by Wyatt, Dani
I steady myself as I hear the first twitch of the doorknob than a soft knock.
“Come in,” I croak.
Then I say a silent prayer, feeling like a fire has engulfed me from the inside out.
“Here we go,” I whisper to myself, clutching the top of the sheet in my fingers.
GEO
“HERE GOES NOTHING,” I mutter as I grip the brushed stainless door handle and press it down, hearing the latch click open on the heavy metal door as I push my way inside.
I lower my gaze. I don’t remember the last time I was nervous, but right now I could light a fire with the heat radiating from me. I clear my throat as I take my first step through the door, raising my eyes as the sharp light of the room makes my pupils contract.
The room is hot, or that’s probably just me, but I scan the floor, then up the side of the bed and finally to the form under the light blue blanket and white sheet.
First, I see delicate fingers clutching the bedding so tight her knuckles are white. The polish on her thumbs is glittery, like fairy dust. I take a deep breath and tick my line of sight up the last bit and take in her face.
BOOM.
Her mouth is parted, and one hand flies up to cover her lips as I freeze in place. My feet cemented to the floor, and my eyes bolted to her face.
It’s her.
Nicci. The girl.
The girl.
The one I’ve been lusting after for six months.
She’s my fucking daughter. Jesus fucking Christ if I wasn’t already going to hell I sure am now.
This has to be some kind of cosmic joke.
“Hi.” I manage, but I see from her wild expression she recognizes me too. “I’m Geo Klement.”
“Oh my God,” she yelps, and I see the horror in her eyes. “It’s you.”
I do everything I can to not look at the swell of her breasts under the thin hospital gown but fail. To my horror, my cock twitches and thickens like it does every time the damn bus comes.
She looks wildly uncomfortable, and I don’t blame her. I’m sure she can see my hard-on through my jeans, and she pulls her knees up under the blankets, clutching her arms around them to hide from my lecherous view.
“Fuck.” I shake my head and try to gain some control. “You drive the bus for senior services.”
Her eyes widen. “Yeah. You recognize me?”
“Yeah, you pick up my neighbor friend twice a week. Mrs. Morrison. I’m the one that waits for the bus, waits to take her back home when you drop her off. You’ve never seen me?” My brows tighten, and I think of ripping the blankets down, tearing her gown from her and feasting on—
Fuck. Stop.
How do I shut down the thoughts I’ve been having about her for six months, now that I know she’s my fucking daughter? This is crazy.
More than crazy.
I’ve jerked myself raw to thoughts, pictures and fucking watching her through her apartment window.
I scan the room, looking for some evidence we’re being recorded for some YouTube channel. I’m being punked.
Jesus, please, let it be a joke.
“So.” She twists her lips to the side, and I come back to planet Earth. She’s fucking nervous too; I can see that.
And I’m making it fucking worse. I’m a piece of shit.
I do my best to keep my voice low and even. “Hey, this is a hell of a day. But, first, I have to know, are you okay?” My heart clutches, thinking there could be something truly wrong with her. Not only is she the girl that has captivated me for months, but she’s also now my daughter.
Trying to manage both of those facts has my brain about to re-wire itself, but first and most important is her wellbeing.
“I’m not sure. They ran some tests. I may need surgery, sort of a big deal sort of surgery. That’s why we tracked you down. I may need blood, I have AB negative, and it’s super rare. They are hoping we are a match. Just in case.”
Her eyes dance around the room, only lighting on me for the briefest of moments, then away again.
I look at her throat; I can see the flesh throb where her pulse is racing.
“Can I?” I motion with my hand to come closer where there is a chair next to the bed. I don’t want to sit, but I do want to be closer. And maybe if I’m sitting down, I may not scare her any more than she already is. She looks so small in the bed. “I want you to know, before today, I didn’t know about you. If I knew, I would have been there...”
She waves a hand in the air. “I know. It’s okay. Mom told me she never told you about me.”
“This is crazy.” I run a hand back and forth over the top of my head then down to grip the back of my neck. “But when will you know about what’s going on with you?” My need to know if she will be safe is overriding any of my inappropriate thoughts at the moment, thank Christ.
“I’m not sure. They did the tests, said it could be today, maybe tomorrow before they knew something for sure.”
I watch as her throat clenches as she swallows twice then bites into her bottom lip. Her hair rides down her shoulders slick but natural. Her ripe cheeks like peaches, lips plump and shining begging for my—
STOP. Jesus help me.
“I’ll do whatever I can. I’m fucking sorry I never was a part of your life. I need you to know that.” The truth of that rings through me. Even as I’ve lusted after her the last months, it was more.
I wanted to know her, but more than that, I wanted her to be happy. There always seemed to be this nervous sadness about her. She would never look at me, and I was sure it was for the same reasons most people don’t look at me.
It’s not just my looks, which are out of the ordinary at best. I know it’s the energy I carry. The ‘stay the fuck away’ thoughts that play on constant rotation in my head.
There’s a heavy silence, and I glance over at the bedside table. “Can I get you some water? A Coke? Are you hungry? The food here must be shit. Let me get you something to eat.” I swing my head around to look at the door. I need to do something for her.
Everything for her. I need to make up for lost time.
She shakes her head and fusses with the sheet. “No, I’m not hungry. My friend Beth just left, but she brought me a salad.”
“Okay.” I freeze up. There’s so much I want to know, but the wild conflicting thoughts in my head have me twisted and knotted.
She smiles, and my heart twitches in my chest. “But you may want to get a drink. You look a little pale.”
I raise my eyebrows and run my tongue across my front teeth. “Yeah, it’s been a weird day.”
She grins on a nod. “The world is a weird place. Small too.”
She lowers her legs back down flat under the sheet, and I hope that means she’s relaxing a little.
At least one of us is.
“Seems so.” The feelings I’ve had for her pile up inside me. I still want to give her everything, just now I’ll need to figure out how to quell the desire she brings out in me. Even now. Even knowing who she is.
Just then there is a knock on the door, and the doctor pokes his head inside.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I have some...relevant news.”
I see her face pull tight and there’s worry in her eyes I hate. I don’t want her to worry.
About anything.
Ever.
I turn and stand next to the bed, wanting to protect her from whatever might be coming. Memories of the day my brother was diagnosed with AIDs, and the day years later when I sat in the doctor’s office with James, comforting him after his own diagnosis, run through my mind.
“Nicci.” He looks at her then shoots me a quick glance. “Would you like Mr. Klement to step out so we can talk about your test results?”
I look down and see her face go white. She stalls and I reach over and touch her shoulder. A shock wave reverberates through me at the contact, but I steady myself and catch her eye.
“I’ll go if you’d like. But I’d like to stay.” I
’m honest.
I want to be here for whatever it is, good or bad. I don’t want to miss another second of her life. And I’ll do whatever the fuck has to be done to make sure she’s okay because I fucking refuse to lose another family member.
Family member.
She looks from me to the doctor. The black of her pupils’ bleeds into the sparkling gray as she brings her hands up to gather her hair and twist it in a bundle down over her shoulder. “It’s okay. He can stay.”
The doctor nods. “Well, I have two things. First, the radiologist looked at your MRI. The spot on your liver looks like just a cyst. It’s small enough it shouldn’t have been the cause of such acute pain. But he did confirm that you definitely have what we call a fatty liver. This can cause bouts of extreme pain, but it’s not overly dangerous.”
I see her eyes narrow. “But, I’m like the healthiest eater I know. How can that be?”
The doctor blinks and raises his eyebrows. “Genetics sometimes. Particular foods can exacerbate the condition. I’m going to give you a discharge packet with all the information. Like I said, it’s not overly dangerous, just a pain the ass to be honest.” He smiles and clears his throat then adds. “I’m discharging you with a couple of prescriptions for pain.”
Her face takes an odd turn. “I won’t take them.” Her voice is harsh, and I look at the doctor who tips his head to the side. “I won’t.” She finishes squaring her shoulders and giving us both a dark glare.
“Well, that’s up to you. I’ll send you with the prescriptions if you don’t fill them that’s up to you. But the pain,” he nods toward her, “as you know can be acute.”
“I’ll be okay.” The cut of her voice is still there as we all seem to take a collective deep breath.
In the moment of silence, I chime in. “You said there were two things.” My voice is even, trying to keep things as level as possible while waiting to see if the other shoe is about to drop.
“Yes,” The doctor stands up a bit straighter and clearly weighs what he’s about to say. “The...other news is a bit odd. Mr. Klement, you are type O positive blood type. Which genetically speaking makes it impossible for you to be Ms. Parr’s biological father. Her blood type is AB negative. That means neither of her parents could have type O blood.”
The hammering of my heart in my chest is the only sound in the room until Nicci’s soft voice rises from below me.
“Then, he’s not my father?” I swear I hear relief in her voice.
I’m not sure what the fuck is going on here, but I have a feeling fate decided to give me a hand and deliver my obsession right to my metaphorical doorstep.
4
NICCI
WHEN GEO FIRST CAME through the door, I thought I would pass out. He filled up the doorway in a way I’ve never seen, and up close his undeniable masculinity radiated from him. His size is more magnificent at a distance.
That undercurrent of danger was still there, only this time it was topped with a kindness and concern that only made him sexier. The muscles in his jaw drew my eye, hardening and flexing making him look determined to do something.
The glint of white teeth I saw when the doctor gave us the results as well as the way his shoulders relaxed a bit make me flush with heat.
The emotions that have traversed through me in the last fifteen minutes have me exhausted but exhilarated at the same time. The man I thought was my father, isn’t. And in a way that is painful. Disappointing.
It means I’m back to square one. I’m fatherless.
On the other hand, it sure relieves all that shame I’ve been carting around thinking I was having all these lustful thoughts about my own dad.
He’s standing still at the side of the bed. The doctor just excused himself, leaving us here alone, and I feel like I’m walking a tightrope over a pit of vipers. Every word, every movement has the potential to take my breath from me.
God, he’s so close.
Closer than ever and I can smell him. I even think I feel heat radiating from him. I breathe him in. A scent that sends wildfire running through my veins.
Frightening emotions race through me and my heart feels like it’s on the verge of its limits. I’m not sure what to say or do. My palms are sweaty, and there’s a deep tension between my legs.
“Well, how do you feel?” Geo turns and faces me, making me feel tiny next to his enormous frame.
I lift a shoulder to my ear, trying to choose my words.
“Relieved it’s just a fatty liver.” I roll my eyes and tick my head back and forth rubbing my feet together under the covers.
“And the other part?” He clears his throat, and I watch his tongue swipe over his top teeth under his mustache, and he runs one hand down the length of his beard. “I’m not your father. Seems you knew about me, but I didn’t know about you. You knew who I was when you were picking up Mrs. Morrison, didn’t you?”
I shift under the blankets, overheating but unable to throw them back and expose myself, clad only in this miserable hospital gown.
“I did. Mom told me you lived near Detroit. When she got sent away...” I pause on that word and clarify. “She went to prison, I mean. Well, the night before she had to go, she told me about you. She was drunk, told me your name and where you’d lived in the past and as far as she knew you were still here. I had nowhere else to go, no one else in Oklahoma I wanted to be around particularly, so as soon as I’d dealt with everything back there, I came here. It was just crazy fate that you were on my route with Mrs. Morrison.”
He nods, and his black eyes don’t leave my face, making my insides quiver.
“You ready to go then?” he asks, and I shake my head.
“What?”
“Ready to get out of here.” He turns to look at the door then back at me, and there’s something different in his eyes making my belly flip. “Doctor said you can leave. I want to take you out. I want to spend time with you.”
“But,” I squint one eye at him. “You don’t have to. You’re not responsible for me. I mean, the doctor said you’re not my—”
“I don’t care about that.” His voice rumbles, and he’s got me in his crosshairs. “Something brought us here. I believe things happen for reasons and I’m thinking there’s a reason I’m standing here.” He points down at the ground. There’s a calm control about him, his words seem emotionless, but behind his eyes I see much more. “So, I’ll step outside. You’ll get dressed, and you’ll come with me.”
“Where?”
“First, I’ll take you home so you can change. Take a shower. I’m sure being in here for the night you’d like that. Then, I’m taking you out. I’ll decide where but we’re going to look at that list of foods you are and are not supposed to eat and that will help me determine where we go. I’ll knock before I come back in.”
With that, he reaches down, pinches a strand of my hair in his fingers and twists it for a moment. I swear I hear a rumble or a moan come from his chest then he turns and makes his way out the door of the room, leaving me panting and squeezing my thighs together on the verge of an orgasm.
Which half an hour ago would have been the most inappropriate reaction in the world.
But now...
I fling back the blankets and grab the plastic bag the hospital gave me for my clothes and personal items early this morning when I came to the emergency room in the taxi.
In the tiny bathroom, I dress and glance in the mirror. My hair could use a brush, and my face is flushed pink. I look down at my too big jeans and men’s oxford. I tie the shirt up at the waist instead of letting it hang down as I usually do, then slip my feet into my black loafers and take a deep breath.
Just as I come out of the bathroom, there’s a knock. “Come in.”
The door opens, and it’s the young nurse that’s been assigned to me with Geo on her heels.
“Your discharge papers.” She hands them to me with a half-smile, then glances at Geo and bites into her bottom lip. “Anything else I can do
for you?” she asks, but she’s not looking at me, and there’s an uneasy vibe in the air. “I already explained everything to your father. He insisted.”
Geo looks my way, and I tighten my lips, unsure what to say or do. Clearly, she didn’t get the memo that Geo is not actually my father, but in this case, I suppose I don’t care much. I sort of like the idea that people may think he’s my father, I’m not sure why, but it feels right.
The nurse opens her mouth to say something to him, but he intercepts whatever was about to happen.
“We don’t need anything else. Thank you. I’m taking her home with me. You can go.” His tone is harsh, dismissive, and I almost feel sorry for her.
Almost.
She rolls her eyes and retreats, leaving me shifting my weight back and forth on my feet, looking at the door, then the floor and finally up at the beast of a man who just a half hour ago was my father. My stomach flips, thinking that he just said he was taking me home with him.
With him.
Knots tighten in my tummy, and there’s a weird feeling in the backs of my legs as the nurse closes the door behind her. There’s another feeling too though, one that is unfamiliar, but I immediately understand what it is.
“Looks like she wanted some sort of discharge from you.” Heat covers my face at the vulgar expression and my bad joke. “I’m jealous.”
“Nothing to be jealous about. If you ever have a question about anything female, you just ask. You wanna see my phone? Check my messages? Put a fucking tracker on me, baby, trust me, I’ll come up clean. Whatever it takes to make you comfortable, got it?” He waits for me to meet his eyes and I’m a little embarrassed I already doubted him.
The sincerity in his statement sinks into my marrow, his eyes never leaving mine until I nod in acknowledgment.
“Good. Now, you need to know, you look fucking beautiful.”
I open my mouth, but I’m not sure what to say to that. It doesn’t even seem like he requires any sort of response even if I could respond. It’s like it was a statement of fact and that’s that.
Geo steps forward, and I feel the cold cinderblock of the wall at my back through my thin shirt as I try to retreat.
