m not being driven away by your bloody family again. I don’t want to see anything happen to your father, but it’s not my fault or yours. Ok? You NEED to believe that love.”

Through a stream of tears she agreed, “I know. And I appreciate you so much Sol.” The fact that he could show such concern to a man who’d snubbed in such a dramatic and life changing fashion touched her in such a personal way that it brought more tears to her eyes.

Sensing her desperation, it was with great reluctance, and against all instinct that he hung up the phone.

Friday 3^rd January 2009

Why was waiting so difficult? Amelia had signed the consent form for the surgery earlier that day, but she had to wait, and wait. There was nowhere as lonely as a hospital waiting room. Amelia couldn’t speak to anyone, she replied to Sol’s texts, and had also filled Li in on the news. Up until now, Li was the only person to know about her recent developments with Sol, and she was the only one who’d really understand how her father’s illness would implicate on her friend. But other than an odd text, Amelia couldn’t speak to her. She didn’t know her own thoughts, so she was unable to share them with anyone else.

It was late in the day when the surgeon came to find her, and she was still sat in the same place. In a damaged plastic chair, head in her hands.

                “He’s survived the surgery,” he offered with a half smile. “It was more difficult than we envisaged. He’s back on the intensive care unit. We normally try and wake people up later the same day, but we’re giving him until tomorrow to recover first. You can see him now, but I’d honestly go home, get some sleep. There’s a long way to go and you’ll need some rest. “

She shook her head, “thanks, but I’ll probably stay.” Suddenly she realised she had nowhere to go anyway.

Her phone was virtually out of charge, but she took a call from Sol after she’d seen her father finally. He’d called incessantly all day between his meetings but she still couldn’t talk to anyone until she’d seen her father.

                “Meals? Thanks God you’ve answered. How are you? You’re freaking me out by not taking my calls. How’s your father?”

She sighed, after everything he still asked after Max Parkin, what had she done to deserve the devotion of this man? “He’s out of surgery. They’re not sure; it was harder than they thought. He’s still unconscious.”

                “I’m coming down. I’ve cancelled tomorrow’s diary, I want to be there with you.”

                “No Sol,” she tried to speak in a controlled voice, but the tears threatened to fall again. “It’ll upset him if you’re here, and he needs to be calm...” it was futile even to her own ears, but she had to keep him away from this. She needed to work out how she felt , how she was going to deal with this before he came back into the equation.

                “Amelia Parkin you are NOT pushing me away, I love you, we’re a couple and I will not let you stop me helping you , sharing this load!”

Swallowing her knot of emotion she tried to find the right words, “let me just see him through this.  I feel responsible, and I need to get him through this Sol. Please see that for me, please?”

                “I don’t like this Amelia. You sound drained. Where are you sleeping? Who’s cooking for you? You’re not super human, you need me.”

She shook her head manically, “No Sol. I’m fine, it’s always been just me, and I can manage it. I’ll call you when he’s well I promise. Then once I know he’s well I’ll come back, we can be together and you can be my knight in shining armour, ok?”

With that she hung up...and turned off the phone. And she honestly believed that. Once her father was well, she could assuage her guilt and reclaim her life. But at the moment she felt guilty, responsible for this, and she needed him to be well for that to change.