"Hello?"
The concern in Simon's voice set Finn off-kilter. His brother was always so happy-go-lucky. "Simon? It's Finn."
There was a whoosh of air on the other side of the line. "Whew. I thought it might be..." Simon didn't finish his sentence, but Finn understood. He thought it might be someone else using Finn's phone with bad news. He hadn't thought of that. Their usual form of communication was texting. After the incident last year, Campbell had called Simon as his next of kin.
"Sorry," the apology spilled from his mouth.
"Hey, no worries brother. Always happy to hear from you." And jovial Simon was back. "Where are you? Or can't you say?"
"Actually, I'm stateside again. In Washington." Finn didn't know where to begin, how to tell Simon he had put Emily in danger, how it was his fault Emily was in the hospital now with a hole in her side. But it all came pouring out of him. All the guilt. It was almost cathartic to release it all.
For his part, Simon listened. A surprised oh here and there. When Finn finally wore himself out, Simon took the opportunity to fill the silence.
"That's...it just insane. I... Is Emily going to be okay?"
"Yes. Luckily the bullet didn't hit anything major." Finn swallowed. "But she'll have a scar." The thought sent rolls of regret through him.
His perfect Emily will forever be marred because of his stupidity.
"I see," Simon drew out the last word. "Do... do you want me to come down there?"
The suggestion shocked Finn. Although they had been close as kids, after their parent's died, their lives grew apart.
Aside from the summer Finn spent in Bridgetown, the summer he met Emily, they didn't spend much time together. If Finn was around during holidays or birthdays Simon would come to Washington to see him. Finn never went to Bridgetown to see Simon. Too many memories.
Truth be told, he was afraid to see Emily there. Simon never mentioned the Montgomery family selling the lake house. Simon never spoke about the Montgomery family at all. And Finn never asked.
Finn considered the offer hanging in the air. Under any other circumstances, he would want to see his brother. But now he didn't want to move from Emily's room. "Thanks. But it'd be a wasted trip."
"Okay. You let me know if there's anything I can do."
"Simon," Finn didn't quite know how to start. "There is something. Emily's father..." Finn rubbed his chest, trying to remove the lump there. "He said some stuff. It doesn't make sense."
"What stuff?" The concern from earlier was back in Simon's voice.
"He... he made it sound like ... he accused me of abandoning Emily."
There was silence on the line. Finn expected Simon to call the old man senile or complain about him.
"Simon, are you there?"
"I'm here. Did he say anything else?"
"Well, yes. He implied Emily had a rough time 'getting over me', said she was devastated." Finn heard rustling from Simon, but no denial. "Which is crazy because she ran away from me. I was the one who was... devastated. You remember what it was like."
"I remember," Simon mumbled. Finn didn't understand. He expected Simon to be more irate for his sake.
"Tell me the truth. You saw her over the years. Did Emily appear upset?"
There was a weary sigh from Simon followed by a low, "Yes." Then there was a rush of words. "Finn you have to understand. I did what I thought was best," his brother pleaded.
"What?" Finn couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"You wouldn't let me even mention her name. Don't you remember? That first Christmas after you joined the military. You hung up on me when I tried to tell you about Emily being in town. You didn't speak to me for six months."
"I was in training," Finn pulled out the old excuse for his behaviour.
"I was afraid to lose my brother again. You'd already abandoned me for the army. I ... I didn't know what to do."
There was that word again. Abandoned. He did not abandon anyone. It was the other way around. They all abandoned him.
"Did you hear me?"
"Yes. I get it." Finn shuffled back and forth by the hospital room door. "Tell me now. What was it like?"
"Can't you let the past be the past. She's there now. Live for today. Forget about yesterday's mistakes."
"I need to know. You should see the way her father glares at me. How bad was it?"
The question hung in the air for a moment and Finn's shoulders squared, muscles tensing, preparing for the blow.
"Bad." Simon finally spoke. "Mary said she fell into a depression. Refused to see anyone, barely ate, never left the apartment. Apparently it was even a struggle to get her to go to her lectures. Squeaked by her first year of university."
Finn's stomach rolled. Why hadn't Simon said something before?
"She called the bar constantly asking after you. I... I had nothing to tell her. You weren't talking to me," Simon continued.
Finn opened his mouth to object but the words caught in his throat. It was not only Simon - he had cut everyone out of his life.
"The calls stopped eventually. When she came in the next summer, I hardly recognized her. She was... quiet, dull, like her spark was missing.. Not the Emily we knew."
"You should have told me," whined Finn.
"I know. It... There was never a good time. You... I thought it was for the best."
"I didn't know."
"Finn, are you sure you don't want me to come down there."
"I.." Finn was shocked at how much he wanted his brother here.
"I'm on my way."
"Can you do me a favour first?"
The call ended and Finn strained to listen to the conversation in the other room. He could only hear muffled sounds, a back and forth between Emily's sweet voice and her father's deep baritone.
No wonder the man hated him. He would despise anyone causing Emily a tinge of pain.
A short while later, Philip stepped out of the room. "She's sleeping." The words weren't exactly directed to Finn, but they also lacked the previous level of hostility. "I'm going to go grab a coffee."
Finn nodded, not knowing where this was headed. Was he going to be thrown out?
"Perhaps you could sit with her while I'm away."
Trying not to show his surprise, Finn agreed.
"Don't wake her," the other man admonished.
"I won't."
"She needs rest. She's been through a lot." Ah, there it was. The kick to the stomach Finn was waiting for. A not so direct insult. Not quite a "you did this to my daughter" but close enough.
Before Finn could respond, the man was off down the hall.
Finn rushed into the room to watch over Emily. Part of him wanted to wake her, make her explain everything. What Simon said didn't match with reality. When they met again, Emily had seemed – quieter – but Finn assumed she had simply matured or settled down.
When Philip returned, he brought two coffee cups with him. The other man thrust one towards Finn. "I didn't know how you liked it," the man grumbled.
"Black is great." Finn wanted to add that on the battlefield you learn to take your refreshments any way you can get them but decided against it. Not wishing to spoil the temporary truce between them by bringing up war stories or reminding the man they were here because of Finn's job.
Philip nodded, sat in the other chair and took a sipped his coffee. There was no demand Finn leave and Finn didn't offer.
A quiet calm settled into the room as the two men sat watching Emily sleep. The few times she moved or moaned, both men sat upright, ready to intervene. When she settled down, they resumed their silent vigils.
Finn decided to take Simon's advice. He would focus on the here and now. Emily's recovery, this armistice with her father, the future. The past had already robbed them of so much. There would be plenty of time for reflection when Emily got better.