Chapter 15
It had taken a lot of convincing from
Gracie for Alex to finally leave the Hospital. He just couldn’t believe that
the woman who was lying in that bed was the only woman that had at one point
taken his breath away or did she still take his breath away? He tried to
concentrate on following the Nissan Exterra in front of him; he was following
Gracie to the house she shared with her mother. It’s been seventeen years since
he stepped a foot in that house. He remembered the last time he was at the
house he had come for a promotional interview of their new CD with Howie. They
were only supposed to do the interview and head to the next city, but when he
told Pamela that they were coming she insisted they stay for her father’s
birthday. He smiled as he remembered the fun they had that day even if they did
get chewed out by management for arriving late to Austin. He needed to stop
this, so he turned on his radio to listen to music instead.
“Good afternoon Dallas this is Jesse filling in for Joan today.
The weather outside is fairly cloudy and in the 60’s, but I would keep my coat
in hand because this is Texas and the weather can change real quick….it is
traffic hour so I have prepared a little mix for all of you heading home from a
long day at work or of errands…. Let’s start with a classic to me anyways:
Creed
–“One Last Breath”…..thanks again
for listening to mix 102.9……”
Please come now I think I'm falling
I'm holding to all I think is safe
It seems I found the road to nowhere
And I'm trying to escape
I yelled back when I heard thunder
But I'm down to one last breath
And with it let me say
Let me say
Hold me now
I'm six feet from the edge and I'm thinking
That maybe six feet
Ain't so far down
I'm looking down now that it's over
Reflecting on all of my mistakes
I thought I found the road to somewhere
Somewhere in His grace
I cried out heaven save me
But I'm down to one last breath
And with it let me say
Let me say
Hold me now
I'm six feet from the edge and I'm thinking
That maybe six feet
Ain't so far down
Sad eyes follow me
But I still believe there's something left for me
So please come stay with me
'Cause I still believe there's something left for you and me
For you and me
For you and me
Hold me now
I'm six feet from the edge and I'm thinking…
He felt exactly like that, like he was
down to his last breath…he didn’t like to cry it showed weakness but this song
made him shed some tears. He quickly wiped off his tear stained face and turned
off the radio. Maybe it was better not to listen to the radio. He was brought
back to reality when he saw Gracie pulling into the parking space to her house.
It looked the same as it had last time he was here; he slowly parked behind
Gracie.
*********
Gracie closed the door quietly, trying
not to disturb Amber or her mother. “Stay here I am going to get her and then
we can explain to her who you are, I am sure she is in her room doing her
homework.” She whispered to Alex as she walked toward the stairs leading up to
the rooms. She took a deep breath and walked up the stairs slowly trying to
take as long as possible to get to her goal.
He whispered good luck to her as he
saw her disappear up to the hallway. He was anxious maybe he should not be
here. What if she blamed him for what was happening to Pamela? He took a seat
on the couch but, quickly stood up looking intently through his pockets for his
cigarettes. Then he remembered his promise earlier that day at the hospital and
realized he had tossed his cigarette packet in the waste basket. He took a deep
breath and made himself sit still till Gracie came down…
Gracie slowly knocked on Amber’s
bedroom and waited patiently for her to open the door. “Amber it’s me your
aunt, we need to talk sweetie.”
**********
Amber jumped as she heard her aunt
right outside her bedroom. She quickly shoved the rest of the stuff under her
bed; she wiped her face a little and opened the door slowly. “Come in auntie,
why are here? Usually you stay over there with mom?” She quickly took a seat on
her desk and looked through her school work. She tried to look as normal as
possible so her aunt wouldn’t notice she had been crying.
“Well, I know but do you remember when
I told you that I had called your father?”
“Yeah?” Amber felt her stomach sink as
she heard the question. Was he there? Did he want to see her? Or was she here
to tell her that he wasn’t coming after all?
“He’s here and he wants to talk to
you. I know this is a little awkward but if you don’t want to talk to him yet I
can tell him to go and come another day. I just want you to be ok. So do you
want to see him?”
“Uhm, yes I want to talk to him. Oh,
my god my father…” she was in shock after so long she was finally going to see
her father. She couldn’t help the smile crawling on her face and the excitement
she was feeling aside from the awkwardness she already was feeling.
*********
He couldn’t handle the waiting, so he
had stood up and sat down so many times he was sure he had to of broken a
record somewhere for that. He walked up to a window and looked out of it. It
had started to rain and it looked darker outside from the dark clouds invading
the sky. He suddenly felt like he was being watched and turned around to be
face to face with his daughter. He had a lost of words right then and just
smiled.
Amber’s face was that of shock, this
man was her father. This was the man she had seen at the hospital earlier with
Rick. Now she understood her interest in him. She cleared her throat and spoke,
“Hi, I am Amber your daughter…”
***
