If You Can Keep Me Guessing

Our honeymoon was the best week of my life. All we did was relax and go to the beach. I forgot all about Kim, Kyle, and Ray. According to Alex I had spoke in my sleep about it a couple nights. I denied it, but he knew it was bugging me. 

It was the day we were leaving. We had a great week weather wise but today it seemed dreary. I was putting my stuff in the car when Alex came out holding nothing but my phone. 

"Its Rian. You need to talk to him." he looked worried. I took the phone.
"Hey Ri! What's up?" 
"Hi Liz. Uhm I need to tell you something."
"Okay what's wrong?" I knew something was up.
"The hospital has been calling the house. Your dad's in the hospital. He's really sick." he said as calmly as he could. I froze. This couldn't be happening. I said nothing. Rian said my name a few times but I ignored it. I slowly covered my mouth to prevent a scream and Alex hugged me right away. He took the phone from me.

"We're coming home dude." he hung up and carried me to the passenger side of the car. I sat down and cried as soon as he closed the door. I covered my face and started sobbing. Alex packed the rest of our stuff and got in the car and drove away as fast as he could. I just cried. I leaned my elbows on my legs as rested my head in my hands. I had never cried so hard in my life. 

Alex rubbed my back and held my hand and did what he could to help comfort me. He had said something but I didn't listen. Suddenly we were at the airport and Alex grabbed our stuff and gave the rental car back then walked me to our plane. I sat in my seat on the plane and just slept. The crying had taken everything out of me.

"Liz. Honey wake up." I heard Alex's sweet voice. I had wished this was a dream. I opened my eyes and saw him grabbing our stuff. I got up and said nothing. What could I say? My dad tried to tell me at the wedding but I got so mad about the whole Kim thing that I didn't let him talk. I regretted that. 

We walked off the plane and grabbed our bags from the baggage claim and made our way to the parking garage. We found Alex's car and put our stuff in silently. I got in and leaned my head back on the head rest. I took a deep breath.

"Straight to the hospital or want to drop our stuff off at home?" Alex asked, breaking our silence. 
"Hospital please." I mumbled. He nodded and took my hand.
"He's going to be fine."
"You don't know that." I kept my voice low and monotone. He sighed and pulled up to the hospital. He parked the car and I ran to the door and went to the elevator. Alex barely made it in before the doors closed. I tapped nervously on the rail that went around the elevator. I was nervous to see my dad. 

The doors opened and Alex held my hand so I would t run into the people coming in the elevator. The doors closed then opened on our floor. I walked out and went to the front desk. I had to wait for the receptionist to get off the phone which seemed to take hours. 

"Hi I'm looking for William Thomsen's room." I said as calmly as I could. 
"Okay. It's room 542, that way." she pointed in the direction I had to go and I took Alex's hand and ran to my dad's room. I stopped in the door way and saw that he was asleep. I could feel more tears forming in my eyes and I slowly walked in. I sat down in the chair next to his bed.

"This can't be happening." I muttered.  Alex lifted me off the chair and say down and put me on his lap and held me. I didn't have any tears left to cry. I leaned back into him and just looked at my dad. 

-----------------
The doctor had said that my dad had a heart attack just before he boarded his plane back to North Carolina where he lived. They didn't know what had brought it on. I looked at his phone and saw that he had been talking to Kim when it happened. She had probably told him about the whole Ray thing, and that made me sick. I was sitting by myself in my dad's room watching him sleep. Alex had went to get coffee.

I hadn't left the room since we got there. I refused to leave his side. I figured since he'd been fine when I was there, it'd be bad luck to leave. I got comfy in the chair and talked to my dad as if he'd wake up.

"Hey dad. They say your body is still in shock from the heart attack. It was a pretty bad one. They almost lost you which would've been terrible. I don't know what I would've done. But the good news is you're here now, right? And you're not leaving me right?" I asked as I teared up. Apparently I still had some in me. "Dad please just wake up. I can't cry like this anymore. I'm sick of crying. I'm trying to be strong for you to make it seem like I'm fine and taking this well but it's hard. I'm terrified dad. Just wake up and tell me you'll be fine. That's all I need to hear. Please. Please dad." I held his hand and put my head down on his bed. I sobbed harder than before. I felt like he wasn't coming back. I cried myself to sleep.

While I was asleep, I had a dream. My dad was there, and we were sitting outside at our house back in Boston. We were talking and watching tv like we used to. Sometimes we didn't say much, just enjoyed being around each other. This was one of the times my dad decided to talk. He told me that the heart attack was too much pain for him to handle. He asked if I'd be okay with him leaving because he felt it was his time. I pleaded with him to stay. He would t have it. He kissed my head and held me close as I teared up.

"Just always remember how proud of you I am. You were the light of my life, Elizabeth. Don't let anyone dim that light. Keep that smile, it's a gift from god." he said. He gave a goodbye which I refused to give back, seeing as I hate the word goodbye. Its too permanent. I couldn't say good bye to my dad yet. I wasn't ready. I hugged him tight and watched him walk away. 

I awoke to the  sound of a flatline.