CHAPTER 6: MY DADDY CAME
CHAPTER 6: MY DADDY CAME
Late that night...
The hospital lights were dimmed.
Only the steady rhythm of heart monitors filled Eli's room.
Dominic sat beside the bed alone.
He looked exhausted.
His beard had grown rough.
His expensive suit was wrinkled beyond recognition.
He didn't care.
He was reading from the dinosaur book.
"...and the Triceratops wasn't scared anymore..."
His voice faltered.
"...because..."
He looked down.
"...because his dad came back."
A tiny whisper interrupted him.
"...Daddy?"
Dominic's head snapped upward.
Eli's eyelids fluttered.
Slowly...
Painfully...
The little boy opened his eyes.
They were unfocused at first.
Then they found Dominic.
"Daddy?"
Dominic couldn't breathe.
A nurse pressed the emergency button.
Doctors hurried toward the room.
But Eli never looked away from Dominic.
His small hand reached weakly into the air.
"You..."
"I dreamed..."
"...you came."
Dominic took the tiny hand carefully.
"I'm here."
Eli smiled faintly.
"I knew..."
"...you weren't bad."
Tears streamed down Dominic's face.
"I've made terrible mistakes."
The little boy frowned sleepily.
"Mommy says..."
"...good people..."
"...say sorry."
Dominic laughed through tears.
"I am so, so sorry."
Eli squeezed one of Dominic's fingers.
It was barely any pressure at all.
"I forgive you."
The words shattered every wall Dominic had spent a lifetime building.
Outside the room...
Clara covered her mouth, crying silently.
Marcus looked away to give them privacy.
Even the nurses wiped at their eyes.
The doctors completed their examination.
"It's remarkable," the neurosurgeon said.
"He's responding better than we expected."
Clara embraced Eli carefully.
"My brave boy."
Eli looked around.
"Mom?"
"Yes, sweetheart?"
He pointed weakly toward Dominic.
"Is..."
"...is that really my daddy?"
The room became perfectly still.
Clara looked at Dominic.
Dominic looked back.
No lies remained.
No secrets could survive this moment.
Clara knelt beside the bed.
"Yes."
A tiny smile spread across Eli's face.
"I knew it."
"You did?"
He nodded.
"I wrote him letters."
Dominic swallowed hard.
"I read every one."
Eli's eyes brightened.
"You did?"
"I'll read every letter you ever write."
"And..."
Dominic smiled through tears.
"...if you'll let me..."
"...I'd like to help you write the next one."
Eli giggled softly despite the pain.
"It can say..."
"...Dear Daddy..."
"...thank you for coming."
Dominic kissed his son's forehead.
"I'll never leave again."
Just outside the ICU...
A nurse hurried toward Marcus.
"Mr. Kane?"
"Yes?"
"There's someone downstairs insisting on seeing Mr. Mercer."
"Who?"
The nurse handed him a business card.
Marcus read the name.
His expression changed instantly.
He walked into Eli's room and quietly handed the card to Dominic.
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
The card belonged to Special Agent Nathan Cole of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
On the back, written in blue ink, was a single sentence:
"Your father's enemies didn't cause the accident. Someone else wanted you to find the boy."
Dominic slowly folded the card.
For the first time, he considered a possibility even more terrifying than fate.
Perhaps the accident...
May you like
...had never been an accident at all.
End of Chapter 6
