57

The fresh evening air had turned dense and tense in a matter of seconds.

Jarek watched with concern as Suzanne, about to leave with him, suddenly wavered and paled, as if a veil of pain had suddenly enveloped her.

Nathan reacted instinctively, catching her before her legs completely gave way.

"What's wrong, Suzie? Talk to me!" His voice trembled with anguish as his hands held her firmly.

"Call an ambulance!" he shouted desperately, his eyes seeking help from those present.

Suzanne's father, alarmed, dialed the emergency number, explaining the situation with a choked voice.

Jarek watched the scene with a mix of genuine concern and a shadow of guilt barely visible in his eyes.

"Even though he's regretful now, all of this is his fault. I have to get him away from Suzanne, no matter what," he whispered to himself, his mind already hatching a plan.

Mark, Suzanne's cousin, approached with restrained fury, his eyes sparking with resentment towards Nathan.

"This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't come. She was fine before you showed up, damn it!" His voice vibrated with repressed anger, his clenched fists showing his desire to hit Nathan again.

Nathan, feeling guilty for everything, looked at Mark with sorrow but determination.

"Despite everything, I care about Suzanne," he said sincerely, his words resonating in the tense silence that surrounded everyone.

Suzanne's grandfather, silent until now, spoke with a calm but authoritative voice.

"You don't truly love her, Nathan. You only saw her as an object for your carnal desires."

Nathan swallowed hard, struggling to find the right words.

"At first, maybe yes, but things changed between us. That baby issue... it drove me crazy, but I'm sorry. I want to make things right," he admitted sincerely, his voice cracking slightly under the weight of the situation.

"You shouldn't have come here," Suzanne's grandfather replied coldly, while the sound of approaching ambulance sirens echoed in the background.

Suzanne was rushed to the hospital, and Nathan insisted on accompanying her, despite Jarek's furious look.

Both men, with conflicting emotions and their own concerns, headed to the hospital, anxiously awaiting news about Suzanne.

...

In the cold hospital waiting room, the tension between Jarek and Nathan reached its peak.

The two men, with raw emotions and loaded with past histories, faced off with words that cut like knives.

"If anything happens to my grandchild or Suzanne, I'll kill you," Jarek threatened with an icy voice that resonated in the tense silence of the room. "Or maybe I'll let you live to suffer their loss."

Nathan, with tears blurring his eyes, faced the threat with trembling bravery.

"Why do you hate me so much, Jarek? I already lost my mother and younger brother because of my father. Losing Suzanne or my child would be... devastating," he whispered, struggling to contain the torrent of emotions invading him.

Jarek observed Nathan with a mix of satisfaction and resentment.

"He doesn't know there are two babies," he thought maliciously. "I can use that to my advantage.”
"You look just like your father," Jarek spat dryly, his words cutting like sharp blades. "That's why I can't help but get angry every time I see you. You're his spitting image."

Nathan felt the air escape from his lungs at the implicit accusation.

"That's not my fault!" Nathan shouted with restrained anger. "Stop blaming me for what you couldn't change. I couldn't save my brother or my mother, but neither could you!"

"Shut up, Nathan!" his grandfather intervened with a hard, authoritative voice. "I'm not saying you're to blame for their deaths. I'm referring to the irresponsible and idiotic part that Richard, your father, had. He treated your mother badly and killed Jeremy. Thank God, I used all my influence to lock him up for life."

Nathan swallowed hard, his hands trembling as he desperately searched for answers.

"That doesn't answer the question of why you hate me, Jarek."

The silence in the waiting room grew even heavier after the harsh words exchanged between Jarek and Nathan.

Raw emotions continued to flow, but something in Jarek seemed different now, as if there was a hint of remorse hidden behind his tough exterior.

"I don't hate you, Nathan," he began to say in a softer voice, almost with a melancholy he hadn't shown before. "I just wanted to teach you to be a responsible man. I didn't want you to get lost like your father, ending up in jail or worse, becoming a monster like him."

Nathan struggled to hold back the tears threatening to spill.

Every word from Jarek hit him like a sledgehammer, reminding him of the painful past they shared. He hated being compared to his father, a man who had been a monster and had taken away the people he loved most.

Jarek's sigh echoed in the room, laden with a weight that none of those present could ignore.

Though his words were of warning and correction, there was a note of desperation in them, as if he feared losing something more than just his grandson's redemption.

"I need to talk to the doctor," Jarek finally said, his tone somewhat strange to Nathan's ears.

Despite his doubts and fears, Nathan let him walk away, feeling overwhelmed by everything that had happened.

He slumped heavily into one of the hard chairs in the waiting room, his mind reliving the painful memories of his childhood.

He closed his eyes for a moment, wishing he could change the past, wishing he didn't have to carry the dark legacy his father had left behind.

Meanwhile, the clock on the wall continued its inexorable march, marking the time that felt stagnant in that small space filled with hope and fear.