The Worst Night
Tony knew there was something wrong the moment he opened the door and stepped into the house.
It was just too quiet.
Virginia hadn't ran to meet him like she usually did every night after he got home late from work, and he didn't hear Christine yelling at him to do something to make himself useful, which was out of character for her.
Tony rubbed the back of his balding head, his awkward, bulky fingers brushing the rim of his receding hairline, and frowned. Something just wasn't right. The house was just too quiet.
His heart pounding, he ran into the living room and took his coat off, throwing it across the back of the couch. Then, he tossed his lunchbox down on the floor and took off upstairs.
"Virginia?" Tony shouted his daughter's name, climbing the steps two at a time, despite every one of his strained muscles aching in protest. "Are you okay, Virginia?" He was out of breath before he even got to the top of the stairs.
They might've not agreed on everything, having had their fair share of disagreements in the past, even more here lately, it seemed, and he would never say it to Christine's face, because she wouldn't have let him hear the end of it, but she was right about one thing: he really needed to get into shape and work out more. The big one was going to get him soon if he didn't, and Virginia would grow up without her Daddy to take care of her. He didn't want that to happen.
Tony didn't know how, but after much trial and error, by some kind of weird stroke of luck, he had made it to the top of the steps. Bending over, he grasped his knees, wheezing. He had fallen several times on his way up the stairs, losing his balance and having to pull himself up by grabbing the posts in between the railing.
Tony was tired. It had been another hard day at work. All he wanted to do was rest, but his conscious wouldn't let him. Christine would've laughed at the thought of him having such a thing as a conscious, and wouldn't have believed him if he had told her he had one, but something was telling him Virginia needed him.
Grimacing, Tony stood back up with a pained grunt, gripping the small of his back. Being a tall man to begin with, reaching a staggering six-foot five when he was standing at his full height, he had always had back problems. Living in the small house they did now didn't help matters. He was always having to duck or bend to get through a doorway, not an easy thing to do, for a big man like him. It was sort of like what Spider-man had said about great power coming with great responsibility or something like that: great height came with a great price. He had always been afraid he was going to wake up one morning, paralyzed from the waist down, and unable to get up out of bed. His greatest fear, besides loosing Virginia, was breaking his back.
Tony's job working at the construction site hadn't made things any easier on him. His boss overworked and underpaid him. It was a wonder his family wasn't starving. He thought he would've been losing weight by now, wasting away to nothing but skin and bones, but the truth was, he had been eating and drinking stuff he shouldn't, and his bad habits were starting to take their toll on him. His unsanitary lifestyle was making him older than his years, and to make matters worse, he had nobody to blame for his declining health but himself, no matter how much he wanted to claim his job and house were responsible.
With great shame, Tony looked down at his protruding stomach, which distended well past his beltline. If Christine left him now, he wouldn't blame her. He was nothing but a lazy, fat slob, no matter what he liked to think.
Feeling sorry for himself now, Tony went to go check Virginia's room, and opened the door. He stuck his head in the room, yelled her name again, and began to panic when he still saw no signs of Virginia.
"Virginia!" Tony called for her once more, and ran back out of the room, shutting the door behind him. He ran down the hall, deciding to try the bathroom next. Maybe she had locked herself in there by accident or something, but somehow Tony doubted it. No matter what Christine thought, Virginia was a smart and resourceful kid. She would've never locked herself up in the bathroom.
His anxiety levels rising to new heights, Tony reached for the doorknob, his hands trembling. They were shaking so bad he didn't think he was going to be able to open the door, but he somehow managed to turn the doorknob, and the door swung open.
Tony had walked into what looked like a scene from his worst nightmare.
Virginia was lying face down in the tub, her head completely submerged in water, and seemingly to all appearances, dead.
"VIRGINIA!" Tony screamed her name this time, fell to his knees, and crawled to the bathtub. He cried out in pain, overwhelmed by the agony this little stunt had caused him, finding out the hard way he wasn't as young as he used to be. Refusing to let this stop him from possibly saving his daughter's life, he made his way to Virginia, his vision blurred by tears. Fearing she was already dead, he slid his hands under her arms and pulled her out of the tub, trying to ignore the stabbing, burning pains in his back.
Tony lay Virginia on the bathroom mat, and pressed his hands on her chest. He started administrating CPR, something he had learned in his health class when he had been in high school, pressing his lips against hers. He couldn't remember the exact reason why, but he had been against learning how to perform the critical, life-saving maneuver at first, thinking it was something he thought he would never have to use, let alone on his own daughter, and he felt awkward doing it, but if it would save his daughter's life, he didn't care. In truth, he thought he had just been afraid of something like this happening. Now he was glad he had taken those lessons. "Virginia, sweetheart, please, wake up," he said, sobbing. "Please, don't die on me, baby." His usually strong, baritone voice cracked, and he lowered his head over her chest, checking to make sure her heart was still beating. "Daddy needs you, honey." He wasn't for sure, but he thought he heard a faint heartbeat. She was still alive, but barely. There was still hope.
Tony whooped with joy when, all of a sudden, Virginia began to gag, water coming out of her mouth like out of a fountain. He scooped her up into his arms, and collapsed against the bathtub in relief, cradling her head in his hands. Pressing her against his heaving stomach, he began to rock her back and forth, burying his face in her drenched, auburn hair.
"Daddy?" Virginia spoke up for the first time, her voice muffled against his shirt. "What's wrong, Daddy?" She looked up from his chest, blinking up at him in confusion. "Why are you crying, Papa Bear?" She reached a hand out towards Tony and ran it down his face, wiping a tear off his cheek, her fingers tracing the faint age lines beginning to form around his mouth. She gave the stubble of his four weeks-long growth of beard on his chin a gentle tug. Ever since he had read her the story of The Three Little Bears, she always called him Papa Bear whenever Tony had his full beard going on. He didn't encourage it, but he didn't discourage it, either, because he thought it was cute, and it made his heart melt whenever she said it.
Tony smiled through the tears, his face crumpling. "Nothing, baby girl," he said, cupping her face in his hands. "Papa Bear's just happy you're all right." He brushed a strand of hair off her face, kissing her on the cheek.
"Then why do you look so sad?" Virginia asked, breaking Tony's heart into several more pieces, and he thought there couldn't have been much more of it left, not after Christine had been through with it.
"Just grown up stuff, honey," Tony said, knowing it sounded lame coming out of his mouth, that it was the oldest trick in the book, but what else was he supposed to tell her? Oh, nothing, Virginia, you mother just tried to drown you? He didn't think that would set too well with her, and he doubted she would even be able to begin to understand why her mother, someone who claimed to love her every night and day, would want to kill her.
Hell, Tony had trouble understanding it himself. He knew Christine hadn't wanted a baby because she had been afraid taking care of it would interfere with her work. Tony got that. To a point, he really didn't blame her for that. After all, he had been the one wanting a kid, not her, and it was his fault he had gotten her pregnant in the first place, but Virginia hadn't been something they had planned on. Her conceiving had been an accident. Sure, a happy accident for Tony, maybe a not so happy accident for Christine. True, he probably could've worn a condom, but everybody knew those things didn't work all the time, anyway. He probably could've told her she could've have had the abortion she had wanted when she was pregnant with Virginia, too, but he hadn't given her a straight answer when she had asked him if she could have one, knowing he wouldn't have been able to live with himself if he had played a part in it. He would've spent the rest of his miserable existence wondering what could've been. He wouldn't have forced Christine to have the baby if she hadn't wanted to, though. He had never made Christine do anything she didn't want to. Tony just wasn't that kind of guy. Christine had carried Virginia for a full term pregnancy on her own free will, but she had done it for him, not because she had wanted Virginia.
Still, Tony wouldn't have changed anything, even if he could. He didn't know what he would do without his Virginia. He loved her with every fiber of his being.
One of the reasons why Tony loved Virginia was because she needed him, and he needed her. He needed her because it made him feel slightly better about himself, made him feel less alone and unwanted, to have someone as small and innocent as Virginia need him to help take care of her. He had never had anybody need him before. He was always the one who seemed to be in somebody's way. His mother had paid scant attention to him when he was little, now he's wife didn't want anything to do with him, and she was treating Virginia the same way his mother had him. He and Virginia were kindred spirits.
Tony didn't like to think about it, but maybe that was why Christine hadn't loved Virginia. Perhaps the woman had never needed anybody before, not even her husband and daughter, and nobody had ever needed her, either, but that didn't sound exactly right to Tony. Christine might've had not needed Tony and Virginia, but he and Virginia had needed her. For awhile, before their marriage had fallen apart and their romantic relationship had died, he had even been madly in love with her, completely crazy about her, but she had stolen his heart and then shattered it into a million pieces. She was as heartless as they came.
What Tony didn't get was what could've drove Christine to such a drastic act of extreme desperation. He never thought she would go so far as to kill her own daughter, and he could never forgive Christine for that. He knew his wife had been evil, but not that evil.
She was soon going to be his ex-wife after tonight. Tony couldn't stay married to a woman who had just tried to kill his daughter. Christine had just crossed the line with him. He was filing for divorce after she came back.
If she ever came back, and that was a pretty big if. Tony didn't think she would, though. Knowing her, she had gotten on the first flight out of New York after it had happened. Christine had never been one to take responsibilities for her actions.
He was also getting sober. He was going to an AA meeting first thing tomorrow. This had been a wakeup call for Tony. He might've been a drunk, but he wasn't a mean drunk, despite Christine's many various claims to the contrary. Unlike Christine, he would never do anything to intentionally harm Virginia. He couldn't afford to let something like this happen again. The risk wasn't worth it. His daughter's life was at stake.
Tony resumed racking his brain to try to figure out what, exactly, might've set his wife off like this, and if there could've been anything he could've done to prevent it. He was going to be doing this for the rest of his life.
Tony knew he had been drunk the night before, and only had a vague memory of everything that had taken place. He remembered Christine had been mad at him, over the money again, but that was nothing new. She was always harping to him about that money, about how he had lost it all, and how he had ruined her life.
It was hard for many people to believe now, but Tony had been rich, not too long ago. He hadn't known there had been so much money in such things, but he had made it big with the bouncy castle business he had took a chance on a few years back, and it had lasted for quite awhile. Yet, just like with any business, eventually deals had started falling through, way too many for him to keep up with, and he had went bankrupt at the worst time possible. Virginia had just been born, and they were struggling to make ends meet.
When his money from the bouncy castle business had run out, Christine suddenly had no use for Tony. She had started to treat him like dirt, made him feel like an old, wadded up piece of paper she had just rolled up and thrown away in the garbage.
Tony felt the blood drain from his face as the revelation hit home, and his eyes widened in horror.
Christine had been a gold-digger. She had only married him for his money. She sure as hell hadn't married him for his looks. Tony could see that now. He hadn't been able to before because he had been blind, so enthralled by Christine's beauty he hadn't been able to see the true monster she had been underneath her flawless skin, and his shallowness as well as his ignorance had almost cost him his daughter's life. He had been a fool to think a woman as beautiful as Christine could've fallen for a dumb, oafish buffoon like him, a fool and an idiot. She had been way out of his league.
There was something else bugging Tony. If Christine had hated him so much, why hadn't she left him before now? He thought she had only stayed with him this long out of spite, which was something he could see her doing. She clearly hadn't been happy with the way her marriage had been going. She was always bringing in her boyfriends. She had brought one in on her arm last night, parading him by Tony, who had been lying on the couch with a hangover at the time, or he would've picked a fight with the guy and thrown him out. He knew she had been cheating on him. Tony didn't know why he hadn't left her before now, either. Maybe he had been just hoping things would get better, but they hadn't. They had just got worse and worse, until they had escalated, and then this happened…
As much as he hated to admit it, he knew he couldn't put all of the blame on Christine. This whole mess was just as much his fault as it was hers. Maybe if he had left sooner, gotten Virginia out of this place while he still could, maybe none of this would've happened. If anything, it was more his fault than Christine's. He had seen what had been going on and had done nothing about it. He was scum. He was worse than scum. He was…
Tony was trying to think of what was worse than scum when Virginia yawned, jerking him out of his reverie and back into the present.
"I'm sleepy, Papa Bear," Virginia said, rubbing at her tired, blue eyes. "Can I go take a nap?"
Tony thought for a moment. He was going to have to take her to the hospital, just to make sure she was okay, but he couldn't tell her that. Virginia knew what a hospital was and what one was for. He would only scare her. "Yes, honey, but Daddy's going to take you somewhere else, first," he said, and scrolled his dark, weary gaze up toward the ceiling, realizing a problem.
There was no way he was going to be able to get back up.
After Tony had gotten up off the bathroom floor, with a little help from Virginia, he had to have even more help getting back down the stairs. Virginia let him take hold of her hand, and she had to half-drag him down the steps, Tony leaning against the railing for support.
Virginia was being forced to grow up fast having to take care of her useless, deadbeat Daddy, taking on responsibilities she shouldn't have to at such a young age, and Tony didn't like it. He didn't like it one bit. He hadn't wanted this kind of life for his daughter. He didn't think any parent would. He was becoming a better man after tonight. He wanted Virginia to have a happy, carefree life, the perfect childhood any child should have. Virginia was a good, well-behaved kid with bad, incompetent parents. She deserved better.
When they made it safely to the bottom of the steps and got to the door, she opened it for them and they stepped outside. Virginia made sure the door was locked behind them and hauled him the rest of the way to the car. Once they got there, he heaved himself to his feet and helped her get in the vehicle on the passenger's side next to him, shutting her door for her. That done, he opened the door on the driver's side, pulled himself up into the car, and shut the door behind him.
Tony drove her to a hospital a little ways down the road, driving them in his old, beat up Bentley, which was about as ancient as Tony felt and looked just as bad as he must've had, too. The grill was about to fall off, the windshield was cracked, and a light and mirror were busted out on it. The vehicle, just like his body, was about to fall apart on him. He would be lucky if the cops didn't stop and pull him over.
The car was also too small for him. He had to sit on the seat, hunched over the steering wheel, with his already tortured spine bent, and had to keep on sticking his head out the window just to get comfortable. He had bought the stubborn, rundown thing used, after the money had run out, and it had been in rough shape then, but it had been the only thing he could afford at the time.
He had thought about hailing a taxi, but he didn't want anybody raising any unwanted questions. Of course, he had considered calling the ambulance first, but, again, he knew it would just frighten Virginia. Besides, she seemed okay, just a little shaken up. He had told her he was taking her on a surprise trip.
Driving well under the speed limit, Tony managed to avoid any cops, staying hidden in a row of cars on the right-hand lane of the road. He wouldn't have been able to speed even if he had wanted to, not in the hunk of junk he was driving, but he would've been too afraid to even try. The fastest the Bentley could go was less than twenty miles per hour, and it crawled more than it drove, so it took Tony longer than usual to get to the hospital than it normally would've. Eventually, however, he had somehow made it to the place without the vehicle breaking down on him, and he pulled the car into the parking lot and parked it.
As Tony opened the door to the driver's side and got out, shutting the door, he noticed something odd. He looked down and saw what it was. His footsteps were uneven. He was limping. He must've sprung something when he had tried to pull that little trapeze act back in the bathroom at the house. They were going to think he was the patient rather than Virginia.
Tony went over to Virginia's door and opened it. "Keep your eyes closed," he said, unbuckling her seatbelt. "No peeking." He peered into her face. "You're peeking!" He teased her, tickling her in the side.
Giggling, Virginia quickly covered her eyes back up. "I' am not!"
It struck Tony how wonderful it was to hear her laugh on what had to be the worst night of their lives, and not for the first time that night, wished he was young again. He wanted to be more like Virginia, to have the childhood innocence of youth, and be completely oblivious to everything. "Yes, you were," he said, lifting her off the seat. "Come on, let's go." He shut the door and hobbled to the hospital, looking very much like a big, gentle giant carrying Virginia in his arms."Don't look until I tell you to, okay?"
"Okay, Papa Bear," Virginia said, making Tony feel even worse about the whole damn situation. Virginia had complete faith in her Daddy, trusted him to take her wherever she wanted to go and wherever he promised to take her, and here he was deceiving her. He would've won the worst dad of the year award for sure.
The front doors to the hospital swung open when Tony approached them, and he passed through them. With his great, big lumbering gait, he crossed the hallway leading to the entrance in just a couple of strides, soon finding himself in the reception area. He swerved his head in every direction, looking for the nearest person, and spotted a woman sitting behind the reception desk. She was a small, mousy thing with a pair of glasses perched on her beak-like nose. Her short, blond hair hung just above her bony shoulders, framing her pale, angular face. She didn't look like a woman to be crossed, despite her size, but she was the only living human being Tony had seen around, and he lurched at her, desperate.
Tony covered Virginia's ears, double-checking to make sure she wasn't peeking, and set her down on the reception desk. "I'm Tony Lewis, and I was wondering if you could see my daughter, Virginia Lewis, please?" he asked, when he had made sure Virginia wasn't peeking.
The woman slid her specs down her nose and raised her fair eyebrows at him. Alarmed, she had jumped out of her seat when Tony had barged into her office, probably thinking he was Herman Munster, but she had recovered fast. There was no trace of her earlier fright left. She had regained her composure with ease and sat back down on her chair. Tony regarded her with newfound respect. His assumption had been correct. This was a woman with nerves of steel, and not someone to be trifled with. "Why, what's wrong with her?" she asked, scrutinizing Virginia with a critical gaze. "She looks perfectly fine to me, if a little wet, maybe."
Apparently, this woman had a cold heart as hard as her nerves. She put him too much in the mind of Christine.
Just like that, Tony lost what little respect and tolerance he had just gained for the woman. "Her mother just tried to drown her, okay?" Not wanting to cause a scene, he lowered his voice, losing his patience. "I just want to make sure she's all right."
Tony could tell the woman wanted to ask all kinds of questions, but to Tony's surprise, she didn't. "All right, you don't have to get all uptight about it," she said instead, pointing to the waiting room down the hall. "You'll want to see Dr. Colton. He'll give you a checkup, but I'm afraid you will have to wait for a few minutes." Her sharp, judgmental gaze traveled up and down Tony's worn and battered body. "We're a little backed up at the moment."
There were all kinds of mean and nasty things Tony wished to say to this woman, but he bit his tongue. "Thank you, Miss…" he trailed off, bending down to get a closer look at the nameplate on her desk. "Miss. Murphy." Thinking it was no wonder the woman wasn't married, he tilted his head at Virginia. "I don't want her to know, okay?" He filled out all of the paperwork Miss. Murphy had for him, picked Virginia back up off the desk, and started to leave.
Miss. Murphy nodded in understanding. "Certainly," she said, watching him go. "You're sure you're not the one we need to see, Mr. Lewis?" Her irritating, high-pitched voice followed him all the way down the hall. "You're limping pretty badly, and if you want me to be honest with you, I think you look like you're in worse shape than your daughter."
Tony rolled his eyes, keeping his back turned in order to keep his expression hidden from Miss. Murphy. He doubted she would've liked what she would've seen. "Nothing wrong with me but a bum leg and a bad back, Miss. Murphy." And a broken heart, he added in his mind, but kept that one to himself. He staggered into the waiting room and sat down.
They waited for what felt like fifteen minutes, Tony getting more and more anxious with each passing second, when a nurse stepped into the waiting area and called them back, asking them to follow her. All too happy to do so, Tony got up from the chair, still holding Virginia in his arms. Before they left, the nurse stopped them to ask Tony about Virginia's condition. Tony told her what had happened, leaving nothing out except for the part about Virginia having to help him down the steps, not thinking it was very important. He didn't think she had to know about it, anyway.
On their way out of the waiting room, the nurse checked Virginia's weight and blood pressure, and led them through another hallway. She brought them to a stop at a random door, and opened it for them, ushering them in the room. Tony hadn't caught the woman's name, but she had seemed nice, wishing Tony and Virginia well before she shut the door and left. Tony had made sure to thank her just as she was leaving.
As soon as she was gone, Tony took a look around the room, seeing it was empty, except for a bed and sink. In short, a typical hospital room. "Looks like Dr. Colton isn't here, yet," he said, and carried Virginia over to the nearest chair, sitting down on it. "We might have to wait a few minutes." He groaned, his broad shoulders sagging from exhaustion, and eased Virginia down on his lap. If he was sore now, he was going to be even sorer in the morning.
"Are your feet hurting, Papa Bear?" Virginia asked, still keeping her eyes covered, unable to see him. "You're walking funny." She had to have felt him limping, because she couldn't have heard anything, either, not with Tony still covering her ears with his hands.
He had flinched from her words. They had wounded him, and more than he would've liked to admit. He had never liked Virginia to know he hurt, that he was vulnerable, fearing it would one day lead to him having to tell her there would come a day he wouldn't be there for her. He wasn't ready to have that discussion with his daughter, yet, and didn't think he ever would be. While he knew that one day, that dreaded conversation would come eventually, whether he liked it or not, he knew it wasn't going to be today. He might've been in excruciating agony, but he wasn't dying, not yet. He didn't think he was, at least.
Tony sniffed, and with a start, saw he was still crying. "Papa Bear's fine, honey," he said, taking a hand off one of her ears long enough in order to wipe the tears from his eyes with it. He couldn't let Dr. Colton see him crying. He didn't want the man to think he was some kind of blubbering crybaby. "He's just…he's just very tired right now." He covered her ear back up.
Fortunately, much to Tony's surprise, they didn't have to wait long for Dr. Colton.
The man himself glided in a few minutes later, his lab coat flapping about his feet, carrying a notepad under his arm. Glided, because there was no other word to describe the way the man seemed to float into the room. He had the grace of a panther, or some other kind of cat. He was young, younger than Tony. With his dark, brown hair, cobalt eyes, and chiseled chin, he was handsome. Tony envied him his youthful good looks. He bet the girls were all over the guy.
"Hello, Mr. and Misses. Lewis," Dr. Colton said, shutting the door behind him. "I'm Dr. Colton." He sat down on the edge of the bed, holding the notepad across his lap. "It's a pleasure meeting you." He stuck his hand out for Tony to shake, and Tony took it. "What may I do for you today?"
"Great meeting you, too, Doc," Tony said, with maybe just a little bit of sarcasm lurking in his tone, since he wouldn't have to be here at all if his wife hadn't tried to drown his daughter, something he wished with all of his heart and soul hadn't happened. If the situation had been different, he was sure he would've been in a better mood to meet Dr. Colton, but at the time he just wasn't feeling it. He wanted to be anywhere but where he was right then.
Tony tried to gather his thoughts and lowered his hand, having shook Dr. Colton's hand, covering Virginia's ear back up with it. "I just wanted you to look at my daughter." He took a deep breath. "Her mother…her mother just tried to drown her." He was getting tired of having to repeat the story. The whole thing had been painful enough to experience without having to tell anybody about it, and it had hurt even more to recount it the first time. Now Tony had already had to repeat it three times, and he was emotionally as well as physically drained. All he wanted to do was crawl into a ball in a dark corner of a room somewhere and cry some more, but he thought he controlled himself pretty well, considering the circumstances.
Dr. Colton dropped the notepad in shock. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Mr. Lewis," he said, bending back down to pick the notepad back up. "That must be a terrible thing to deal with." He rose back up, notepad in hand. "I'm so sorry."
"That's okay," Tony said, grateful to find someone, at last, who seemed to care. "It wasn't your fault."
"You have my condolences," Dr. Colton said, and went over to Virginia. "Now, let's take a look at little Miss. Virginia here."
"Can I open my eyes now, Papa Bear?" Virginia asked, her arms probably getting pretty tired by then.
Tony figured it would be safe now. He could tell her she was at the candy doctor. "Yes, honey," he said, taking his hands off of her ears. "You can look now."
Virginia dropped her hands from her face, eyeing Dr. Colton with suspicion. "Who are you?"
Dr. Colton opened his mouth to reply, but Tony spoke up before he could, interrupting him on purpose. "He's the candy doctor," he said, hoping Dr. Colton would take the hint. "Remember the doctor who gives you some candy whenever you're good?'
"Yes," Virginia said, her face brightening at the prospect of getting candy. "Is he going to give me candy?"
Dr. Colton caught on pretty quick, and played along. He had played this game before. He knew the rules. In an instant, the respect Tony had lost for Miss. Murphy went to Dr. Colton. "Yes, Virginia, if you're a good girl," he said, unwrapping the stethoscope from around his neck and showing it to Virginia. "This is a stethoscope, Virginia. I'm just going to check your heart with it, okay?"
Virginia nodded, a flicker of fear flashing across her face.
"Don't be scared, though." Dr. Colton had noticed the twinge of terror on his daughter's expression. "It doesn't hurt." He tried to smooth her. "It's just going to feel a little cold, okay?"
Nodding, Virginia swallowed, putting on her brave face.
Dr. Colton turned the collar of her shirt down, pushing Virginia's chest with the stethoscope. Tony watched Virginia's reaction, but she didn't cry out, just shivered at the cold surface of the metal touching her skin. "Now I want you to take three deep breaths for me, all right?"
Virginia did as she was told, inhaling and exhaling three times, her little chest rising and falling with each breath.
Dr. Colton took the stethoscope off of Virginia's chest, wrapping it back around his neck. "Good girl," he said, patting her knee. "Next, I'm going to check your temperature, okay?" He shoved his hand down one of his pockets, and fished out a thermometer, holding it up to Virginia. "You see this?"
Virginia nodded, wordlessly.
"It's called a thermometer," Dr. Colton said, speaking slowly to make it easier for Virginia to grasp what he was saying, talking to her as if she was a baby. "I have to stick it in your mouth, and then I'm going to take another one and put it in both of your ears, all right?"
Tony appreciated Dr. Colton taking the time to help Virginia understand, but she knew all of this stuff already, and she had been to the doctors plenty of times before. He wanted to tell Dr. Colton all of this, to let him know that Virginia wasn't stupid, but he didn't want to act like one of these parents who thought their kid was great at everything. He despised people like that.
"Yes," Virginia said, proving Tony was right about her being a bright and intelligent kid.
"Good girl," Dr. Colton said, and hovered the thermometer in front of Virginia's mouth. "Now, open your mouth really big for me, okay?"
Virginia opened her mouth wide, and Dr. Colton slid the thermometer across her bottom lip, urging her to close her mouth over it. Once again, Virginia obeyed, eager to either please or impress the adults in the room, Tony couldn't tell. With Virginia, it was hard to be certain sometimes. "So far, everything looks good, Mr. Lewis," he said, taking the thermometer out of her mouth. "You can close that now, dear." Putting the thermometer back in his pocket, he then took the other thermometer he had mentioned out of a different pocket and stuck it in both of her ears, sticking it back in the pocket he had gotten it out of when he was done. He was very thorough in everything he done, if a bit eccentric.
"Give it to me straight, Doc," Tony said, his deep voice laced with fear. "Is she going to be okay?"
"She's going to be just fine, Mr. Lewis," Dr. Colton said, breaking the news with such certainty, Tony had no trouble believing him. "More than likely, she will probably forget about all of this by tomorrow."
Sitting Virginia down, Tony stood up, and threw his arms around Dr. Colton in a big, bone-crushing, bear hug. He had to bend down to do it. Dr. Colton was a man of just about average height, but he was still several inches shorter than Tony, who almost lifted him off the floor. He probably would've, too, if he had put his full effort into it, but he hadn't dared, not with his back already about to kill him. "Thank you so much," he said, dropping his arms from Dr. Colton. "That's the best news I've heard all day."
"You're welcome." Dr. Colton backed up, startled by Tony's height and size, straining his neck to look up at him. "You're a big man, Mr. Lewis." He rubbed his arms, which Tony had just about squashed to a pulp, and popped his back with his hands, making Tony wince. "Might be were some of your back problems are coming from."
"Oh, don't I know it," Tony said, and then it dawned on him what Dr. Colton had said. "Hey, how do you know about that?"
"Miss. Murphy told me on my way in here, said you were having some trouble getting around," Dr. Colton said, genuine concern in his voice.
Tony swore, hoping Virginia hadn't heard him. "Miss. Murphy likes to talk too much," he said, muttering the words under his breath.
Dr. Colton said nothing, just gave him a knowing smile, his eyes twinkling. "I can get you some pain medicine for your leg and your back if you want," he said, quick to change the subject.
Tony shook his head. "Thanks, Doc, but I've tried everything," he said, pity being the last thing he wanted from this guy or anybody else. "Nothing helps."
Dr. Colton shrugged. "Completely up to you, Mr. Lewis," he said, but shot Tony a look of warning. "Just don't do any more heavy lifting for awhile, all right?" He raised his voice a little bit, making sure he made his order loud and clear. "I think you overdid it tonight."
"I think I did, too, Doc," Tony said, and raked his fingers through his thinning, russet hair, giving Dr. Colton a sheepish grin. "You don't have to worry about me trying to lift anything for awhile."
Dr. Colton turned his attention back to Virginia. "Wait right here and I'll get your candy, Miss. Virginia, okay?"
"Okay," Virginia said, seeming to have warmed up to Dr. Colton since they had gotten there, Tony noticed wryly.
"You're a very brave girl, Miss. Virginia, and you deserve all of the candy you want," Dr. Colton said, directing his gaze at Tony. "She's done all of this before, hasn't she?"
"Oh, yeah, she knows the whole routine," Tony said, beaming down at his daughter with pride. "I think she's just a little nervous, because I kind of sprung this trip on her at the last minute, and it was kind of unexpected."
"Oh, I see," Dr. Colton said, sounding satisfied with Tony's answer. "I could tell, because she was tough."
Tony could see Virginia's head growing bigger from where he was standing. She was going to have a very big ego by the time they got home. If you could tell, how come you talked to her like she didn't know anything? he thought, but kept his mouth shut. He couldn't fault Dr. Colton. He was probably just trying to humor Virginia. He seemed like a good person, showed great interest in his patients and job, and had done everything he could to help him and Virginia. He had done more for them than his wife and mother had, and they were the two very people who were supposed to have loved him the most. More doctors needed to be like Dr. Colton. "Yeah, we're old pros at this stuff, aren't we Virginia?" he asked his daughter, and knew he was becoming what he hated, but didn't think it mattered at a time like this. All that mattered to him now was Virginia.
"Yes, Papa Bear," Virginia said, relishing in her father's praise. "I wasn't scared, not one bit."
Dr. Colton turned to leave the room, stopping in the middle of the doorway. "You sure you're all right, Mr. Lewis?" he asked, looking over his shoulder at Tony. "You looked like a ghost when I first walked in here."
"Yeah, I'm fine," Tony said, becoming a little embarrassed by the way Dr. Colton was fussing over him. The man was getting worse than his mother. She had never given a damn about him, and here was Dr. Colton, a complete and total stranger, worried about him. Tony hadn't thought such a thing possible, not after what had happened that night. Did he really look that bad? "I feel better, just knowing she's going to be okay."
Dr. Colton smiled at him. "Understandable," he said, walking out the door.
Dr. Colton came back seconds later, holding a sucker out to Virginia. "Here you go, Miss. Virginia," he said, astonished at the strength with which Virginia yanked the sucker out of his hand. "We had no chocolate bars or anything like that, but I hope this will do."
Acting like she didn't care if it was chocolate or not, Virginia tore eagerly at the wrapper, never the picker eater. Not at least, when it came to candy. "This is great," she said, jamming the sucker in her mouth.
Tony narrowed his brow at her. "What do you say?"
"Thank you," Virginia said, the sucker still lodged firmly in her mouth.
"You're welcome, Miss. Virginia," Dr. Colton said, chuckling. "You have a charming daughter, Mr. Lewis."
"Thank you," Tony said, nudging Virginia out the door. "Thank you for everything you've done." He wanted to do nothing more than to get out of the Godforsaken place.
"Once again, you're welcome," Dr. Colton said, and went over to the door, holding it open for them. "Hope everything works out."
"We do too," Tony said, entering the hall.
Just as he had hoped, Virginia was too absorbed in her sucker to really be aware of where she was.
Much to Tony's chagrin, Miss. Murphy was still sitting behind her desk when they walked back into the reception area. "Everything go okay?" she asked, looking up at them over the rim of her glasses.
"Everything went great, Miss. Murphy," Tony said, trying to keep his cool.
"That's good to hear," Miss. Murphy said, not sounding like she cared either way. "Have a good night, Mr. Lewis."
Tony grinded his teeth. "You too, Miss. Murphy," he said, and he let Virginia lead the way, following her out the door. He would've carried her, but he didn't think his back could've handled any more heavy lifting that night, doctor's orders or no doctor's orders.
When they got back outside, Tony saw it was still dark, and guided Virginia over to the car. He opened her door for her, and pushed her up on the seat. As soon as she was situated, he buckled her back up, and shut the door. Then, he went over to the driver's side, opened the door, and plopped down on the seat. Shutting the door back, he started the car, and drove off.
Tony gripped the steering wheel, and flexed his fingers, which had begun to spasm. Looking down, he could see the veins popping out on them. Unsure about the future ahead, he peered out the windshield, wondering what life had in store for them.