Under the Owl Tree

by Sara Daniell

  I nodded and got up. “Dad, go home!”

  Dad glared at Zach. I could tell he had been drinking. He had to be, or he wouldn’t be acting like this.

  “You stay away from my daughter, you sick son of a bitch!” Dad yelled and stumbled a little.

  Totally drunk.

  I stepped in front of Zach. “Dad, you’re drunk!”

  “Move!” he yelled at me. “This is between me and Zach! He took advantage!”

  Zach made it to his feet. He held his ribs with his hand as he looked at my dad. “I love your daughter more than anything. I’d give her the world if I could.”

  Dad stumbled again and steadied himself on the arm of the couch.

  “Come on, I’m driving you home,” I said as tears fell down my face.

  “I can drive my own damn self!” he yelled in a slur.

  Zach looked at me. “Hales, I hope you forgive me.” He pulled his fist back and hit Dad in the face. He caught him before he could hit the floor. Zach situated Dad like a sack of potatoes over his shoulder. I could tell Zach was in pain, but he didn’t complain. “The door, Hales.”

  I quickly opened the door and grabbed the keys from my backpack. I followed Zach out and opened the back door to my car. Zach carefully put him in the backseat then leaned heavily against the car. He closed his eyes for a second and then shut the door. He opened his eyes the best he could and looked at me. “I’m sorry, Hales.”

  I wiped my eyes. “For what? You have nothing to apologize for. I’ll get him home and then come back here. Go lay down.”

  “You’re going to need me to get him inside your house. I’ll rest once we have him home.”

  I didn’t have the energy to argue. We got in the car.

  WHEN WE GOT to my house, Zach opened the back door. I heard him groan when he bent over to get Dad out. He was really struggling as I opened the front door. Zach barely made it to the couch with my dad.

  Mom came down the stairs with a basket of laundry and dropped it when she saw us.

  Zach was sitting down, holding his ribs.

  “What on earth?” She walked around the basket and came over to the couch where Dad was awake but completely out of it. She knelt on the floor and looked at Zach. “What happened!”

  “Mom, Dad came over and attacked Zach. Zach had to knock him out to get him to calm down so we could drive him home. He’s drunk.”

  “I’m sorry I punched him. It was the only thing I could think of.” Zach grimaced as he stood up.

  “Hailey,” Mom said as she looked at Dad, “go get Zach cleaned up, and I’ll handle your father.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” I got up and led Zach upstairs to the bathroom.

  Zach sat on the lid of the toilet while I got a wet rag and started cleaning his face.

  “Hales?”

  I went to the sink and rinsed out the rag. I watched Zach’s blood wash down the drain. “Yeah?”

  “I love you,” he said softly.

  I turned the faucet off. I twisted the rag to get out the excess water and put it to his left eye. “Hold that there.” He held it and watched me. He told me he loved me, and he needed a response. I should have given him one, but I was so worked up from everything that happened that I just couldn’t. I was speechless.

  Zach stayed quiet as I lifted his shirt. His left side was starting to bruise.

  I knelt in front of him and touched the bruise. “I’ll go get ice.”

  He nodded.

  I stared at his bruise then looked into his eyes. “I’m really sorry this happened. I never thought my dad would do something like this.”

  “It’s understandable. He’s just worried about you,” He lowered his shirt. “I should go home. I’ll walk to Elliot’s and get Dane to take me home.”

  “What? No.” I furrowed my brow. “I’m coming back to the cabin with you. We have a date to finish.”

  He touched my face gently. “That sounds like fun.” His thumb gently rubbed my cheek.

  “And I love you too.” I smiled when his thumb ran across my lips. I kissed the tip of his thumb. “So much,” I cried a little. “I swear I’m never this emotional. You do this to me, though. I just care so damn much about you. I love you.” I laughed. “Dammit, I really fucking love you.”

  He smiled the best he could. “I really fucking love you. You’re my world, Hales.”

  I fixed his shirt and stood. I held my hand out to him. “I think you need a nice warm bath, food, and some rest. Let’s go.”

  He stood with my help and leaned on me a little. “Hales, if we did screw up, I promise it won’t mess up your future.” He looked down at me. “I promise.” He closed his eyes and groaned a little. “I have a headache.”

  “I really, really, really don’t want to talk about it.” I smiled a little. “Let’s go.”

  We went downstairs, and Dad was sitting up with an ice pack on his head.

  “Hales, I’m—”

  “Don’t talk to me right now,” I snapped, cutting Dad off.

  We left the house and headed back to the cabin. I filled the bath with warm water and sat on the edge of the large, oval tub. I looked at Zach when he came into the bathroom.

  “It’s almost ready.” I walked over to him and grabbed the bottom of his shirt. I lifted it up, and he pulled it off the rest of the way, dropping it into the floor. His side was worse. “He really fucked you up.”

  “I’ll be okay.” He got undressed the rest of the way and climbed in the tub. He kept his eyes on mine. “You want to join me?”

  I smiled and undressed. I climbed in with him and rested my back against his chest. He rubbed my shoulders, and I closed my eyes.

  “Shouldn’t I be the one rubbing your shoulders?”

  “You’re stressed. You need me to rub your shoulders. I relieve stress by making you happy.”

  I smiled and inclined my head back to look at him. “Kiss me?”

  “Umm, no. I think until we get out of this tub and to the room where my condoms are, I will keep my lips to myself.” He kissed my forehead and continued massaging my shoulders.

  I chuckled. “Alright.” I sat up and turned so that I was facing him.

  His eyes roamed my body. “I think it’s time to leave the tub.” He licked his lips.

  I smiled. “Not until we get washed up. You have blood in your hair.”

  “I can get it out later.” His voice had taken on a slight growl.

  I leaned forward and kissed his lips gently. His hand moved up my body and into my hair. He used his free hand to pull me even closer to him. He growled and pulled back.

  “Hales, we need to stop.”

  I bit his bottom lip, ignoring him. My ability to use common sense goes out the door when it comes to this man. He crushed his lips against mine, and his hands roamed my body for a few, delicious moments. He pulled back as he tried to catch his breath.

  “We need to move to the bed.”

  I pulled the drain to the tub, and we got out, grabbing towels as we hurried to the bedroom. I slipped and almost fell from the water we were tracking on the wood floors, but Zach caught me. I cracked up.

  Finally, we made it to the bed.

  Today was my date with Coach. Dane and Zach took Millie to Build-a-Bear, and Quinn and Brink were out of town on business. The past week was insane with practice and games, which we won all of, and it was nice to have a chill morning with Coach, coffee, and a slew of decorating magazines.

  “What’s your favorite color?” Coach asked as he looked at some dining room sets.

  “Black. All shades.” I smiled as I looked at him. “You look good today, Coach.” And he honestly did. After stopping the treatments that weren’t working, he looked so much better. It was almost hard to believe that inside he was dying.

  “I feel better. Still tired, but feeling better. I’m ready for our vacation.” He flipped through the magazine then handed it to me to show me a living room suit that was black with Ivory cushions.

  “Ivory
is a bad idea. I really like pizza, and I like to eat on the couch sometimes. What about this one?” I asked pointing to an all-black, leather couch sectional.

  “It could work, if you add colored throw pillows and decorate around the room with color.” He smiled a little. “Can you get my art book for me?” he pointed to a large art pad in a chair across the room.

  “Sure.” I uncrossed my legs and climbed off the bed. I got it and stopped mid-step when I saw a picture of him and his wife. I picked it up too. “Can you tell me about her?” I smiled at Coach and got back into bed. I handed him the book and the photo and then sat next to him.

  Coach looked down at the photo and smiled. “She was a spit-fire. She hated me at first.” He chuckled. “I took the position her boyfriend wanted on the baseball team. But her friends all left for the summer, and we ended up hanging out. She became my best friend. She was brave and strong. She gave her life so Millie would have the chance to live.”

  “That’s amazing. So she knew having Millie would kill her?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, her mother pushed her down a flight of stairs, and then we were in a wreck. It caused problems. They wanted her to get an abortion, but she refused. They told us if she went into labor that it would kill her.” Coach kept his eyes on the picture. “They only gave Millie a small chance to survive, but she did. She did because her mother gave her life for her.”

  Tears filled my eyes. “Dammit, I’ve been an emotional wreck lately.” I laughed. “That is the most beautiful thing I think I’ve ever heard. So selfless. She sounds amazing.”

  “She was. I see so much of her in Millie.” He put the picture down and turned the pages in his art book. “I made you and Zach something.” He smiled when he found the right page. He handed me the large art book. There was a picture of Zach and me. Zach was looking down at me with a smile on his face as I laughed up at him. It was something that happened a few days ago. “I have a few more, but they’re not finished. I thought maybe you guys could frame them and put them up in the cabin, umm, house. I guess it’s not much of a cabin anymore.”

  “This, these, they’re amazing! They will look great there. You really need to see it.”

  “I’m planning on it. Zach said it should be done by the end of the month. He doesn’t want me seeing it until it’s all done. He’s really pushing that construction t-team,” he stuttered a bit.

  “Yeah. He is.” I set the book down and looked at Coach. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, and his body started convulsing. I panicked. I jumped out of the bed, grabbed the cordless phone on the nightstand, and dialed 911.

  I sat on the edge of the bed, holding Coach the best I could to keep him from hitting his head on the headboard or falling off the bed. I cried as I watched him struggle. After several more seconds, his body relaxed, and he went into a deep sleep. I felt relieved when I heard the ambulance sirens. I hurried to the front door and let them in, explaining where he was. I got my cellphone from the kitchen and called Zach.

  “Hey, Tiger, how’s the decorating planning going?”

  “Zach, it’s Elliot. The paramedics are here. He-he had a seizure.”

  Zach cursed “Go with him in the ambulance. We’ll meet you at the hospital.”

  “Okay.” I hung up when I saw them bringing Coach out on a stretcher. He had an oxygen mask on his face, and the medics were talking to one another so fast it was hard to hear anything they were saying.

  “He has brain cancer,” I said, interrupting them as I followed them out.

  They nodded in understanding and loaded him up. I got in the back with them and stayed out of the way while they started an IV. The ambulance sped down the road fast, and I had to hold onto the metal bar above my head.

  “Is he okay?” I asked, but they continued to work without answering me.

  I closed my eyes and said a silent prayer the entire way to the hospital.

  I PACED THE waiting room, and when I saw Zach walking in with Dane and Millie, I ran over to him.

  “I’m so sorry! They have him back there now, and I told them I’d send you back as soon as you got here. You can just go in. I didn’t grab anything. I think they need his insurance card and other info.”

  Zach hugged me. “It wasn’t your fault.” He kissed the side of my head then went through the doors.

  Dane picked up Millie and held her as he took a seat.

  I sat next to him and put my head in my hands. “He’ll be okay.” I let my hands fall and smiled at Millie and Dane. “He’ll be okay,” I said with a bit more confidence.

  Millie buried her face against Dane’s neck. Dane rubbed her back gently.

  “Did you pick out any furniture?” He asked as he tried to fill the silence.

  “Couch.”

  “That’s good. What color?” He kept rubbing Millie’s back and kept his eyes focused on the doors Zach disappeared behind.

  “Black leather sectional.” My hands were shaking.

  He stopped rubbing Millie’s back and grabbed my hand giving it a little squeeze.

  “I’ve never had to deal with something like this before. Nothing will be the same. He’s family to me. He’s been such a positive part of my life. I don’t know how you guys can even smile at all. You’ve known him so long. That’s Zach’s baby brother. I’m just so torn for all of you, and Millie...” My voice broke.

  “This is the first time I’m going through something like this too.” Dane’s voice sounded rough. He kissed Millie’s head as she sniffed. I looked at her and saw she was crying. “It’s not fair,” he said sadly.

  I leaned over and kissed Millie’s headful of curls.

  “Millie?” I whispered.

  She moved her head so she could look at me.

  I smiled a little and tucked a stray curl behind her ear. “I love you, you know that? I think you’re such a strong, amazing girl, and your mommy would be so proud of you. I’m here for you. We all are. Do you understand how loved you are?”

  She nodded. “I want my daddy. I don’t want him to leave me.”

  “Oh, sweetie, he will never be really gone because he will live inside your heart.” I looked at a nurse as she walked by. I stood. “Excuse me,” I said, catching up with her.

  “Yes?” She smiled.

  “Do you have any information on Elliot Shaw?”

  “Sorry, no. They are still running tests.”

  I nodded and sat back down.

  Millie moved out of Dane’s arms and moved to me. She wrapped her arms around my neck and put her cheek against my shoulder.

  “Go check on him and Zach. I’ll stay with her.”

  Dane ran a hand through his hair and nodded. He got up and headed through the doors.

  It was a long time before anyone came back through the doors. I looked up when the doors opened, and Zach came through. Millie was sound asleep, still holding tightly to my neck.

  He came over and sat next to me. He didn’t say a word. He just stared at a wall.

  “I love you,” I whispered.

  A single tear slid down his cheek.

  “I love you too.” His voice was raw. “I called Brink. They’re on their way home. They’re going to pick up Aunt Millie on their way home. The doctor—” he stopped talking to take a steadying breath.

  “The doctor doesn’t think he has much more time.”

  I closed my eyes.

  I opened them again, and a few tears fell. “I’ll tell the team.”

  Tears had started streaming down Zach’s face. “Thanks. Brink’s parents are coming in too. They were our parent’s best friends. They’ll love you.” He didn’t wipe his tears, and the way he spoke revealed how much in shock he was in. It was like he was finding out for the first time how bad Coach was.

  I stood and handed him Millie.

  “I’m gonna send out a group text.” I wiped my eyes and bent down to kiss Zach. “I love you, and we’re going to get through this.”

  He held onto Millie and looked at me. One of h
is eyes was still swollen quite a bit. “I love you too.” He grabbed my hand. “Will you be gone long?”

  “No. Just gonna go use the restroom and send out that text. Do you need anything?”

  He shook his head. “No, just you.” He leaned back in the chair with Millie and put his head against the wall. He closed his eyes and winced as he repositioned Millie against his chest.

  “I’ll go see if they have some Advil or something in the gift shop.”

  He moved a bit and pulled out his wallet. He handed it to me. “You may want to get some snacks for all of us too. None of us have eaten dinner yet.” He tried to give me a smile, but it didn’t last long.

  I nodded and walked toward the bathroom. I looked down when I realized I never put shoes on. I was barefoot. I blinked back tears that were trying to fall. The reality of what happened was setting in and had me completely horrified. Seeing Coach struggling like that was the scariest thing I had ever experienced. I had no control of the situation; all I could do was wait for the medics to get there. I shuddered a little as it all replayed in my mind.

  I went to the restroom and leaned against the wall as I took out my phone. I set Zach’s wallet on the sink and sent out a group text to the team, including Sadie.

  Me: Coach had a seizure about 45 minutes ago. We are at the hospital, and after running tests, they’ve told Zach he doesn’t have much time left. I want to do something special for him so shoot me any ideas you guys may have. They aren’t letting anyone except family back right now, but we are all in the waiting room at the Henry Medical Center.

  I watched as texts came flooding in. The entire team said they’d be at the hospital within the next hour. I was about to put the phone in my pocket when it started ringing. Sadie’s name flashed across the screen.

  “Hey,” I said quietly and picked up Zach’s wallet from the sink.

  “I’m so sorry I haven’t kept in contact with you. I kept meaning to, Hales. But then I found out about you and Dane, and while I had no right to be upset, I was. I was being stupid.”