The Ministry Child: From The Pinnacle To The Pit

Papa Nihil

Chapter Twenty-Five!

Papa Nihil

October 2015 - The Los Angeles Ministry

The Ministry's infirmary was silent, the scent of bleach and flowers lingered in the air. Two curtains of the four cubicles were drawn back, but two of the beds were occupied. Albany's gaze remained on her Father, she was lying on the medical bed in the next cubicle to his own. She had been keeping watch over him since the evening, she didn't dare leave his side in case anything happened to him during the night. Her Brothers had insisted that she should stay with their Father since she was his assistant. They had duties to fulfil during the day at the Ministry, it made sense that she should be with him because he wouldn't be working until he was feeling well again. 

Papa Nihil's night had been peaceful and calm, he had been asleep since midnight. The Sisters of Sin had bathed and removed his Papa face paint, they had taken his papal robe away for dry cleaning. The Clergy physicians had checked on him during the night, they had given him an oxygen mask for a couple of hours due to his breathing problems. They were waiting for his blood results and his medical records to be accessed, they planned to move him to a private Clergy hospital in Beverly Hills if his health didn't improve by tomorrow. But something peculiar had happened to his one dark coloured eye, it had turned pale. He now had matching pale eyes, the cause was unknown. Albany had no idea what the sudden eye change meant, but she was still worried about her Father. 

Albany's attention was caught by footsteps entering the ward, the curtain was roughly drawn back from around her Father's cubicle. Standing at the foot of Nihil's bed was Secondo, his eyes were unseen due to his sunglasses. He was dressed smartly for his working day, his jacket was draped over his arm. Removing his sunglasses his gaze focused on his youngest sibling, he glanced at their Father before he approached the medical bed his Sister was using. The bed creaked beneath his weight when he sat down on it's edge, he slipped his sunglasses into his waist jacket pocket. The scent of his cologne was overpowering, but she could also smell whisky on his breath from his morning tipple. Albany sat up in the bed and looked over at her Father, she ran her fingers through her hair. Her Brother's voice soon caught her attention, his gaze was upon their Father.

" Good morning, Sister." He said.

" It's morning already?" She asked.

" Yes, it's just after 9am." He said while he motioned his hand towards their Father. " I see he's still alive, that's a good sign yes?"

" That's not a very nice thing to say..." She said.

" I'm being positive." He said.

" I know, but it's still not funny." She sighed while she tucked some of her hair over her ear. " What do you want anyway?"

" Terzo sent me, he told me to tell you that you need to go and get some sleep now." He said before he looked at his youngest sibling. " You are making the infirmary look untidy, also you need to take a shower."

" I'm an adult, I can go to bed when I want." She said.

" You are the youngest child, that means you're still the baby of the family." He said.

" I'm forty..." She said.

" And you're still very stubborn, just like him." He said while his gaze returned to their sleeping Father. "You can stay here for all I care, I'm just the messenger. You are not meant to shoot me down!"

" I know, I'm sorry. It's just been a long night." She said.

" I know, Sister." He said.

" Do you think Papa will be okay?" She asked.