*Ruthie's P.O.V.*
After I had finally gotten the twins to go down for their nap, I headed to the living room to watch TV. As I passed the door, someone knocked on and I peeked out one of the windows. Oh, great I thought Now mom's sending Robbie and Kevin to try and change my mind. Even though I wanted to ignore them, I unlocked the door and they stepped in. As soon as I saw them I realized that they weren't here to lecture me. They both looked like they were holding back tears.
"Ruthie," Kevin said gently "Can we go sit on the couch and talk?"
I followed him silently to the living room and sat in a chair facing them. "Well, what's going on?" I asked, dreading the answer.
"There's been a problem," Robbie began. "Your father's heart is very weak, and..."
He kept talking, but I was not paying attention. He's gonna die! Oh my God, he can't die! Not before I am able to forgive him! And I can't forgive him, not yet. Oh no!
"Ruthie?" Kevin asked, touching my leg.
"What?" I asked, pretending that I wasn't upset.
"Did you hear Robbie?"
"Yeah. So what? I'm mad at him."
"Ruthie!," Robbie cried, sounding surprised. "You can't still be mad about that. He was only trying to protect you."
"He lied to me. I want to forgive him, but I can't. How can I forgive him?" Despite my efforts, I had begun to cry.
"Ruthie," Robbie said, handing me a tissue "I know it's hard. I know you feel betrayed, but your dad really felt like he was doing the best thing for everyone. Please come to the hospital. Maybe after you talk to him you'll feel better."
"I'll come," I decided. "But I don't know if I'll talk to him."
"That's ok," Kevin assured me. "Just see what happens when we get there."
*Simon's P.O.V.*
After talking with Lucy I felt a lot better. I think she understands me better than anyone in the family. Maybe my feelings were normal. But I still wanted to apologize as soon as I could.
The ride back to the hospital was quiet, and when we parked everyone rushed back to the small waiting room where my mom was sitting and staring into space. She looked startled when she saw us, then smiled. Good news! I thought hopefully. She smiled, it must be good news!
"The surgery is over and he's doing better. He's still very weak, so no one can see him until possibly tomorrow, but he's alive." She smiled again, but she looked very tired.
He's alive! I thought, sinking into a chair as relief washed over me.
"So he's out of the woods?" Kevin asked cautiously.
"Well, not quite," mom answered, her smile fading a little. "But it looks good. If you kids would like to go home for awhile…"
"No." I interrupted. "I want to stay." I needed to be here the moment I could talk to him so I could apologize.
Everyone else nodded their agreement.
"Ok," Mom said. "I'm going to speak with the doctor. You can hang out here for awhile."
Now that we knew dad would be ok, the atmosphere in the room was much more cheerful. "Let's watch TV," Lucy suggested. We were all feeling agreeable, so we did. But by the second straight hour, we were starting to feel bored. And by the fourth, I was ready to rip the stupid TV out of the wall.
"Don't they have anymore news?" I asked for the 20th time. No one bothered to answer. I wasn't surprised since they had been ignoring me for at least an hour. Finally, my mom came back into the room and we all turned to look at her. She had been crying. Again.
"His heart…it's too weak. They won't tell me much…it doesn't look good."
I felt my own heart sink at her news. Had I just been praying for to hear something a few minutes ago? Now I knew what that saying 'No news is good news' really meant. Lucy was sobbing. How can she cry so much in a day? I wondered.
"Let's pray." Ruthie suggested and we all turned to her. "Dad always says to pray, so let's pray for him."
Slowly, we all joined hands and put our heads down. "God," Ruthie began quietly, "Please help my dad…"
*Lucy's P.O.V.*
After we finished praying, my mom ran off to find the doctor. I glanced at my watch and saw that it was about 7:00. We hadn't eaten lunch yet, but I wasn't hungry. I was tired of sitting around though, so I suggested that we head down to the cafeteria. Everyone agreed unenthusiastically, so we walked to the large, loud room that reminded me of a school cafeteria. We each ordered a sandwich and sat down, not really eating.
He's gonna die. I know he is, I can feel it. What will I do without him? Mom is great, but she doesn't really understand me. Dad is more than my father. He's my teacher, he's my friend. What am I going to do?
We sat there on the hard, brightly colored plastic chairs for about a half hour. When I finally looked up from my sandwich (I wasn't even sure what kind it was) I saw that no one had been eating. "Let's go back up to see if mom has anymore news," I suggested, knowing that that was what everyone wanted. Everyone stood up silently and dumped their food into the trashcan.
"I'll be right there," Robbie announced.
"Me too," Ruthie immediately said, sitting back down.
"Ok," I agreed, in no mood to argue. Then I turned and followed Kevin and Simon back up to the waiting room.
*Robbie's P.O.V.*
I really wanted to be alone, but I didn't know how to tell Ruthie to leave, so I just sat back down at the table.
"So, what's going on?" She asked sitting down across from me.
I sighed. I did not need her trying to find out was wrong, because knowing her, she would find out. "Nothing."
"Robbie, I like to think that we're friends. And real friends tell each other when something is wrong."
"I'm just a little worried about what will happen to me if something does happen to your dad." I told her reluctantly.
"Why?"
"Because you guys wont have as much money, and you wont be able to afford to keep me!" I hadn't meant to blurt it out like that, but now it was too late. When I finally looked up at Ruthie, she was laughing! "What is so funny?" I demanded.
"Robbie, everyone in this family loves you! My mom wishes you were her own son, and you are a great big brother to Lucy, Simon, me, and the twins. We would never kick you out." She said this like it was so obvious she couldn't believe I had thought anything else.
"Seriously?" I asked.
"Yeah," she replied, smiling at me. I leaned across the table and hugged her.
"I love you Ruthie."
"I love you too." She answered, returning my hug. "Now, let's go back upstairs."
Next chapter: The kids find out the outcome of their father's operation. Please review!