Love Tap(42)

“My first black eye, I guess I can say I’m well on my way to the pros, huh?” I try to make light of the situation, but my eye really does freaking hurt now that he points it out. Placing his hands in his pockets, he looks the other way. He’s not seeing the humor in it.

“Hey, Dad wants to see you,” Journey grabs my attention from the double doors.

Looking back at Camden I ask, “Do you want to see him?”

He glances down at his feet. “No, you have your time with him I just… I just wanted to check on you.” He doesn’t make eye contact when he says it, but his words hit me in all the right places. I feel fuzzy, and can’t help but smile.

“You wanted to check on me?” I ask, looking up under my lashes.

He smirks, knowing what I’m getting at. “Yeah, I did.”

My cheeks warm and my heart races.

“Visiting hours end soon Tate, come on,” Journey whines from behind me. I want to stay and see what is going on in Camden’s mind, but I really want to see my dad. Feeling conflicted, I shuffle my feet awkwardly.

“You go, I’ll catch you later,” Camden offers, ending my internal battle.

Camden rubs at the back of his neck nervously and walks off.

I exhale a long breath, watching him go. Even from the back he’s good looking.

Striding down the hallway to Dad’s room, I can’t help but replay the way Camden told Scotty I was his.

The hope that we might be together again is trying to take root in my soul again. Maybe tonight was a turning point for us, maybe he forgives me.

Opening the door, I find my dad is bossing nurses around.

“I said I don’t need to be in here goddamn it! I can’t afford to be in here!” Dad rants, trying to pull wires from his chest.

“Dad?” I knock on the door. He stills, dropping the wires on the bed. His eyes pop to mine, and his face lightens from its pinched state.

The nurses reattach the wires to his chest that he obviously just yanked from himself, and Dad rolls his eyes at her.

“Mr. Davis, you have to leave these on, please.” The redheaded nurse pleads for my dad to behave.

“Dad, let her do her job,” I chuckle.

“Journey, do you mind giving me and your sister a minute?” Dad asks. Looking over my shoulder I find her leaning against the door jamb.

“I’ll just wait outside,” Journey informs, stepping out.

Taking a seat in the vinyl chair next to Dad, he rubs at his head in deep thought. It smells like latex and lemon in here.

“You okay? Do you need anything?” I question, trying to fill the awkward silence.

“I’m fine, stop fussing over me. That kid is lucky I didn’t put a beating on him.” Dad shakes his head, referring to Scotty, before looking at me for reinforcement.

“Oh, I know.” I smile, helping build his ego. Truth is, Dad is so out of shape now, I’m not sure he could have taken Scotty. It makes me feel sad, seeing how badly he’s let go of himself after I left. I knew he went downhill, but I didn’t know it was to this extent.

“Look, I am not good at this kind of thing, so I’m just going to say it. I was wrong,” Dad blurts quickly.

“Wrong?” What is he going on about?

He pins me with sad eyes. “I blamed myself for your mother’s death, and I took that out on you. I pushed you to go to school because you look just like her Tate, I couldn’t stand to look at ya kid.” Tears fall from his eyes, and so much emotion balls itself in my chest that I lose it and start crying too. “I know I took more than your will to fight, I took Camden from you. If he can’t forgive you for leaving and see that it was me that willed you to go to LA… then he’s a fool.”

I still, not sure what to say to my dad. Scared if I say anything, he’ll retract his confession.

“Tonight, when that guy hit me, you took care of your old man. I realized right then that you have my blood in you, you’re a fighter through and through. Trying to forbid that was pointless, you can’t take the fight out of a Davis. You made me proud kid.”

I look away as it’s too much. I want to be angry, but I can’t. Mom’s death was hard on all of us. I changed. Everyone did. How could we not, she was the glue that kept us together and without her we fell apart.

A knock sounds at the door grabbing both of our attention.

“Visiting hours are over,” a short man wearing pink scrubs interrupts.

Standing, I wipe the tears from my cheeks, trying to gather myself.

“Put some peas on that eye, it’ll help the swelling,” Dad instructs, as he fidgets with the gadgets on his chest, trying to pull them off. I can see it now, I’m going to get a phone call that he got up and left in the middle of the night.

“Leave those on Dad, they need to monitor your heart,” my voice stern.

“Oh, they don’t know shit about shit,” he grumbles, and I have to bite my inner cheek to keep from laughing.

“I already lost one parent, let’s not make it two because you’re stubborn.” I raise a brow.

Dropping his hands from pulling on the wires, he eyes me heavily.

“You’re just like your damn momma, did I ever tell you that?” he asks, his lips curving into a smile.

“No, but it’s something I’d love to hear more often.”