Seven Minutes From Heaven [bxb]

Chapter 30 - Kidnapped?

A/N: Shoutout to fortheloveofgayyy for the comment that spurred me to write today. Hope to god it isn't too boring but Jude's about to get slapped with a bunch of sick reality checks. 

Enjoy!! 

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The hotel room was like nothing I'd ever seen before. Though I'd opted to share a room with him tonight, he promised to let me have my own booking where I could invite my friends tomorrow. The space was bigger than my house's entire floor area, probably top to bottom, and the outer walls were purely windows overlooking a dawning sky.

We were so high up and surrounded by so many windows that I almost didn't know where to look. I turned and looked at the queen-sized bed with white covers and a gold sheen material laid across the end. The floors and walls were dark wood, and everything seemed to contrast so beautifully like nothing I'd seen before. Dad dumped a suitcase down beside the bed and moved to the plush Victorian couches and settled into the seat with a satisfied sigh. A huge flatscreen TV was mounted to a wall in front of the bed and couch.

Around a small open corner was a massive bathroom that held a shower that'd fit probably fifty people, though maybe a little cramped, and a separate small room with a single bed. I jumped on it and rolled onto my back, glancing upwards at the massive window my bed was pressed against. It almost felt like I was hanging out of it. My heart jumped a little, so I raced out of my bed and rushed back to sit with dad.

Forgetting about personal space, I leapt onto the couch beside him and clung to his arm. It'd been so long since I last got to see him, but he still felt so safe and familiar. Maybe things would've felt different if I'd managed to just contact him these past few days. Talking to him whenever I needed was something that got me through all these years.

Dad lifted his arm and scruffled my hair, pulling me into a quick squeeze, but left his arm around me. I settled in and got comfortable. "Tell me how things've been, Jude," he said.

"Okay," I said, taking a deep breath and exhaling loudly. "Maybe a bit stressful but I always manage, don't I, dad?"

He looked down and appeared to think hard on how to respond. "So it seems," he said, looking uncomfortable. "I wanted to tell you in person like this that Jules and I have decided to relocate back here."

I pulled away and craned my body to face him. "Moving back here?" I asked with disbelief. Dad nodded. "For good?" He nodded again.

"Oh my God! You're really not joking? You're really gonna do it?"

He hunched forward and clasped his hands together, then swivelled his body so that we kinda faced each other more. "Y'know," he said with a scratchy voice, "That your mum's not in good health. She's– her condition is bad, y'know? Julie and I are gonna find work and buy a home here. There'll be a room for you, of course, and it'll be somewhere near your school. We want you to carry on with your life as normally as possible..." He looked down at his hands, struggling to find the words.

A crushing weight on my chest coincided with a sinking feeling in my gut, making it suddenly hard to breathe. "She's really not gonna make it, is she?" I asked, feeling my voice crack. A lump in my throat seemed to choke my words, which I swallowed down hard.

Dad shook his head then covered my hands with his, speaking with a heaviness in his tone that I couldn't even fathom. "She might have days left."

"But there's still a chance she won't die," I said, shrinking back but wishing I could shrink into a hole and somehow avoid all of this. "She has so much conviction. God's not just gonna ignore her and let her die, right?"