FORTY-SEVEN.

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN - Luther.



Reese 's parents came in the next day. Her mother, a petite like Reese . Straight brown hair. Her ageless face makes me wonder how Reese was going to look in years to come. She wore one of these wool sweaters you can only see in Hollywood. Her feet were clad in a set of Nike Air sneakers. She looked too dressed for someone whose daughter is battling for life.

“Hello, you must be Samuel.” Her father stretched his hands for a handshake. I clasped his bony fingers around mine in a tight fist.

“How was the trip?” I asked

“Please lead me to my daughter. ” Her mother cuts in, ignoring my question.

I walked them silently towards Reese 's room. I opened the door gently. I heard her parents gasping behind me. Reese 's nurse, Grace, excised herself.

Mrs Quinn ran straight into her daughter, her face was pitched with worries, and she sobbed at the conditions she met her daughter in. I watched her nondescript act before snorting. The whole world knows she and her daughter have a strained relationship.

She turned to me with red eyes and threw herself at me. Punches were thrown at me from all directions. Her husband tried to stop her but he couldn't. She was a very strong woman whose early days in the gym had helped. “He caused it,” she yelled. “If he hadn't made her sign a contract and get her pregnant afterwards, my baby would have been alright.'' She cried loudly, her husband held her close to his chest in a comforting manner. “I can't lose another child, darling.” She was in grief.

“We won't. ” He whispered before placing a chaste kiss on her forehead. I sighed audibly, making them turn towards me.

“What about our grandchild?” her father asked, breaking the cries of his wife. Maybe he is embarrassed too.

“At the intensive care unit, in an incubator,” I emphasized.

“Please lead the way, Mr Samuel. ” He says. I did as I was instructed. I led them inside the incubating room and showed Lennie — the only surviving baby out of the twins.

The look on their faces was a combination of excitement and sadness. I'm sure they are glad to meet their granddaughter for the first time. But hate like her mother, too many tubes connected to her.

“She looks so small.” Mrs Quinn commented. “She's going to make it right?” she directed the question at me.

“Yea, the doctor said Lennie will be fine. She wasn't like this the other day. She grows an inch every day. ” I blabbed. They looked at me like I was sick so I brought out my cell phone to show them what I meant.

On the first day, she looked like a faceless baby, just as we were shown in the biological Textbook. On the second day, her face had begun to contour. On the third day, I could already make out which part was her lips. On the fourth day, she had grown eyelashes and today was the fifth day, her nose was intact.

They noticed what I meant. I lead them back towards the room. We bumped into Regina in the hallway. She quickly ran towards us and threw herself at Mrs Quinn. The two women sobbed quietly.

I eased my weight from one foot to another as I watched them cry. Mr Quinn adjusted the duvet over his daughter and then sat across from me.

“What happened?” he implored, there is an edge to his voice. Edge which every father and grandfather in his shoes will break is malfunctioning.

“Someone messed with the breaks.” I whispered.

“What type of car?” he queried.

“A Pagani, ” I retorted.

He looked quite surprised, maybe that his daughter had driven such a car. “Paganis do not have break malfunctioning except if it's been tampered with. ” He reasoned. This was the same thought running through my mind the day back. “Are we looking into an attempted murder?” his voice was low. I knew he didn't want his wife to hear. I nodded gently.

“I have my private investigator on it and there is a lead. ”

He nodded with an impressed look. “Who knew this is how we will meet,” I chuckled loudly, the two women's attention was now on me.

“I heard a little about you from Reese -” I said.

Mr Quinn sucked in breath sharply beside me. Mrs Quinn blinked with a sad look stretched across her face. Regina glared at me, all of which I ignored. “We've come to realize our mistake.” Mr Quinn said. “We cleared everything back in Chicago and now we are here to make up for years we were not. ” he finished.

“How easy. ” I muttered.

“You are just as bad as us, Samuel. ” Mrs Quinn chided. “Who makes a twenty-three-year-old girl sign a contract for his selfish reason?” she laments, having this smug look on her face. It was my turn to suck in a breath.

Bad parenting has become one of the regulars in our society today. Parents neglect their kids for weird reasons. Reasons like I had too much work going for me, he/she cries too much. I can't seem to do two things at once.

Some people are born to bad parents while others have life circumstances. Postpartum depression, according to me, was the first step to bad parenting. I strongly advised that any mother going through that should be held back from seeing her child and also be on the receiving end of a therapist.

The world has become so cruel, that people think they can mess up for years and come back sometimes to explain and everything goes back to normal like it never happened. So scary.

I watched as Mrs Quinn rubbed her daughter's palm while silently conversing with Regina. Mr Quinn left to check on his granddaughter, he says she is his new favorite person and he needs to give her all the attention and love he never gave the mother.

My phone chimed in my pocket. I brought out my phone and behold it was Tommy, asking if he could meet me. I asked us to meet at the hospital cafeteria at ten.

I hope he has the good news I'm looking forward to.


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