Return II

Chapter 5

Michael's POV

"I think you need to go talk to Blanket." I suggest to my ex-wife as soon as I pull away from our hug. She wipes her face and nods, then shakes her head. "He will hate me." She says. I place my hand on her shoulder and shake my head.

"We both know how he is," I say softly. "We just have to say the right things at the right time." Taryn nods and continues to stare at the floor. I remove my hand from her shoulder and step back. "He is not mad, he is just upset. He needs closure. From you."

I leave Taryn in the hall way crying. I am hoping she will go outside and talk to our son. And if she doesn't, I am hoping he will come inside soon so that she will have to talk to him.

I walk back into Natalie's room and everyone looks up at me. They all seem to be in a decent mood; neither sad nor happy. 

"Dad, is Taryn alright?" Paris asks and stands from Natalie's bedside. I nod and make my way to them. I wrap my arm around my eldest daughter's shoulder and kiss the top of her head. I rest my chin on the top of her head as she tightens her arms around my waist. 

I really wish I could take all of this make up off and be myself. I wish my family and children could see me as me, and not some phony, fake man that they call "dad." I want them to call the real Michael Jackson "dad," and not the Michael Jackson that cannot go out in public and be seen without make up and a body suit.

I look at my eldest son and he refuses to look at me. He just stares at his baby sister and places his hand over hers. It hurts me to think that he hasn't so much as given me a hug since I returned home. I cannot help but believe that he is still angry with me for leaving.

I still feel horrible about it and the regret and guilt will not leave me alone. I know how much he did not want to play a role in this, no matter how many different times and ways I explained to him and the other children that I did not have a choice. I hope he knows that I still love him the same, even if he does not love me anymore.

"Did you talk her out of it?" Prince asks without looking at me in a straight-forward monotone voice. I sniffle and swallow, then nod. I release Paris from my hold and it takes her a moment to do the same. "Yes." I say, choking on the word. Prince nods and rubs Natalie's hand with his thumb.

"Good."

"Mike, can I talk to you?" Joseph's voice fills the air and I quickly turn to him. I use my sleeve to dab my eyes and walk toward him. "Sure." I follow my father to and out of the door. He closes it behind him and I am relieved to find that Taryn is no longer in the hall way. Hopefully she is outside talking to our son like I had suggested. Both him and her need closure and neither of them will get it if they continue to ignore each other.

I place my hands on my hips and shift my artificial weight, waiting for my father to say whatever it is he needs to say to me. 

"The nurse told us that it's too late to change our minds, now." He explains and my heart sinks. "What?" I ask in astonishment and anger. "Yeah. When Taryn told her that she made up her mind, Ainsley filed all the papers and every nurse that is in charge of Natalie's medication doses and monitors knows."

For the first time that I have ever heard, my father's voice is very soft and calm. I have no words for the man that has torn down the last bit of hope I had held onto for so long. In a split second, just a few words made everything disappear. 

"I have to talk to her." I say and walk past my father. He holds his hand out to stop me and I look down at him as he shakes his head. "You can't do that." He says almost too quietly. "Yes, I can." I fire back and shove past him.

"The doctors and nurses are already on the job. They came and talked to your mother and I." My father calls, but I ignore him and continue walking. I stop myself at the front desk and slam my hands on the top. The lady behind it flinches and snaps her head up to look at me.

Anger has taken over sadness and I am in no mood for bullshit at the moment. I want to know who it is that is taking my daughter off of life support without my consent.

"C-Can I help you, sir?" The woman behind the front desk asks and I nod. "Natalie Spethan." I begin and she nods. "I have been informed that she is being taken off of life support." The woman's chin quivers. "Um, yes," She grabs the mouse and clicks a few times on her computer before pushing her glasses up on her face and looking at me again. "Yeah, that should have been at 3:00 today." She informs me and I shake my head. "No," I say firmly and she swallows.

I kind of like the fact that she is somewhat scared of me. I came off as more of an aggressive guy than I had intended to, but I cannot control it right now.

"You will have to erase that time. Delete it. Get rid of it." I demand and she tilts her head, then shakes it. "I'm sorry, sir, I cannot do that. It is up to the parent or parents of the patient, and it has already been set. It's too late to reschedule." I shake my head and remove my hands from the top of the desk. The lady cringes and I slowly and gently lie them down in their previous spot.

"No. I am not asking to reschedule. I am saying you need to delete it altogether. She is not being taken off. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever." The lady shakes her head and pushes her glasses up on her face once again. 

"I'm sorry, sir, but may I ask: who are you?"

"I'm Natalie's father."

"Oh, okay. Look, I'm sorry, but the mother has already given us her consent, the papers are signed, and your name is not on them. We cannot legally do anything further."

"Nobody has gotten my consent!" I raise my voice and the lady flinches. She opens her mouth to speak, but I beat her to it.

"You better get whoever is doing this together and send them to me. I want to talk to them. I will not allow you to kill my daughter." I demand then storm off; back to my daughter's room.

I sit in one of the waiting chairs outside of the room and wait for someone to approach me.