Leonardo

Zemira was a ball of worry and nerves by the time we flew down to Miami. Not that she ate a lot before, the news about her dad made her give up on any nourishment till she saw him hooked onto tubes at the hospital.

Grant Ford had a minor cardiac arrest, which given the workload he had taken up against the doctor's advice had proven fatal. Almost.

The moment we landed in Miami, Kiera drove us out. Sam, Kiera and Jake had taken rounds on checking up on Grant while Haley had taken up the task of managing the entire workload which now fell upon her shoulder.

Throughout the drive, Zemira remained quiet. Not that I expected her to talk or be her usual self, her constant cuticle chewing and distant looks rendered the confirmation. My girl was worried for her father, more than ever.

"Hey," I held her clutched fist, unwrapping her fingers from the tight knot she held onto. The pad of my thumbs rubbed her knuckles, my eyes slow-blinked to assure her - everything would be fine. "I'd talked to the doctor before we left. Your dad is stable now."

A fake smile was all she could give.

A fake smile that stabbed me. I felt useless.

Kiera kept monitoring her best friend through the rearview mirror, holding onto her words. My phone chimed, mom's message appearing one after the other.

Are you coming?

Is Zem okay?

I'm leaving soon.

By the time we arrived at the hospital, Zem rushed out before Kiera could part.

"Zem," I tried calling out but all I could address was her darting back.

"Let her go," Kiera said, parking the car. Even the blight-smiling Kiera looked like a paler version of herself. It was then that I understood how important Grant Ford was for both the girls.

Over time, Zemira had mentioned how Kiera's homosexuality was never accepted by her father but by Grant. It wasn't rocket science to understand Grand Ford may have only one biological child, he had adopted Kiera with his deeds upon accepting her.

"How are you doing?" I asked, watching Kiera's back face the closed door of the car. It was a futile but obligatory question. Sometimes, a simple question could unlock the door to heavier, built-up emotions. "I know Grant played an important role in your-"

My words diffused over my tongue as soon as Kiera turned over. Tear stained cheeks and gasping for air, she fell into my embrace.

"He's like a father to me, Leo." She heaved for air, cried into my coat. Whispered a prayer to whomever she believed in before holding onto my lapel. I held onto her trembling body tightly, patting her back. "I don't even want to imagine if something-"

"Hey hey hey... look at me."

Kiera nodded, unwilling to listen. Over the covering of my coat, she wiped her face. Air entered her lungs in short bursts, refusing to fuel her pent up emotions to flow.

"Kiera." I straightened her body, grabbing her shoulders and rattling. "Look at me. You're a brave girl. Look at me. I've to tell you something."

She looked up. The strong girl that I'd witnessed - the girl who held her true self hidden, the girl who married for her family and the girl who supported Zemira through her worst times, crumbled before my eyes.

Grant Ford was a great man. At that moment, I knew he was a greater father. Not just to his daughter but also to Kiera.

"Is he going to be okay?" Kiera asked, her eyes blinking away the hazed vision from tears. Her lips trembled, awaiting a reply. "I don't want him to..."

"He won't die," I said. It may have been the strength in my voice that fortified Kiera's brittle courage but she nodded vigorously. "Grant Ford is a tough man. Tougher than you'd think. He won't let his daughters fend for themselves without any warning."

I wasn't sure if I made sense but Kiera's embrace meant she understood what I wanted to convey. It was only a few weeks ago when I'd called up Grant, telling him my wish to marry his daughter.

He was ecstatic, his voice conveyed. Unlike my expectation, he was genuinely elated that I'd finally decided to do the right thing.

But now, as we moved across the long, florescent-lit hallway, the reality hit me harder than thunder. I was about to meet Grant Ford. He laid in a pristine room, tubed hooked through his mouth and nose. It reminded me of Sofa. The nauseous antiseptic smell stripped off my nostrils layer, watering my eyes.

Soft beeps from the machines that monitored his heartbeats and oxygen levels reminded me of the state I woke up from after being in a state of coma. Unlike my side of the bed at the hospital, Grant had both his daughters on his side.

Kiera knelt before his sleeping body, Zemirs sat on the side of his bed.

The doctor walked in, eying the monitors and charts before tilting his head. I understood his gesture, walking out with him in silence.

From the gap in the window that separated the room's view from the outside, I saw Zemira looking over her shoulder to where we left.

"I won't lie," the doctor began after clearing his throat. His salt-peppered hair and those fine lines around his mouth conveyed he was somewhere in his late thirties. "The patient had an episode before this too. He didn't pay much heed to it and now..."

The sigh, pinched lips and a slight head nod was the doctor's way to express his disappointment.

My hand slid inside my pockets, something to warm my sudden cold palms. My feet tipped up, attempting to distribute the weight off my shoulders.

"Can you please not..." I looked over my shoulder, inside the room. "...inform his daughter that he was being careless."

Another long sigh later, the doctor nodded. "But the patient needs complete bed rest for a while."

He left me stranded in the antiseptic-infused hallway, to the bright blinding lights of the hospital, to soak up the next. As I walked inside the room, Kiera was the first to address me.

"What did he say?" Her question had Zemira look up at me. My girl looked like a pale, anorexic version of Zemira. As if all her health and happiness was tied to the man on the bed, his condition directly affecting hers.

"He said Grant needs rest, lots of it."

A combined respite aired in the room as both Kiera and Zem settled in comfortable seating, their hands intertwined with one of Grant's arms. For long, they remained seated in the same position, unwilling to move or take a break.

When my mother arrived, I found the time and strength to get Kiera to take a break, forcing Zem to be with her. Kiera's sunken eyes retold the story - she was up all night.

"You both need some rest," I said, nudging both the girls outside the door towards the visitor's lounge for a break. "I'm here. My mom and I will stay and you can have rest."

"But-" Zemira began.

"No buts." I curled her fingers into my palm, kissing her knuckle. "You haven't slept or eaten since yesterday. Please... for me." Maybe it was my hoarse voice or the fact that I too resembled like a zombie, partially processing what I said that made Zemira accept my proposal.

"I'll be back in an hour."

An hour was fine. An hour, if she slept would give me respite. My inability to fend for her, protect her from the heartbreak she suffered seeing her father laying on the bed was too much to bear.

As soon as Zemira left, mom grabbed something from her bag and passed it my way. It wasn't much - a snicker in the name of breakfast. "I know you haven't eaten anything. While Zemira takes rest, I want you to eat something."

"I'm not hungry, mom." I tossed the bar on the table on the side, falling back on the chair. Since Grant's news was broken yesterday, both Zemira and I haven't slept a wink not eaten a bite. Something about knowing a loved one suffering made you hunger and thirst proof.

Seeing Zemira in a much more fragile state than when she first grappled with the news about my addition, killed me. I felt like Zemira channeled all her strength from her father. It was only when she heard about his vulnerability, her strength diminished.

My mom dragged a chair to my side, bit by bit to avoid the screeching metal sound on the tiled floor. She sat beside me, curling her arm with mine, leaning over my side.

"Are you alright?" she asked, her free left hand patting my back, easing my senses. Mom always had a calming effect on me. I felt its escalated effect in a situation like this when my real support seemed to crumble. "I can see you're very worried about Zem."

"How can I not, mom?" I signed, tilting my head over hers. Her faint, pleasing vanilla scent was a respite from the limey hospital disinfectant smell. "She's..."

"Everything..."

For long, we sat in silence, hearing the soft beeps of the machine and watching the gradual rise and fall of Grant's chest. At times, my eyes fluttered shut, only to blink back the heavy eyelids to open.

"Leo," mom's gentle, soothing voice caressed the side of my face. "I've to tell you something."

The dip in her tone made me break our side embrace. Looking at my shoes, mom stood from her chair, wrapping her palms into the covering of her light jacket.

"What is it? Did dad do something?"

"No," she looked up before turning around, addressing the window. "Antonio... he's..."

"What?"

"He's absconding. For a few days. They've been..."

My feet fired up. In a blink of an eye, I stood in front of mom, my eyes blazing with anger. "Did you tell him about the case?"

She didn't speak. She didn't require telling me the rest.

Logic and patience had drained out of my exhausted body. My heavy eyelids warmed, chest felt the drumming of my heartbeats as if my heart was ready to pound its way out.

All that Zemira had worked for - all her efforts and mine to bring Antonio to justice suddenly felt like a puff of smoke. Everything that once felt at a hand's hold now appeared like a mirage.

"Leo. Please know that I wanted to-"

My raised palm halted her words.

I walked out before the last of my inhibition broke and I hurt my mother with words.

The moment my feet landed me in the hallway, I saw Zemira. She walked out from the visitor's room, holding the doorknob with both her hands and eased it shut. She looked better. The hollows of her eyes levelled. She even smiled as soon as she saw me before it diffused behind her lips.

"Hey." I moved closer, holding her sides.

"You need to rest, Leo. You look like a mess." She adjusted strands of hair that fell on my forehead, sliding her hand into the back of my neck. "Kiera is asleep. She's been up since yesterday. Please, go take rest."

"Later," my heart swelled at her concern. Kissing her knuckles, I felt the heat of my next words searing me. "Antonio's absconding."

The moment I said it, Zemira's hand slid off my hold. She eyes me, partly blaming me, parting flooding. "How?" Her voice rumbled, trying to hold back the storm of tears.

"My mom."

"You told her? After I confided in you? You should've known better, telling a mother that her son would be arrested."

I know every word of hers was hitting the point she wanted to make. I betrayed her. She trusted me with the news, expected me to keep her secret but I failed.

As always, I failed my girl.

Tears sprang from her eyes but as soon as it streamed down her cheeks, Zemira wiped it with the back of her cardigan sleeve. She inhaled deeply, eying the roof of the place lit brightly with fluorescent lights. Blinking constantly, she looked back at me.

"What's done is done." Though I failed her, she still believed me. She still calmed the storm brewing behind her eyes, her voice to address me. "At least we have the case initiated against him so..."

It was only a matter of time before a warrant was issued in his name.

I nodded, my head slanting into my chest. "I should've known better, baby. I should've known, how my mother might end up telling Antonio. I didn't consider the fact that though my mother hated Antonio for what he did, she was still a mother. She was..."

"It's okay." Zemira held my clutched fists, drawing them to her chest. "I get it. I understand where she came from when she tried protecting her son. Trust me, I don't blame her."

"You sure?" I looked up. Pursed lips, tight nod and an eased breath answered from her side.

"Sure. A mother's heart is hard to understand." Zemira looked around as if she was playing cautiously of the walls and even the doors from listening. "The trial is about to begin. They'll be hunting for him soon. My lawyer wants me to stay back...for the case..."

As if she paused for something - some confirmation. Some hint from me. I ran her words through my mind again, trying to process what she meant, why she paused. When I couldn't attempt a reaction sating her, Zem sighed.

"I want you here, Leo. I want you with me." Her back straightened, tossing the weight of her demand away. "I need you with me."

My mother used to say there came a moment in every relationship which defined how the partners would see each other in the future. Against my apprehension to face my father and Antonio again, against everything that I severed in the name of Brenton, I nodded.

Because more than any apprehension grabbing my words or actions, Zemira's need stood higher.

What I didn't realize was at that very moment, Zemira too had her moment. She shook her head, kissing my knuckles. "You'll be facing your demons, Leo. Only stay back if you're ready to face them."

~

And there we have it... the climax has started

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