Kevin supposed he was lucky that Dinah and Shelley hadn’t set up some sort of restraining order against him, and once he’d shown the nurses his ID they’d let him in to his son’s hospital room.
He stood at the foot of the bed, stared at the tubes and needles and machines and pumps keeping his youngest boy alive. Bob, ever the responsible one, had called to tell him what happened, left a brief, impersonal message on his answering machine. Judging by the flowers and cards and an old stuffed bear, everyone else had already been by to visit Dan.
Kevin tucked his hands into his pockets. Then he cleared his throat. When he spoke his voice wavered.
“I’m sorry, Danny. I’m sorry I reacted the way I did, that I pushed you and your brothers away, that I abandoned you all when you needed me most. I’m sorry I got so focused on success that I forgot you were my sons. I’m sorry I walked away and never looked back. I’m sorry --” He choked. “I’m sorry that you might die thinking I ever stopped loving you. You’re my son, Danny. I’ve loved you since the moment the nurse put you in my arms, pink and crying and alive.” He pressed a fist to his mouth to hold back a sob. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to protect you from those robbers --”
“It wasn’t a robber.”
Kevin turned.
The young man who stood in the doorway had shadows under his eyes and looked as though he hadn’t slept in days.
“It was a hate crime. They caught Dan coming out of one of the clubs in the pink triangle quarter and tried to kill him. Luckily for him, he remembered some of that horrific karate training you put him through and he fought them off long enough for someone to notice and call the cops.” The young man had his arms crossed over his chest and was positively radiating hostility.
Kevin took a deep breath. “You must be Joey.”
“You must be Kevin.”
They stared at each other for a long moment, then Kevin shuffled toward the door. Joey stepped back to avoid touching him.
“I won’t bother you again,” Kevin said.
“Don’t you want me to tell Dan that his father came to see him?”
Kevin glanced back at the unconscious figure on the bed. “Only if you think it’ll make him happy.”
(404 words)
2 comments:
Ouch. But Kevin got what he deserved. No more and no less. I would like to see more of Joey at some point though. He's rather a ghost of a character.
Really? I'm trying to rehabilitate him. Just a little. Kevin, at any rate. Joey should be around more, but I don't really know him. At all.
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