Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Cheever Arms: Part 3
9:18 AM |
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By Emma H
"Dad, Dad! You'll never guess!"
"What...is it...Tate?" He turned from the window. Charlie's sentences were paced out, slow and deliberate, like each word was a challenge. He sat up slowly on the cushions, careful not to knock any on the little tubes attached to his forearm, dripping innumerable amounts of medications into him.
"Philip proposed!" She spun and flopped down in the soft blue chair at the end of Charlie's bed. Tatum closed her eyes and let the moment sink in.
Charlie let out a low chuckle, amused at how much this twenty-two-year-old Tatum reminded him of the five-year-old one. Her eyes snapped open.
"You knew, didn't you?"
"Of course...a man...always...asks for a daughter's...hand."
"Men," Tatum sighed.
"So...when is...the ceremony?" Charlie asked.
"We were thinking about doing it in May."
"But...that's only...a month away!" Charlie wheezed. "Are you sure...you can plan it...in time?"
Tatum looked at her Dad. Tears welled in her eyes as she remembered the man he used to be. Less than a year ago he had been a perfectly happy middle-aged man; a full head of hair, he still had some muscle, and he was in the final stretch of his firefighting years. The cancer had taken it all away. At first, they had been optimistic, but the disease had persisted and spread. In a way, Tatum had already felt like she lost him. Now every time she looked at him she couldn't help finding pieces of her childhood with Charlie scattered in his features, which were one of the only things the cancer hadn't stripped him of. Charlie may look tired and thinner and older now, but he was her family, she knew nothing else but his face.
Charlie saw her tears and held her gaze, trying to reassure her with his eyes that everything would be okay. He couldn't say it out loud; sometimes he couldn't even convince himself of it.
Tatum dragged the chair over beside the bed and lay her head on his chest like she used to. Charlie rubbed her shoulder, remembering the glimpse of Tatum getting married years ago at Norah's wedding.
"I want you to give me away, Daddy," Tatum whispered, tears rolling freely down her cheeks.
"Tate, I will be there," he said. "...I will..."
Beep, beep, beep.
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4 comments:
Okay, can someone let me know if the ending makes sense? I don't know if other people will get it, but it made sense in my head.
:)
IIt's his heart Beating? Or is it supposed to be flatlining? If it's flatlining it should be one long beep...
I get the heartbeat, but why does it say that Tatum got married at Norah's wedding?
ya, flatlining! Thanks Kaity!
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