I should be working on another story, but this one flows more freely, so here we go:
Ch. 22
"I'm sorry."
"What's the matter, Cristina?" Burke dropped everything in the sink and ran to the living room when the phone rang. He was planning to be at least a little punitive in his tone when Cristina called, but the moment he heard her voice, his attitude softened.
"I'm sorry."
"What's wrong, Cristina?" Now he was beginning to feel really worried. Did something bad happen to his mother?
"Burke. Preston. You have to come to the hospital now. Bring Asha with you."
Throwing his apron on the counter, he grabbed his jacket and his daughter as he continued to question his wife. "Take a deep breath, then tell me what's going on, OK?"
"Someone, Rose and I want you to come and see someone before it's too late. Please. Please hurry. Promise me you won't hate your mother for that." Cristina left herself out, because she thought Burke had every reason to hate her, but not his mother.
"I'm coming."
Burke was shaking badly as he tried to open the car door, so much so that he couldn't open it. He wasn't completely sure about what was going on, but his hunch was that it was something terrible. Rubbing his forehead feeling extremely frustrated, he ushered his little girl to the back seat.
"Daddy, are you not feeling well?" Asha was scared too. Her daddy would never forget her seatbelt. Mommy would occasionally forget, but Daddy was extremely careful.
"Sweetheart, your mother and grandma are at the hospital. They want us to go there now."
"Oh!" Asha opened her mouth and gasped. Anything to do with the hospital must be awful. "Are they hurt?"
"No, baby. They're fine. She didn't say who it is, but we've to go and see someone."
Burke was trying to imagine who it might be. At first he thought maybe Rose and Cristina were trying to be the good Samaritans again and saved someone at the airport or on their way home. Maybe that someone was in a critical condition that only he was capable of saving. Yet, the tone in Cristina's voice was more than what the remorse of spoiling someone's Thanksgiving would entail.
"Daddy," Asha knew she was not supposed to say it, but she couldn't stop herself. "Is it Mommy's friend? The one she met at the hospital?"
Furrowing his eyebrows, Burke made a safe stop in front of the red light before turning to his daughter. "What friend?"
Instantly Asha felt guilty for breaking the promise she made with her mother. "Sorry, Daddy. Mommy said I should never tell you. She said she didn't want to upset you."
What? Does Cristina have an affair? Is that why she's sorry? Burke found the thought disgusting. "Why? Why should I be sad?" His words were filled with sarcasm and fury, very unlike the Daddy Asha knew.
"Because the man is very ill and he has very sad eyes, just like yours."
Stepping on the pedal harder and gliding through the rain, Burke made a sharp turn as he pondered on Asha's response. He never thought his own eyes were sad, but they certainly were beginning to burn now.
"Dad, please don't be mad at Mommy. She's sad too. She wanted to tell you but her friend begged us not to." Asha tried to look through her father's blank expression, which terrified her. "He seemed to like you a lot. He smiled whenever Mommy talked about you. Why, Daddy, why do people who love each other have to make each other sad?"
Asha began to sob as her voice faded off. After all, she was barely 3. This was too much for her, however mature she appeared to be most of the time.
"I'm sorry, darling." Burke's heart ached. He wished he could hold his daughter tightly and rock her. What a horrible father he was, traumatizing his own daughter this way? He shook his head again. "I'm sorry, Asha. I didn't mean to scare you. Will you forgive your daddy?"
Still feeling insecure and confused, Asha was sucking her thumb, something she had not done since she started to speak. "Will you forgive Mommy?"
Burke paused. He was not sure if he could commit to that before he knew the magnitude of the problem at hand.
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