Untangling Strings

Chapter Twenty-One

Dad gave me a treat at the cafeteria before leading us back again to mom's room. Before he twisted the doorknob open, I blurted out, "Wait!"

Dad raised his left eyebrow at me.

"What if those two are still there?"

"Hope, I kicked them out."

"You did what?! No, you definitely are not that kind kicking your kids out. You don't have to do that. I can come by when he's not here. That's what we agreed to."

"I texted him a while ago when you're too busy eating like a monster. I told him to get his ass out of your mom's room and give the little sis time with mom. And you know him, he'll stick around until your mom gets tired, well more likely irritated, by his crazy kind of worrying."

"Didn't he protest?"

"Your brother always protests," I clearly heard the emphasis on always. "I wonder why he became a doctor instead of a lawyer. But I told him he's not the only child. And that put him in his place. Now, let's get in."

Woah! This is new to my ears. Gab always has his way around things, and unlike me, his arguments always make sense. A smirk plastered on my face imagining an image of Gab totally shocked that dad gave him a taste of his own medicine. Dad rarely argues with anyone in the house. But this time, he fought for me. Or at least, that's how it feels.

When we got in, mom's eyes caught us immediately. I ran into her bedside and held her hand, "How are you doing?"

"Better. Now that I get to see my baby." She raised her palms to my cheeks.

I rolled my eyes playfully then crossed my arms on my chest, "Could you make an explanation on why you are lying in a hospital bed?"

And because she's mom, she rolled her eyes too. "You don't get the right to scold your mother, Hope Casandra."

"I think I do. Because according to dad, your stubborn ass is working too hard."

"If being in a hospital bed means getting to see you, I'd gladly be here."

"Mom, don't turn this on me."

She raised an eyebrow on me and her lips drew a smirk. We were holding a stare against each other until dad chuckled which made us turn eyes on him. When he noticed our gaze and put his hands up in the air as if surrendering, "What?"

"Dad, are you making fun of us?"

"Yeah, you better not or you'll sleep on the couch for the entire month."

"Mom! That is so mean."

"Okay, enough, you two. Katherine, she's staying here with you until tomorrow morning. I hope I won't receive an emergency call in the middle of the night because one of you went into a coma and the other had extremely high blood pressure."

Mom and I both rolled our eyes on him.

"Hope Casandra, roll your eyes on me one more time and I'll surprise you by Gab's presence."

I stiffened on Gab's name. "Oh. Sorry, dad. Will he come back here later?"

"He'll check up on your mom by seven."

"I'll be out by then," I swallowed a lump on my throat. There's no way in heaven or hell that I'll be seeing my brother's face, not even his shadow. And that wife of his... Oh, I would love to tear her apart and put her in a human shredder machine, if anything like that even exists.

"You want to have dinner with me? At seven?"

"You're a lifesaver, dad. Yeah, I'd love to."

Dad eyed mom, "Oh, honey, don't be jealous." He grinned at mom knowing that he's getting under her skin. Mom huffed in annoyance which made dad laugh. "Alright, I'll leave you two. Hope, meet me at the cafeteria later."

"We're eating at the cafeteria again? Dad, hospital food sucks."

"Yeah, yeah. Says the one who just pigged out there." I waited for him to shut the door, then I grabbed the perfect opportunity to roll my eyes.

Mom saw what I just did and shook her head slowly, "You are still unbelievably difficult."

"Well... I got it from my momma, didn't I?"

"You clearly did, sweetie. Just ten times worse." We shared a laugh for what seemed to be the first time in a very long time.