44. Support
Lordy frowned after the call got ended. What was it that made his sister sound so dull? Without thinking much into it, he stopped the cab that was approaching and hopped in. Soon, he got home and after paying the driver, he made his way inside the house in quick steps.
Miriam heard the arrival of a car outside and she knew Lordy was here. She only hoped Lordy would take the news well. He would be devastated, for sure, but she just hoped he would be able to control his emotions.
Everyone in the room had wiped their tears upon Lordy's arrival, but their flustered faces and red puffy eyes gave them up as soon as he saw them. He stopped at the door with a frown, shifting gazes between them. Miriam was seated on the bed, Gerry was sitting in the 2in1 couch and Dom was seated in the single one with a paper in his hand. Lordy stared at the paper and then to his face. He wasn't looking at him. In fact, all of them had their eyes down. What was going on?
"Okay, can someone at least speak now?" His voice held a trace of impatience and nervousness at the same time. He was sure whatever there was he needed to know would turn his mood upside down just like all of them, but he had to hear it at all cost. "What is it? What happened?"
Miriam was the first to lift up her head, but she didn't look his way, she turned to Dominic. Following her gaze, Lordy fixed his gaze on his father. Right, maybe he's the one whose supposed to tell him what was happening. At least, he was holding something. A paper, it should contain something, right?
As if Dominic felt their gazes on him, he slowly raised his head and looked Miriam's way , who looked away quickly and bowed her head, shutting her eyes tightly. Lordy's frown deepened.
"Dad, is there something you should tell me?" He asked. he still hasn't moved from the door. Dominic eyes turned to him now and he sighed. Without a word, he lifted his hand towards him, gesturing him to take the paper. Lordy wanted to protest. Why don't you just tell me what's going on, he wanted to ask. But he walked up to him and took the paper.
Lordy's eyes scanned the report in his hand. He wasn't sure he understood what he was seeing, but he could tell it was an image of the human brain since he had seen and learnt a little bit of it in school. But there was something about this image. It didn't look like a normal brain but he didn't know what was abnormal about it. Maybe the big white part in the front, or was it about the size? He couldn't even guess what it could be. He wasn't a sonographer after all. But he concluded that whoever owned this report was not in good health, at least that one he could be sure of. Again, it didn't look like a normal brain. And whose was it?
"What is this? What does it mean?"
Silence.
And now he snapped.
"Whose report is this?!" He demanded in a firm and authoritative tone, looking furious at this point.
"Lordy, please calm do..."
"Then answer my question!!" he angrily shot out, cutting Miriam off, shooting daggers at her with his eyes. Miriam flinched a little at her brother's tone. Oh no! He's mad, she thought. "Whose is this?!"
"It's mine." His eyes quickly moved to him and his frown eased a bit, surprised, but not so surprised. His father looked sick, but he didn't expect it to be some brain thing.
"And what does it say?" His voice was strangely calm now, as if he was trying to coax the answer from him. He raised the paper up. "I don't understand what's in here."
He saw Dominic sigh heavily while looking down at his feet. "I... I was diagnosed of... brain tumour." He said in a low tone but enough for them to hear.
Now all eyes were on Lordy. They couldn't wait to see his reaction. But he kept looking at his father. His hand slowly fell on his side. Tears rushed back to Miriam's eyes. She knew he was in shock and was trying to understand everything.
"Brain.. brain tumour?" He stammered, almost whispering. He heard someone sob and turned to see his mother, her face all red now.
"I'm sorry, son. I failed you all. I couldn't even protect myself. How am I going to protect you?" Dominic broke the silence as tears filled his eyes. But what Lordy did next came as a surprise. He crossed the distance between them and hugged Dominic tightly, patting his back. Dominic completely broke down now, and so did everyone, except Lordy. His throat felt tight and sour, and his eyes stung, but he didn't cry. He didn't want to. He needed to be strong now for all of them.
"It's alright, cry it all out, father." Lordy calmly said to Dominic who was now shaking in his arms. He felt a pang of pain in his heart for him. He was sure all the ladies were blaming him for something. Maybe he hid it from them and now they found out and were blaming him. But he understood his father's decision. He would do same. His problem shouldn't make someone worry. He would rather find solutions than letting other people show pity and try to help because of that.
Miriam and Gerry were all surprised by Lordy's actions. It was unexpected. They expected him to snap and shout at him. Or was he going to do that after calming him down? No, it didn't make sense that way.
After some time, Dominic calmed down.
"I'll get you some water." Lordy said and went to the kitchen. Both ladies followed him with their gazes filled with surprise. What was going on?
"Here." He came back quickly and handed him the glass and sat beside him, wrapping an arm over his shoulder. After some few sips, he took the glass from him and dropped it gently on a coffee table nearby. "When did you find out?"
Dominic met his gaze, he looked surprised like the others. Lordy had seen the look on their faces when he went to get the glass of water.
Shame on you, he inwardly said, they thought he was going to get mad and shout at him? Never!
"Are you feeling better now?" Lordy asked.
Dominic just nodded.
Lordy turned to look at the women. They had their eyes keenly on them, and he had the urge to talk sense into their heads for not trying to be there for Dominic. But he stopped himself.
"Can you ladies give us a moment, please?" He instead sent them away respectfully. He needed his dad to tell him all he needed to know and the best possible way they all could help.
Gerry and Miriam turned to each other and then back to the men. What was he trying to do? They wordlessly stood up and gave them the needed privacy.
"Why do you think he's going to do to him?" Miriam asked a bit worried.
"It's impossible to read his expression. He looks unexpectedly calm. Maybe he's going to scold him now that we left." Gerry shrugged. They both went outside and sat on a bench under the tree in front of their home.
Meanwhile, back inside...
"Can you talk freely now?" Lordy asked again, maintaining his calm voice. He noticed how stiff he became when he sent the ladies out. He was probably thinking he would scold him, but he wouldn't. That wasn't what he needed now.
Dominic turned to him with a wry smile.
"You can scold me, you know. I know what I did was selfish and I have hurt you all, but trust me, I did it all for the love I have for you all. I hate to see you suffer so then I chose to suffer alone. But I ended up making you all suffer." His voice broke at the last part as tears came back into his eyes. Lordy quickly wrapped his arms around him tightly.
"You did nothing wrong. Don't be too hard on yourself."
Dominic frowned against his chest and released himself to look at him, confused. Wait, he wasn't angry?
"You... are not angry?" Lordy shook his head and wiped his tears with his thumb. He had never seen his father cry and it broke his heart.
"I'm not mad at you, so if that is why you're crying, then please stop." He said, but that seemed to have burst the floodgates of Dominic's tears. Lordy held him against his chest and let him cry, patting and stroking his back gently. After a while, Dominic calmed down and straightened up. Suddenly he chuckled.
"The last time I cried was when I found out I had this condition. Even then, I couldn't remember the last time I cried like this."
"It's okay to cry sometimes." Lordy assured him. "So tell me all I need to know, father."