The Wild Heir(106)

“He’s not gone yet,” I tell him. “You can still say all those things.”

“I knew he was sick and I knew that one day this day would come, no matter what, but…I’m not ready. I’m not ready to say goodbye. I can’t imagine living a world without him in it, and fuck, I am such a fool for wasting so many years just being selfish and doing whatever I wanted.”

“You weren’t selfish, you were just dealing with yourself. We all go through that. Don’t hold yourself accountable.”

He shakes his head, his hair flopping in front of his eyes. “I should have been more involved in my role. I should have been learning from him. Ella, I’ve missed so much.”

His words remind me of my own father’s words.

“Magnus, it’s never too late to make things better. It’s never too late to learn. No matter what happens, you can still learn from him. My mother died when I was young but through my father I’m learning all there is about her, life lessons, other lessons. How to be a better daughter. This doesn’t mean the end of that relationship.”

He exhales a shaky breath. “I’m hurting, baby.”

“I know.”

We stand like this, holding onto each other, feeling that hurt and that pain because there’s no use running from it. It will find you anyway.

Then a couple of doctors step out of the room and everyone gets to their feet.

Magnus and I break apart, holding each other’s hands tight as we face them all.

The doctor says a bunch of something in Norwegian. There’s a pause and then he continues, and everyone gasps.

But they’re smiling.

Elated.

Relieved.

“What did he say?” I ask Magnus who is now giving me a tired, happy smile.

“He said that he had an infection that caused him to go into shock or something, but they stabilized him and that he’s already showing signs of improvement with antibiotics. They said he may also need a kidney transplant when he gets a bit better, but they’ll have no problems matching him. I’d give my own, but I guess that’s a last resort to ask someone who’s alive.”

I breathe out a long sigh of relief. “Thank God.”

He puts his arm around me, holding me close. “I don’t know what I would have done. I really don’t.”

“But now you know what you can do. Learn from him Magnus. I’m sure he has a whole world he wants to teach you about.”

He glances at me and then a look of realization seems to come across him, like he’s remembering something. “I tried calling you, you know.”

“I know,” I say sheepishly. “I turned off my phone after a bit. Chalk it up to being immature.”

“So, you haven’t talked to Jane yet?”

“No. Why? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he says. “Nothing is wrong at all.”

“I don’t get it.”

“Heidi,” he says.

Oh shit. That.

“What about her?” I ask cautiously.

He grins at me and lets out a laugh. “She’s done for.”

“What do you mean?”

“Get this, so Ottar being Ottar, and man I don’t give Samwise much credit, anyway, while you and I were losing our minds, he used his brains and investigated this so-called paternity test.”

So-called? I like where this is going. “And?”

“It’s a fake!”

“What do you mean…a fake?”

He gives me a wry look. “It means exactly what I said. She faked it, Ella. She faked the whole fucking thing. I can’t believe we didn’t even think to question it.”

Oh my god. This changes everything.

“Well I don’t know,” I say slowly. “I’ve never seen a paternity test before, how would we know?”

“It doesn’t matter though, because it’s fake. She forged it using dead Viking names.”

“So…now what?”

He nods excitedly. “So, Ottar and I took the faked paper, and we went straight to the prime minister.”

“You what?”

I can’t imagine that going well. Those two seem to be mortal enemies.

“We had a little chat and made him realize that his daughter needs help. I may have also threatened him with some legal action, slander and extortion and all that jazz, but it worked.”

“So, for sure she’s not pregnant?”

“No. Maybe with someone else, but it’s not me. Probably just a food baby. And she won’t be bugging us again, that’s for sure. I feel like her father has no choice but to get her the help she needs.”

“I wish I could see her face when he tells her what he knows, that she’s a big fat liar.”

“Yeah, but you know people like that are pathological narcissists, they don’t even see where they went wrong even when it’s rubbed in their face. Believe me, I want to be petty about it too but for now I’m just so fucking happy it’s over.”

I shake my head. Even more relief is flooding through me, to the point where I can hardly stay on my feet. “I am so relieved. You have no idea.”

“I think I have an idea, Ella. That was something no couple should ever have to deal with.”