TW: depictions of illness and death , it ain't graphic but still.
18th of January
(Claire's pov)
I sat there, in a state of limbo, the mug of coffee slowly draining of its warmth alongside its contents, my mind a hazy mess of nothingness.
A sudden 'knock,knock' reverberated against my apartment's wooden door jolted me from my staring into space .
I got up swiftly and trotted over to the door, I slipped the chain onto the door before opening it.
"What ?" I practically snarled , Nathan stood lazily
"Thought you would want some" he shook a plastic bag, I responded to that by shutting the door removing the chain before opening the door again.
He slipped past me and I softly shut the door, redoing the chain .
Walking back into the living room, Nathan had already plopped himself on the sofa, he began unpacking the contents of the plastic bag.
A couple tubs of ice cream and a 6 pack of a shitty beer he likes. "You're not drinking that shit in here."
" What, why ?" He whined " it's so goo-"
"because you're gonna try to get me to drink some and when I eventually cave, I'm gonna hate it like the other 500 times." I interrupted
"So why are you actually here ?" I asked .
" Why can't you let me have my fun ?" He asked in return, a sly smirk formed on his face.
I glared at him.
"Fine, fine, I'll tell you." He caved in "It's actually a good thing he broke up with you"
"WHAT " I interrupted, "let me finish" he interrupted in return.
"Ya know the way Elijah never really talked about his past or his mom and dad ?" he asked .
"I dug into Elijah's past recently. 8 years ago he shot his father 5 times ." he said as if he was talking about the weather
I sat there stunned, so stunned I couldn't only produce a strange string of sounds of shock .
"Elijah" I started, "Elijah, he never told me…"
"Why didn't he tell me ,WHY THE FUCK DID HE HIDE HE KILLED SOMEONE." I slammed my hand onto the coffee table. I knew he wasn't lying, he wouldn't lie about such a matter.
Nathan jumped at that, a mix of surprise and something else I was too angry to decipher flashed across his face.
The tubs of ice cream once all neatly stacked into a tower toppled to the floor.
"Get out." I demanded in a whisper
"Claire ?" he said genuinely worried
"I said get out, grab your shitty beer and go" I demanded again
" Alrighty, call me if you need anything." He said softly before walking out of the apartment
The soft click of the door allowed the floodgates to open, a burning hot stream of tears ran down my face.
"The amount of time we talked about the murder of my father, a-and he doesn't think o-once to tell me he gunned down his dad." I said between sobs.
Memories of the year of my father's life surged to the forefronts of my mind so extremely vivid it was like I was still 7 or 8.
The first time I had seen him ever cry. The day he was diagnosed with liver cancer, he cried, he had cried all night, I had done the same.
He hadn't missed my 7th birthday party, even though his schedule was packed with work and he was always so tired from chemo.
When I wanted a bike he had gotten me one and then taught me how to ride it even though he looked more like a corpse than a person.
Even though he had been deathly ill he had never missed any opportunity to cheer me on or be a good dad.
One night he had collapsed and then been rushed to a hospital. He was still cracking jokes and telling me stories to keep me calm and comfortable.
My favourite jokes were always the jokes about doctors or medicine, because I wanted to be a paramedic like him, before he was reassigned to a desk job.
One of my favourites was:
"Doctor, I keep getting heartburn whenever I eat birthday cake !!" he would always say in such a silly voice
And then he would pause for a moment he would say in such an exasperated and deadpanned voice. "next time… take the candles off."
As his cancer worsened we only grew closer and as it began to grow better and more manageable that closeness didn't vanish. He was my best friend and I was his precious baby.
One day towards the end of his life mom had gotten back from work like she always did, glowing like a lightbulb, she had gotten a promotion one she had been working so hard for.
Dad was thrilled so we threw a small party. That was one of the first times my father was truly happy, so he sang and danced from joy for all the party. Mom looked so relieved that he was recovering.
Then came the last week of his life he had gotten surgery the week prior , a new movie had released the weekend before and all my friends at school, especially Nathan were singing its praises.
So I begged him to take me to see it for the whole week. Eventually at the end of the week. He had refused a couple of times before finally agreeing, a mistake I still regretted.
"Dad, when are we going to the Cinema ?" I had asked Impatiently
" Hold on, hold on, let me get my shoes on." He chuckled softly.
"I don't wanna be late !!" I whined
"We won't be. " he soothed patiently before walking into the hallway.
"C'mon, we must go to the cinema !!" He said in an exaggeratedly formal voice, that got me to giggle.
We walked through the still recovering streets of New Chance City at a lazy pace
" I don't wanna be late " I had grumbled, which he chuckled at.
"Do you want some ice-cream ?" He asked after noticing a new ice-cream parlour
"ICE-CREAM!!!" I exclaimed excitedly, practically bouncing.
A soft knock on my door drew me out of my memories. I quickly whipped the tears from my eyes.
Walking over to the door I opened it hesitantly , it was Mrs Ross, she stood calmly holding a plastic bag.
"Hello dear , are you alright ?" She asked softly.
"No, I'm not," I replied tiredly.
She paused for a moment before speaking again "I'm sorry to hear that, you should get some rest dear."
"dont worry, I was planning to go to sleep in a bit." I lied easily .
She walked back into her apartment.
I softly shut the door, locked the door and then slid the chain in place.
I walked over to the living room , I picked up the half melted ice cream and placed them in the freezer.
The memories of my father returned back to the front of my mind.
The ice-cream was good, we ate it while walking to the Cinema .
Arriving at the Cinema, we ordered 2 large popcorn and 2 large colas and got 2 seats at the back of the Auditorium .
The movie wasn't as good as I thought it would be but it was good none the less.
We left and went to the mall, where he took me to a plush toy store .
He crouched down and looked me in the eyes and softly said " Sweetheart, you can have 2 plushies, they can be whatever you want. "
We ran around the plush toy store for about an hour until I finally decided what I wanted.
I had gotten 3 plushies after some 'careful negotiating', dad would just say I was pouting and sighing overdramatic though.
A swan plushie and 2 wolves, Elijah had one of the wolves now .
We exited the plush toy store to find it cloudy and dull as we began to walk home. It began to rain.
Walking through the noisy streets dad seemed to pause his eyes locked into an alleyway parallel to us.
A brief lull in the passerby's made me gasp, one man was holding another at gun point.
"D-dad ?" I asked softly.
" Ima call the police." He said in a whisper as we walked over to the bench .
As he was on the phone the situation wrappedly devolved into chaos. It started with the man who was at gun point making a run for it making it the the mouth of the alley, Before 3 deafening bangs roared out .
The man was hit all 3 times falling into a heap just a step out of the alley
The entire street fell into a horrified silence, for all of a moment before erupting into a frenzy.
"Shit" dad snarled before speaking into his phone again.
Instead of running, the would-be mugger walked out, a crazed gleam in his eyes.
"Sweetheart, you need to stay right here, you understand me no matter what, mommy is gonna come here to pick you up." He said in a tone of no argument. " And remember I love you " he said before rushing towards the crazy mugger.
"I love you too, dad" I said softly, even though the noise of the crowd probably drowned it out he looked back at me as if he had heard it, I like to think he heard it
The crowd paused for a couple of minutes giving me a clear view of what was happening, the man who was shot laid, crying out in pain and for help but it looked like no one was going to help him. The would have been mugger lower the pistol towards the man, and dad.
"Wait dad ?" I exclaimed to myself softly as he rushed towards the mad man , the crazed man noticing him change the direction of his gun to aim towards my dad.
The crazy man fired 3 times, the first while he was still rushing towards him. The second while my father was a couple steps away grazing his leg. Third, while my father was throwing a punch, hitting him in the stomach, not slowing him down in the slightest, dad punched the man.
A droplet of rain hit my head just as the third shot rang out. The silence in the street was deafening, only interrupted but the sound of a face meeting someone's face.
Soon the police arrived with an ambulance right behind it, my father had fallen onto his back. He laid mostly unmoving, one moment I was on the bench he said to stay on and the next I was by his side.
"D-dad ?" I whispered in a small broken voice
" Hey sweetie, what did I say about staying on the bench ?" he reprimanded without any real fire behind his voice.
"Ar-are you going to be ok ?" I asked if the fear in my voice seemed to make him pause.
"I don't know, what I do know is I will always be in your heart and that's all that matters" he said gently
" Mr Davis we have to get you to the hospital " an EMT said calmly
"You're bringing my daughter with me." He demanded simply.
The ride to the hospital was fast and loud.
The following events were a blur of rushing through hallways and yelling Something about the stitches father had tearing and the wound re-opening.
Soon I was seated on a chair outside an operation room. My mother beside me held the 2 wolves and the swan in her hands , her knees bouncing up and down.
After what felt like an eternity of waiting a doctor walked out with a somber expression on his face.
"Ma'am I'm so sorry for your loss, we couldn't save Abel" he said, his voice breaking at the end of his sentence.
Mom broke into sobs and wails , I did the same.
The next few days were a mess but soon came his funeral.
It was a large enough occasion, I didn't like how many people came up to me and expressed their sympathies.
The rain had been non-stop ever since his death and his burial was the worst of it, the rain mercilessly beat down on everything.
A priest came and gave a small eulogy I had half had half heartedly followed along too .
My mind snapped from its wandering down memory lane, my eyes hurt and my heart burned with a new round disdain for Elijah.
Chapter end.