For better or worse, Joseph didn't immediately drive back to Cairo and get on the first plane home the following morning.
Common sense would dictate that to be the best decision given Mariah's adverse reaction to him suddenly showing up out of the blue but after sleeping on it, he was more determined then ever to get through to her. After all, Joseph Joestar was nothing if not stubborn. It was one of the few things he never managed to grow out of no matter how old he got and he liked to think that was one of his strengths.
When others would give up, he'd press on.
When the odds were unfairly stacked, he'd re-deal the cards.
When the situation seemed hopeless, he'd keep pushing until he got what he wanted.
And Joseph was the kind of man who got results, either through stupid luck or persistence and this was no different. The moment he woke up the next day, he already knew without a doubt that he was just going to have to keep pushing until she gave in.
But what exactly did he want from her?
He still hadn't quite figured that out but he knew he couldn't back down now. Whatever it was pulling him back to her was inescapable and if he retreated now (strategically or otherwise) he'd never even have the chance to find the answers to any of these questions.
Maybe he was still just the same headstrong kid who'd fought the Pillar Men tooth and nail or maybe he just wanted to poke the sleeping cobra until it turned on him. It was hard to say which way he was leaning in this situation and it could have even been a mixture of the two, but Joseph was a firm believer in shoot first, ask questions later. So it was with a determined mind that he vowed to return to the hospital.
But the one thing age had taught him was tact so he waited a few days before chancing another visit. In that time, he thought a lot about strategy and considered the best ways to get Mariah to just listen to him. He was sure that if he could simply explain himself she'd come around. At least enough to let him into her room without threatening his life.
Again.
So when the sun rose on the fourth day, Joseph felt confident in his preparations.
Upon arriving he realized that, much to his own surprise, the hospital looked somehow worse in the daylight. For some reason he started to feel just a little bit sorry for Mariah and he couldn't help but wonder if the staff were taking proper care of her. A building as run down as this was barely fit for people to live in let alone the sick and injured. Could they possibly be doing her more harm than good here?
He could feel his overprotective daddy mode slowly kicking in and he knew he'd have to find out about that soon. For his own peace of mind, if nothing else.
The door was open when he found her room again and he chanced a peak inside. Mariah was sitting on the bed, engrossed in a book propped up on her lap. If she had any idea that he was standing there, she certainly didn't give any indication. Preparing himself for the worst, Joseph reaches up and gently knocks on the door.
The sound draws her attention up from the book and she turns her head, stiffening at the sight of him. Here it comes ...
"Didn't I tell you to leave me alone?"
Joseph blinks widely at her. That was not the reaction he'd been anticipating. Was she up to something? Or did she have a change of heart in his absence?
Either way, he was going to proceed with caution. Extreme caution. "You did," he says slowly, trying to look harmless under her cold gaze. "And I did. But I'm back to see if you've changed your mind about that."
"I haven't." Mariah snaps, the smallest hint of irritation lacing her tone and belying her true emotions.
Fighting the urge to pout, Joseph tries to change the subject. "Did you like the chocolate I got you?"
"I threw it in the trash."
Damn, she's not missing a single beat here. He decides to try again. "How are you feeling today?"
She snarls at that, immediately losing her composure. "I feel like I want to kill you!"
"Hey, hey! Lets all calm down here!" He says quickly, knowing that he has to diffuse her temper before it got any further than that. This was an instance where he both had to tread carefully and act fast which made for a rather dicey situation indeed. "Look, I got you a new vase! Y'know, since you broke the last one."
Reaching into the small paper bag he'd been carrying, Joseph procures a delicate looking porcelain vase which he holds up proudly for her to see. All she does is stare at him blankly though, clearly not amused by the gift or his misplaced joke.
He offers her a sincere smile and takes a tentative step forward. Mariah doesn't protest, merely continues to stare him down like some barely restrained animal. The glint dancing in her eyes, he could see it clear as day. She was guardedly observing him, ready to pounce the second he made a wrong move.
But Joseph was confident in his reaction time and he takes another step, then another, slowly approaching her at a wide breadth. He made sure to stay far enough away from the bed that, even if she hadn't been weighed down by heavy plaster casts, she still wouldn't have been able to easily reach him. Mariah's stand didn't have any offensive abilities so as long as he took care not to touch any questionably placed electrical outlets, he'd been fine.
Or so he hoped.
He comes to a stop with the nightstand squarely between them and slowly, carefully places the vase on top. Still, she doesn't utter a single word. After a moment spent in silence, he decides to press on.
"Did the doctors tell you how long you'll have to wear those casts for?"
She slowly blinks at that, so slowly in fact that it feels like another whole minute has passed before her eyelashes tickle her cheeks. Then they snap back open and she answers tersely. "Another month, at the least."
Joseph can't help but wince. "I'm sorry to hear that."
"No you're not." She all but seethes and he realizes that this approach just isn't working. He'd have to try another angle.
"You're right, I'm not." He rumbles, holding up a hand to stop her when she jerks at the tone in his voice. Sighing, he grabs one of the two plastic chairs from against the wall and takes a seat, mindful of the distance between himself and the bed. "I'm not sorry that I had to hurt you because if I hadn't, you would've killed me. Am I right?"
Mariah glares at him but doesn't say anything.
So he continues. "And I gave you not one but two chances to stop on your own, did I not? I didn't want to hurt you but you left me with no choice, Mariah. And honestly, you made it quite clear that if we didn't do something drastic you'd keep going. I'm not sorry for hurting you but I am sorry that it turned out this way. I wish that entire mess could have been avoided but you're one hell of a stubborn young lady, you know that?"
"And you're one hell of a stubborn old man." She shoots back hotly.
Joseph laughs boisterously at that. "You're right! Its the only thing thats kept me alive this long!"
Mariah was clearly simmering in her thoughts, the small tick above her eyebrow making it quite obvious that she was pissed off with his act but at least she wasn't threatening him anymore. That only seemed to egg him on now, he was determined to win this. He'd played this game with Jotaro plenty of times when he was little and he sure as hell could play it with her.
"Oh? Nothing else to say?" He prods, keeping his voice light and amiable. "I remember the first time we met and you were quite talkative back then but perhaps now that we're alone, you're feeling shy?"
The slightest flush colors her cheeks and he knows he's on the right track now. He just had to keep pushing.
"Don't flatter yourself, grandpa!" Mariah hisses, her hands balling into weak little fists on her lap. He was getting close.
"But it was you who flattered me, remember? All those things you said when you thought you'd beaten me," Joseph smirks and cocks a haughty brow in her direction, wiggling it for emphasis. "If I hadn't been so distracted at the time, I would've blushed! Lets see, what was it? Something about me being impressive? Or was it amazing?"
Mariah's body was starting to tremble now from barely suppressed rage. She was going to explode, he could feel it. "Ill kill you." She vows in a quaking whisper. "I'll kill you with my bare hands!"
"I don't think so, little girl." Joseph was speaking in his 'serious' voice now. It always got Holly and Jotaro's attention and, just like he knew it would, it certainly had Mariah's attention too. "You couldn't even beat me with your Stand, what makes you think you could get the job done with just you're skinny little arms? I defeated you, Mariah. Accept that. I won and now I'm here trying to make things right so why won't you let me?"
And just like that, the dam broke. Tears gushed forth, sobs shook her body and she screamed. She screamed at him but not like she had done so previously. The truth came flooding out of her mouth in angry waves, slamming into him with the force of concrete but he sat and listened. She wailed and for the first time since they'd met, he heard her true feelings come spilling forth in a torrential downpour.
"Make things right? How are you going to make things right, you idiot? Lord Dio is dead, my body is broken and I have no where to go from here! I don't even have the money to pay the hospital! Thats why they stuck me in this shit hole! I used every last cent I had to come here and be with Lord Dio and you took that away from me! You took everything away from me! How are you going to make that right! You can't! You can't ..."
Trailing off into uncontrollable sobs, Mariah turned away from him and shoved her face into the pillow. Her body shook with the force of it and Joseph waited patiently for her to get it all out of her system. He'd dealt with this kind of thing before, more so from Jotaro than Holly as his grandson was far more prone to bottling things up than his daughter was. Letting Mariah vent was the only way he could think of to get her to open up to him but to do that he'd had to push her to her very limit.
He wasn't particularly proud of that but he knew it was for the best. And maybe thats why he'd felt so compelled to find her.
Perhaps both of them had just needed some closure.
The minutes stretch on like hours but finally Mariah's crying eases then subsides. Silence claims the room until he finally ventures to ask, "Do you feel better now?"
At first she doesn't respond but then, so quietly he almost doesn't catch it, she says, "Get out."
As simple as that.
Joseph observes her for a moment before standing and moving closer to the bed. Surely she could hear his footsteps on the dirty linoleum but she didn't make a peep. Standing over her now, he hesitates for only a second before reaching down and gently patting her head.
And she lets him.
Smiling to himself, Joseph nods and turns towards the door. "I'll come by and see you tomorrow, Mariah. Have a nice night."
The door clicks shut behind him with finality.
XxXxX
The following afternoon, Joseph drives back into Cairo.
It is not the shabby, rundown hospital which he visits that day but rather the well equipped, well staffed major hospital in the city center. He parks his rental car and gets out, a slight pep in his step as he makes his way inside.
After checking in at the front desk, he navigates his way through the winding halls until he locates the room he'd been searching for. The door is open and inviting so he just waltzes right in, grinning like an idiot.
"Hello, Mariah!"
The woman in question jumps in surprise from her spot on the sterile bed, her expression immediately shifting to one of confusion. "Joseph! I don't understand! Did you arrange this?"
"I did indeed, young lady!" He laughs boisterously, clearly rather proud of himself.
But Mariah doesn't quite share the same sentiment. "Why would you do that? I can't afford any of this!"
Smiling, he walks right over to her bed without a hint of hesitation. "I know and you don't have to worry about that. I'll take care of everything. I told you I wanted to make things right, didn't I?"
She frowns at that, surprising him slightly. He certainly hadn't been expecting her to grovel in thanks or anything but that wasn't exactly the reaction he'd anticipated either.
"This isn't going to bring Lord Dio back, y'know ..."
Scratching his chin thoughtfully, Joseph can't keep the derision out of his tone when he says, "Eh, you don't need him anyway. He was just using you for his own purposes. You know that right?"
Mariah's face hardens but rather then start screaming at him, she simply turns away.
He chuckles at that. "Now, now. You're still alive and thats what matters so you should focus on getting better instead of dwelling on the past." Glancing at her bedside table, he catches sight of the vase he'd given her. Good, they remembered to grab it for me.
Reaching behind his back, Joseph withdraws a single, pink carnation from his pants pocket and the plastic wrapping crinkles gently. She glances at him from the corner of her eye but doesn't remark on the flower as he unwraps it. "I thought this might brighten up your new room a bit and what good is a vase without flowers, huh?" Reaching over, he casually slides the flower into the vase without a word of complaint from Mariah.
He turns to look back at her and she quickly directs her attention elsewhere, making sure it obvious that she was unimpressed. Joseph doesn't fall for it though and he chuckles gently as he pulls a cushioned chair closer to the bed and starts to sit down.
He catches himself halfway through the motion though and jolts back up to his feet, spinning in a whirl to look down at the electrical socket planted smack dab in the middle of the seat.
"What the hell is this!" He shouts, twisting back around to look at her incredulously.
Smiling coquettishly, Mariah bats her eyes at him. "Oooh, you caught me!"
Anger bubbling inside, Joseph takes a threatening step towards her. "Why you … I oughtta' put you over my knee for that!"
Mariah starts, all the amusement quickly draining from her face. "W-what? Don't joke about that, you old pervert!"
"You think I'm joking?" He grins evilly, getting even closer until he was looming right over her. "Just wait until those casts come off, missy! I'll show you whose joking!"
He was joking, of course, but the uncertainty in her golden eyes made it quite clear that she believed him.
Oh, this was going to be fun stay in Cairo.