The Heartbreakers.

Chapter Twenty.

Song: Need You Now- Lady Antebellum 

Jaylee laid her head by her father's hand, and they sat in silence. His monitor was still beeping normally, which was a good sign. Jaylee could hear the doctors low murmurs from outside of his room, followed by her mother's soft, sad voice. 

"It could be any minute now, Addison. He's been fighting, but he is growing weaker." They had told her, and a single tear fell from Jaylee's eye as she gripped her father's hand. She could hear her mother sigh. 

"I know. I just wish he would've had more time." She whispered. "He's everything to me." 

Jaylee glanced up at her father, her heart quenching in her chest. She had taken life for granted. She took the time she had with her dad for granted. Jaylee didn't spend as much time with him as she wanted to, and now, it was too late. He was going to die soon. Jaylee wished he was okay. She wished he was happy and healthy, and she wished cancer never existed. She wished her father wasn't dying. 

That seemed to be the problem with life. Everyone took the good things for granted, and then the good would be ripped away, leaving a person broken and trying to figure out how to pick up their broken pieces. It wasn't fair, and it broke hearts easily, but it was a part of life. She just had to live with it and move on, because no one ever said life was fair. 

Jaylee let out a sigh. Everything was okay in that moment, until-- 

BEEEEEEEEEEP. 

"Daddy!" Jaylee screamed as her father's monitors stopped, and the doctors rushed into his room. Jaylee saw all of the color fade from her father's skin, and his body fell limp. The grip he had on Jaylee's hand disappeared, and she sobbed loudly. Sam ran in and grabbed Jaylee, but she fought against him, holding a death grip on her father's hand. She didn't want to let go. She didn't want him to die. 

Sam finally wrenched Jaylee's hand out of their dad's and dragged her out of the room. She fought against him, screaming and sobbing, but it was too late. Her father was gone. He was dead. Jaylee felt every little piece of her break inside, like she had lost half of her heart again, but what had happened-- her father dying-- was worse. She lost her dad. The first man to ever love and care for her. 

"Sam! L-let me go!" Jaylee sobbed, and Sam pulled her into a tight hug to restrain her from fighting him. For the first time, they cried together. That was the second time Jaylee had seen her brother cry, and it shattered her completely. There was one person she wanted there in that moment, to hold her and tell her it was going to be okay-- even if it wasn't-- but he wouldn't show up. He was gone, but right then, Jaylee couldn't wrap the thought around her mind that her dad was gone. 

And he wasn't coming back. 

Her mom walked out of her dad's room, and the three fell to the floor. Jaylee's mother held onto Sam and Jaylee tightly.Sam, Jaylee, and their mom glanced at her father's room, and they watched as the doctors pulled the white sheet over his head. Her mother broke down sobbing, and soon after, Sam and Jaylee joined her. Jaylee knew none of them knew what else to do. They didn't know where else to go, and she really didn't know how they were supposed to survive without her father in their lives. 

***

The funeral was scheduled for the next Saturday morning. Everyone Jaylee knew, including Luke and his family, were coming. She knew the week at school was going to be rough, but lucky for her, it was already Friday, which meant the funeral was the next day. 

One last time to see her dad. 

Jaylee and her mother went through the pictures they wanted for the funeral, and the pastor stopped by to discuss with them how the procession would go. Jaylee could see how bad her father's death was killing her mom. She could see it in her mother's eyes. Jaylee's mom had lost her husband, but most importantly, her first best friend.