"You don't need to do that. If crying makes you feel better, please do. It's never easy to see your loved ones helpless." Her soothing voice filled my ears.
I looked over her into the room. I could not get a clear view of my father. Apart from his feet, nothing else was left to my view from where I stood.
"But he isn't helpless right? That's why you're here, you're going to help my father."
"We are going to do our best.."
"And it will be enough, right?"
She sighed and withdrew her hands from my shoulders.
I knew she was trying to pass a message. One that I refused to understand.
"Doctor MacPherson..."
"Just call me Sarah," She cut in, pity glittering in her blue eyes.
I looked up at her again, watching beads of sweat trickle down her forehead. Her messy hair made her look even more exhausted.
"I..." I paused again, trying to fight my tears back. My efforts proved futile.
"I need to know that my father is going to be okay," I spoke, making sure to count my words so I did not have another abrupt outburst.
She had been very understanding, the least I could do was respect her enough to behave myself.
"Let's talk about this in my office, shall we?" Sarah offered, leading the way into a room a few steps away.
I stood behind for few seconds, summoning the courage to walk into dad's ward. Taking three steps inside, I observed him. He lay there, seemingly lifeless. I muffled the sob that began to form when I saw just how much weight he had lost. If I hadn't known him my entire life, I would never have believed that Thomas Willow was the man who lay in that bed, an oxygen mask covering his now sunken face.
My heart broke. I just wanted him to be okay. He didn't deserve any of this.
"Miss Willow?"
I tore my eyes away from the sight and wiped my tears with the back of my palm. Clearing my throat, I made my way to my way to the office.
I needed to find out the details about his health. At least he was still here. He was okay. And for that I was grateful.
MELANIE
"Melanie!" My boss's annoying voice sounded from within his office. Yawning a little, I quickly got up from my chair, trying in vain to organize my messy table but to no avail. I had been at work since 8 am today, and for the fourth time this week, there was nothing to do. We had no clients, no jobs, nothing.
Huffing in exhaustion I made my way to Jeremy's office, peeking from beside the door.
"You called for me?" I asked, straightening up and smoothening out my skirt. I silently prayed that work had come up for me. Because if I kept going like this, I was sure to go crazy before the end of the day.
Jeremy quickly swirled around in his chair, facing me and sending a toothy grin my way. Like always when he leered at me the way he was doing right now, I felt irritation crawl through my skin.
Since Jeremy had hired me as an assistant in his family's small editing company eighteen months ago, a day had not gone by when he had not tried to make subtle passes at me. It irked me to the core but I couldn't complain because he had not tried anything stupid with me. And God knows this shit was the last thing I needed right now.
"Hand me the file on the top there, by the cabinet," Jeremy requested.
My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Had he seriously called me here to hand him a stupid file? It was literally a stride away from him.
Biting back all the things I would love to say to him, I kept my mouth shut and walked to the shelf. The file was suspiciously placed on the highest shelf. Even with the heels I wore, I still had to stretch my hand further before I could reach it. After straining hard enough, I finally had it in my grasp. As I made to hand it over to him, I felt a presence behind me.
"You're so fucking beautiful, Mel..." I heard Jeremy whisper in my ears, his voice coming out in short ragged breaths. I felt my skin crawl as I turned sharply to face Jeremy.
"What the hell are you—"
I didn't get to complete my sentence because right then, his hand snaked around my waist, coming down to my ass and giving it a rough squeeze.
Fuck. This. Shit.
I whipped around, viciously pulling him forward by his tie and landing two resounding slaps to his cheek.
"How dare you?!" I shrieked, my eyes wild with anger.
He seemed to recover from the shock in time because after a few seconds he charged at me.
"Why, you little bit—"
Before he could say anymore, I landed a blow to his jaw, watching in satisfaction as a tooth flew from his mouth, leaving him writhing in pain.
I knew I had lost my job already. But I didn't care.
"You fucking asshole! Don't you ever treat women like that!"
My chest still heaving, I dumped the stack of files on his bleeding nose, landing a well placed kick to his groin. The groan of pain he emitted was befitting enough so I stormed out of his office, sparing a few minutes to clear out my desk.
I knew that everyone must have heard everything that went in the office. I could feel then staring at me. But no one said a word. My face reddened as I wondered just how many women that bastard must have taken advantage of. From the silence and the bowed heads of about sixty percent of the women that sat in those cubicles, I knew it was quite a lot. My fists clenched and I suddenly started to wish I had destroyed his face some more.
Pushing the thought out of my head, I focused on tossing necessities such as my phone into my purse. Once I was done I grabbed my purse and all but flew out the doors.
"Fucking pervert," I cursed under my breath as I walked down the street, bag in hand, not knowing exactly where I was going. Entitled pieces of shit that think they have a right to do whatever the hell they want.
"Fucking Jeremy." I laughed bitterly.