I feel sick as I walk through the long hospital hall, Lex’s hand in mine. “Are you doing okay, little fairy?” he asks, his touch soothing.
I shake my head. “No, but I know I’ll regret it if I don’t go.”
Lex and I spent all of yesterday learning about the past and everything my parents kept hidden from me. Dad explained how they slowly became friends at work, as Mom did his bookkeeping, and how he offered Mom his unconditional support when he saw the bruises on her skin. They both had tears in their eyes when mom told us he helped her run away, neither of them aware of the pregnancy at the time. He provided her with the support her own family wouldn’t give her, and from the sounds of it, Dad was my father in all ways that matter long before he was ever married to Mom. While they never lied about their wedding day, it just didn’t happen in the year they’d told me it did.
“Here we are,” Lex says as we stop in front of the hospital room my grandmother is in. I stand there frozen, reminded of the way Dad hugged me this morning, almost like he genuinely thought things would never be the same again, like he was losing me. He didn’t seem to believe that the story he told me just made me love and appreciate him more, but how could it not?
“Let’s go in,” I say after taking a deep breath. I don’t want to meet the people that hurt my mother, and I’m glad mom decided not to join me. I almost didn’t even come myself, and though I wouldn’t ever admit it, I’m only here because I couldn’t take that haunted look in Lex’s eyes. Knowing that he’s losing his own grandmother made it impossible not to fulfill my own grandmother’s dying wish, even if she is a virtual stranger to me.
He knocks and slides the door open, leading me into the room. I look up in surprise when a man with the same eyes as mine rises from his seat next to the bed. “Raya?” he asks, clearly shocked to see me.
My whole body tenses when he walks toward me and reaches for me. Lex instantly steps in, blocking his path, and I move behind his back, overwhelmed and grateful for his support.
“I’m sorry,” Lex says, holding up his hand. “This is all quite a lot for my wife.”
“Lexington Windsor?” he asks, his disbelief evident. “You’re married to my daughter?”
Daughter. So he is who I thought he was. Discomfort unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before washes over me, and I move closer to Lex, dropping my forehead to his back for a moment, my hands balling the fabric of his suit.
“I’m sorry, I should’ve introduced myself,” he adds. “I’m Akshay. I’m Raya’s… well, I’m her father.”
The room falls silent, and I brace myself as I step out of Lex’s shadow and turn toward the woman lying in bed, not wanting to face Akshay. She looks frail, and when her eyes meet mine, she smiles sadly, her eyes filled with regret.
“Your granddaughter is here,” my biological father says in Hindi, and she extends her hand toward me. I take it hesitantly, and tears fall from her eyes as she squeezes.
“Meera didn’t come?” she replies, also in the mother tongue I only understand because Mom still defaults to it when she’s mad at me.
I shake my head, and she nods in understanding, deep regret marring her features. I’m in a daze as she apologizes over and over, endless tears falling from her eyes. “It’s okay,” I tell her, even when it isn’t, purely because I can’t deny a dying woman’s wishes. Lex keeps his hand around my waist, his body close to mine, and he has no idea how grateful I am for his presence today.
She falls asleep with apologies still on her lips, and I step back, my heart heavy. I wasn’t sure what to expect today, but I didn’t think I’d feel so bitter. Just the thought of everything these people put my mother through infuriates me, and even now, I find it hard to do the right thing, to be the person my dad raised me to be.
“Meera married Bob Lewis, and you married Lexington Windsor. You both turned out okay,” Akshay says when I step back.
I nod and bite back the words yes, despite you. “We’re both more than fine,” I say, my tone sharper than I’d intended. “My father has always taken great care of us.”
His expression hardens, and he nods, something flashing in his eyes. I hate how familiar those eyes are, how much more I look like him than I’d expected. “Right,” he murmurs, looking down. “I’m sorry, Raya. I wish I could’ve been part of your life, but Bob warned me to stay away. Every time I tried to contact you, he’d threaten me, using his power and influence to keep us apart. He’s always carefully controlled everyone and everything around your mother and you.” His gaze cuts to Lexington then. “It wouldn’t surprise me if he had a hand in your marriage, too. The man is calculative, and since you aren’t his real daughter, I’m sure he did what he could to benefit from raising you. He isn’t one to let an investment go to waste.”
The words infuriate me, and they do what he wanted them to do — they make me question my father for a split second, and guilt instantly sets in. My hand slips into Lex’s and I take a deep breath. “Let’s go,” I tell him.
He nods and takes one final look at my grandmother. “I’ll have her transferred to a private facility, so she’s as comfortable as she can be for as long as possible.”
Akshay nods, his gaze on me. “Your mother has my number,” he tells me when I turn to walk out. “I’ll always be waiting for your call, Raya. I’ve waited twenty-two years to meet the daughter that was taken from me, and I understand this is overwhelming. Call me when you’re ready to talk. Every story has two sides, Raya.”
I nod, and Lex leads me out of the room. We’re both quiet as we head back to the parking lot, and it isn’t until we’re in the car that I break down. Lex just holds me as I try my hardest to process everything that just happened. He doesn’t say a word, he’s just there, like he always is. He might not be able to say the words, but this, right here, this is what love is.
