79. Aiyana

Chapter seventy-nine

Aiyana

Friday, February 9, 2024

" A lright, you two, I'm heading home for a few hours to shower and get a few things done around the house. I'll be back later," Mom tells us as she heads out.

Grabbing the remote, I set the TV up for Kas's hockey game. "Scooch over," I instruct my father.

He does his best to move all the way to the side of the bed as I lower one arm rail to allow me a little more room. It helps that I'm petite; otherwise, there's no way we'd be able to make this work.

We watch the game, screaming and hollering so much that the nurses have to keep coming into the room to tell us to keep it down. The most recent time, the nurse threatened to send me home because it was after visiting hours anyway, and I'm not really supposed to be here. Dad started getting worn out anyway, coughing much more frequently, and quieted down as a result.

"That boy is really a force to be reckoned with." He beams.

"I'd say so. He's one of the best defensemen in the league right now."

"Not just right now," he says.

We continue watching, and when the game is over, my dad lays back with a huge grin. "That's my boy," he says proudly.

His words send an odd mix of warmth and nerves fluttering through me. If only he fit into my father's wishes of me marrying "within my culture." He'd be even more of a son to him than he already sees him as.

"Yeah, Dad, Kas is great," I reply noncommittally, pushing the bile working its way up my throat back down.

"He's helped me out so much over the last few years. He's even gotten really good at carving, maybe better than me at this point," he tells me.

My brows pull taut. "Helped you out?" I ask, confusion lacing my words.

"Kas comes over at least once a week, and sometimes, two or three times, when he isn't on the ice. He makes sure things are done around the house and helps me finish projects. You didn't know that?" he asks me, clearly surprised.

My heart begins to race as it clenches painfully in my chest. Even when I wasn't around, he was still taking care of me, and I didn't even know it.

"I had no idea, but I'm glad he was around while I wasn't." I give him a tight smile, guilt seeping in. When I got the acceptance letter and decided to move with Kat, my dad had gotten his diagnosis shortly after. I made a last-minute decision not to go and told my parents I hadn't gotten in.

My dad had thrown a fit about it and ended up calling the admissions office to tell them what a mistake they had made, which is when they informed him that I had gotten in. He reamed me out and made me follow my dreams, but I left a piece of my heart at home with him.

"You stop that," he tells me abruptly. "I wouldn't have changed anything about my life, and nothing makes me more proud than my daughter following her dreams, so you just stop that train of thought right in its tracks."

I nod, but the guilt stays put regardless of his words.

Moments later, my mom walks in. "Hey, you guys, who won?" she asks.

Dad pipes up and begins giving her a play-by-play of the game, the best he can, adding a lot of drama throughout. The nurse pokes his head in. "Hey guys, visiting hours have been over for a while, so one of you has to head out. I'm sorry." He gives us an apologetic smile.

Standing, I say my goodbyes and head back home, my mind reeling from this new information about Kas.