Angels by Jay Gill

Author:Jay Gill [Gill, Jay]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-01-26T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty-Three

Vaughan held Becky’s, hand. It was soft, cold and feather light. His daughter was eight years old and should have been out in the sunshine playing with friends, having sleepovers, watching movies, being cheeky and laughing.

He remembered the summer, she must have been four or five, when he was on leave and they’d spent every day together. He was fixing up the house and she was his little helper. They’d really bonded that summer.

Every day she’d get the paintbrushes and the rollers ready and together they’d painted the walls, then rubbed down and repainted the woodwork. She was so small she couldn’t reach much higher than his chest height with the roller, so from time to time he’d lift her so she could reach the top of the wall. Either that or he’d hold her while she stood on the stepladder. Sometimes she’d let him, but most of the time she’d insisted on doing it herself. Right from that early age she was strong willed and knew her own mind.

Becky opened her eyes and looked at him. He smiled, and she smiled back.

‘Hello baby,’ he said softly. ‘You’ve been sleeping. Can I get you anything? Would you like some water?’

‘No, thank you, Daddy. I’m fine. I saw you smiling. What were you thinking about?’

‘I was just remembering you helping me decorate this house. Do you remember?’

‘Yes, that was fun. Except when you got paint in my hair.’

‘Did I? Wow, you’ve got a good memory.’

‘Yes. I told Mummy it was an accident and that you didn’t mean to do it.’

They both laughed, and he savoured the moment before the sadness crept up inside him again. He kept smiling and squeezed Becky’s hand. Inside, the injustice coursed through him like a raging fire. He had to fight back the crushing thoughts of her lying in bed in this darkened room, day after day.

Fiona came into the room with tea. ‘I heard you two laughing,’ she said. ‘What are you up to? I hope you’re not planning mischief.’

‘Not us,’ said Vaughan. He winked at Becky and they both smiled a secret smile. ‘I’ve got to pop out for a while, sweetheart. I’ll be back as quick as I can, pinky-promise.’ Vaughan wiggled his little finger and Becky wiggled hers. He kissed her on both cheeks and the forehead and blew kisses as he left.

Fiona followed him to the car. ‘I know you don’t want to hear it, but we have to decide what we do next. She’s getting weaker and sleeping more and more. I think it’s time she went back to the hospital.’

‘No,’ said Vaughan, with ferocity in his voice. ‘No. As soon as she goes back to the hospital, we lose control. If we do that, they’ll dose her up on God knows what and she’ll be gone within a month.’

‘For Christ’s sake, Jared, we can’t just keep hanging on. It’s not helping her. You must see – she’s nothing more than skin and bones.’

‘We’re getting the treatment. Let them know I’m getting the money.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.