Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 102834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
“That wasn’t quite how my aunt told it,” I said, and Padraig’s gaze met mine just as Derek stepped into the room.
“I found it at last,” he announced, carrying a small green box while I tried to comprehend the possibility that my aunt had lied to me in such a way that it had possibly changed the very course of my life. But why?
19.
Derek
When Milly and I stepped into the kitchen and found my dad passed out on the floor, I’d felt a panic that was second only to the time I’d come home and found Gigi unconscious after taking all those pain pills.
My father was a robust, healthy man and had barely been sick a day in his life. I was frozen, stunned, but then Milly took complete charge of the situation, quite like she had back in the schoolyard that day when Tristan cut his knee. Once again, she’d come to the rescue, and I was in awe and so grateful she was there.
She sent me to look for a medical kit, and I found it easily enough, but when I returned to the kitchen, the exchange between Milly and my father stopped me in my tracks. I paused behind the door to listen, and to say that what I overheard shocked me would be an understatement.
Dad been in a relationship with Milly’s aunt? Not only that, he’d gotten her pregnant, and she’d wanted him to marry her? How had Milly never told me this? It was clearly something she’d known about for a long time. The tail end of their exchange kept replaying in my head as I finally entered the room.
Your aunt probably told you all this, but when she discovered she was pregnant, she said the only way she’d keep the baby was if we wed. I told her I couldn’t marry her but that she and the baby would be cared for. I’d get a job, make sure the child wanted for nothing. Unfortunately, she wouldn’t accept that, and I understand now why she didn’t. It was a different time. Having a child out of wedlock was considered a shameful thing by many.
And then Milly replying, That wasn’t quite how my aunt told it.
What way had her aunt told it?
“Thank you,” Milly said, distracting me from my thoughts as she took the medical kit. “He seems stable now, though. I don’t think we’ll need this.”
I took the opportunity to study Dad, worry cinching around my chest. Like I said, I’d never known him to be sick and had certainly never witnessed him faint before. Mam came into the room then with her phone clutched in her hand.
“The paramedics are on their way. Hopefully, they won’t be too long.” She knelt by Dad next to Milly before reaching out to squeeze her arm. “We were so lucky you were here,” Mam said to her, and Milly sent her a kind smile then focused on Dad again.
“Padraig, have you had any unusual symptoms lately?”
He appeared to think about it. “Well, a couple of headaches, and the other day my vision got a little bit blurry.”
This seemed to give Milly pause. “What about talking? Have you found yourself having trouble pronouncing words or speaking clearly?”
Dad shook his head. “No, none of that.”
“Any numbness in your limbs or difficulty with balance?”
“Aside from falling over today when I passed out, no.”
“What about the other day?” Mam interjected gently. “You said your hand was tingling strangely.”
“Yes, but I wouldn’t call that numbness exactly,” Dad replied.
Milly pressed her lips together, the cogs in her brain turning, and I desperately wanted to know what she thought might be wrong with him. I didn’t want to ask in front of Dad if something was seriously wrong, though. “When the paramedics get here, I’m going to recommend they run your bloods and send you for an MRI,” Milly said.
“Why?” Mam questioned. “What’s wrong with him?”
“I can’t give a diagnosis without running tests,” Milly replied apologetically, “But I do think you should treat this seriously and have your doctor explore all the possibilities to ensure it isn’t anything serious. There’s no need to worry right now. Fainting can be down to something as simple as exhaustion or even a B12 or iron deficiency.”
“Well, one of those is easy to fix anyway,” Mam said, eyeing Dad pointedly. “If this is down to exhaustion, then you can finally retire and start relaxing a little bit more.”
Her statement had me tensing because Dad retiring meant me taking over at work, and though Paloma as well as my siblings and friends had all expressed their confidence that I’d do a good job, a niggling sense of self-doubt remained. Still, if it meant keeping my dad from keeling over again, then I’d do it. I’d do anything to make sure he was okay.