Chapter 27

We stood still for a moment, then he changed his position and came to sit next to me, he drew me towards him. I hadn't noticed that a few tears had rolled down my cheeks. When he took me in his arms, it was like I was gaining strength to go on.

"I screamed really loud when she did it in front of me, the last thing I remember is my little hands trying to cover her wounds, then she pushed me to the other side of the bathroom. I must have been so shocked that after that, that everything after that is blurry. I just have flashes of my father entering the hospital holding me in his arms. " I wiped the tears that had rolled down my cheeks. and sat back down normally. "Later my father told me that Flo's grandmother, who used to sit in the garden late at night, heard me shouting. Flo's grandparents lived in the house next door, and our bathroom overlooked their garden. So she came running, found the door ajar and went straight to the bathroom, she was the one who called for help. When they took her to the emergency room, it was still not too late and they were able to save her. She was put under psychological surveillance for several months, when she came back home, she must have been angry with me for having ruined her plans. So for almost a year she wouldn't even speak to me despite me trying to bond with her, she kept telling my dad that she was better but I don't think that was true. So a year after her return, it was a Saturday, my father had taken me to see my shrink. We always stopped on the way back to eat an ice cream." I smiled at the memory.

"When we got home, it was quiet, my father found a letter on the dining table. That day he didn't show it to me. And since then I've never seen that woman again. And it was so much better because even if my father didn't tell me right away that she had left, I felt that something had changed that day, and for the better. And then life was more beautiful after that for me, even if I think dad took longer to recover even if he wouldn't show it to me. I've never heard of her, my dad tried to look for her for a long time, and I think that he eventually ditched. I don't know what she became or even if she's still alive."

"Do you want to know ?" he asked me after being silent for a long time.

"Not at all. I've always told my dad that this woman is no longer a part of my life. Wanting to know, would give her more importance than she has."

"I'm so sorry you had to go through all that." I smiled at him and looked outside, It was starting to become dark, so I stood up. We had to go back to the hospital.

I went to the bathroom and cried so hard, it was as if I had reopened an old scar. But at the same time, it didn't hurt as much as it used to. Greg came to join me few minutes later. When he made love to me in the shower, he went on really hard, it was like he wanted to take me off all the hurt I have endured twenty years ago. And I loved it.

***

We arrived at the hospital at 7:15 p.m. and we stayed there until late. I had inquired about the dialysis centers near our house, and I had called to ask for information, and they were ready to receive my father's file. There was only one problem, it was that the dialysis, even under insurance was very expensive, but i tried to look only at the positive side and told myself that everything was going to be fine. According to the doctor who was taking care of him, he was responding very well to all the treatments and if he continued like that, he was going to be released in 24 hours. I was so happy and excited when I got home.

My father made it clear that he wanted nothing more than some clothes, some pictures and his records, I didn't know what he was going to do with them as his record player was rusty, but I complied with all his wishes. Greg helped me pack the rest into boxes. I had spoken to my father about the idea of ​​renting the house, he had seemed hesitant to me but I felt that he was not going to oppose it.

We finished packing around three o'clock, and we fell asleep in each other's arms.