Page 142 of Six Years
While this man is totally okay with hating his own son for a stupid sexual preference, I know I will marry Grey one day. I know that I want to spend the rest of my life by Grey’s side, and I pray to everything holy that he feels the same way about me.
So I guess that gives me the right to be by my boyfriend’s side at every hour of the day, hold his hand, be there for him even if I’m not sure he knows I’m here.
His father, on the contrary, has no right to be here.
“Could you step outside, I’d like to spend some time with my son without you here.”
“He’s not your son.” I keep holding Grey’s hand, still not bothering to look up. “I don’t think he’s been your son for a long while, has he? Not ever since Grey kissed that first guy.”
“When my son’s in a coma, his… questionable lifestyle doesn’t matter.”
“Well, it took you a whole week to get here, so I’m not sure that’s believable.”
“I was busy.”
“And I was on the opposite side of the country, so that’s not an excuse. When you love someone, you’re never too busy to be there for them.” I finally sit up and turn to face Mr. Li. Only when I do, I don’t see the same man I did last year. The man who had his whole life together.
I see a guy who looks likehewas in an accident. His hair is tousled, and he has a faint bruise on his cheek. He wears sweatpants and a baggy shirt, and I could swear he smells a little too much like a hospital, as though he’s been here for a while.
Even if he had been in an accident, why would he be inthishospital? Li Ji-Hoon lives in Malibu, an hour away from this hospital. There are plenty of hospitals around where he lives, where his office is, so what would he be doinghere?
Then my eyes fall on his broken arm. Sure, he could’ve gotten that one today, but the bruises on his face are at least a few days old… if not aweekold.
“What happened to you?” I ask, not caring that there’s a high chance I won’t even receive an answer.
To my surprise, I do.
“Car crash.”
I narrow my eyes at him. Jokingly, I say, “Drove into a bus, huh?”
My mother told me that the police believe the “accident” wasn’t so accidental, that it was targeted. According to witnesses, there were a few cars on the road, though not enough to cause three cars to crash into the bus out of nowhere. There were no traffic lights, no intersections that would allow a car to reach the sides of the bus.
Unless someoneplannedfor this to happen.
When Mr. Li doesn’t react, I almost gasp.Almost.
Instead of reacting to the news with shock, I chuckle. “Wow, so you hate queer people so much that you willingly risk your own life just to hopefully take out your son’s?” Not even I would ever think to sink that low. “I hope you’re aware that you weren’t just playing with Grey’s life and your own, but you also could’ve killed a bunch of other guys who were on that bus. Some of them are married, have kids, some whose partners are expecting.”
I point toward the door. “There is a five-year-old little girl just down the hall, praying for her father to wake up.”He already woke up two days ago.I drop my arm again. “And another one-year-old boy whose father has broken both of his legs and suffered injuries on his spine. He is paralyzed. He’s never going to play a single game ever again. He’s onlytwenty-one.”
Grey’s father swallows thickly, loud enough for me to hear. His eyes fill with what seems to be remorse, but from my own experience, I know he’s faking that guilt. I know he doesn’t give a shit about any of what I’ve just told him.
“If I left this room, what would you’ve done?” I hold Grey’s hand tighter. “Suffocated Grey? Turned off the machines that are keeping him alive?”
“No one’s going to believe you if you go to the police.” He smirks at me, his eyes shining in victory. “Nobody would believeIwould ever try to harm my son, that I would go to these lengths.”
I don’t know if he’s right, that even if I report this, nobody will believe me. Chances are, they won’t.
For once, Li Ji-Hoon might be right. Why would anyone believe me?
No one would because in a perfect world, no father would ever try to murder his own son because of a sexual orientation. I’ll assume nobodysawthis man on the scene, and if they did, he could always make it out to have been there because he was on his way to the arena himself, about to watch his son’s game. Make it out that it all happened so fast right in front of him, and he was no longer able to stop the car before he crashed right into the bus as well.
And I am sure whoever hehiredto drive into that bus with him, they would never dare open their mouths to admit this was planned.
No matter what I could say, this man willalwaysbe able to have his words against mine.
Even if I do decide to fight this, fight him in the name of everyone who was inside of that bus, I’ll lose. It’d only take one look into my records, and I’ll be titled as someone who’s unreliable, someone nobody could trust, which then automatically makes me the liar.
