Chapter 29 Chapter Twenty-Nine
She jumps off the couch, suddenly wide awake. “Is dad okay?” she asks frantically.
“Yes angel. The lawyer is on his way with the power of attorney paperwork. Doctor Miyo said as soon as he gets the proper paperwork, we can proceed with surgery to remove the tumor.”
She releases a slow breath. “I’m scared, what if he doesn’t make it?” Her eyes are filled with fear.
“Don’t think like that angel. Your father is strong, he will make it.” I pull her in close for a hug. “It’s going to be okay angel.”
There’s a knock on the door. A middle-aged man with blonde hair, round wire glasses, and a cheap suit comes in the room holding a briefcase. This must be Mr. Rivera.
“Jason!” Leilani shrieks, running over to hug him.
“Mrs. Leilani, it’s good to see you. I’m sorry it’s under such bad circumstances.” He says placing his hand a little to low on her back.
I let out a low growl, to which Leilani rolls her eyes. “Jason, this is Malakai. Malakai this is Jason, or well I guess you know him as Mr. Rivera.”
Mr. Rivera extends his hand to me; I shake his hand squeezing a little tighter than I should. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Rivera” I say through clenched teeth.”
“Nice to meet you, Malakai.” Jason says, trying to pull his hand away.
“Mr. Vespertine will do.” Leilani rolls her eyes at me again. “Do you have the paper?” I ask getting straight to business.
“Yes, yes of course.” Jason pulls out a folder from his briefcase, handing it to me. I open the folder, there is a bunch of legal mumbo jumbo that I don’t care about. I flip through a few pages, until I come across one labeled Power of Attorney. Quickly scanning through the document, I find my name listed. Me? Why me? The ultimate decision should fall to Leilani, it’s her father.
Leilani looks at me anxiously, “So, who is his power of attorney?”
I quickly read the paper one more time. “Um, I am.” I give her an apologetic look, expecting her to be hurt.
“Oh, okay. Go get the doctor. Tell them you want my father to have the surgery, he needs the surgery Malakai, I can’t lose him.” She grabs my arm tightly, eyes widening with concern. “You do want him to have surgery, right?”
“Yes. Let’s get Doctor Miyo in here.” Forcing a smile, I kiss her forehead. What if the surgery is the wrong decision? What if he doesn’t make it through surgery? Leilani will never forgive me if her father dies in surgery. She will never get over it.
Leilani hugs me tightly, “tell me dad is going to make it.”
“He is angel. He is going to be okay.” I say forcing myself to sound confident.
Jason heads out to the nurse’s station to get Doctor Miyo. Five minutes later Doctor Miyo comes in with a group of nurses, and the hospital’s legal team. The legal team confirms the document is legit, I sign a few forms and they whisk Tiberius away to surgery. Everything happened so fast, it feels like a dream.
Leilani clutches me tightly as we sit in the empty room waiting for surgery to be over. Hours pass without any news. Six hours into the surgery I hear Leilani’s stomach growl on the couch next to me. “Let’s get you something to eat.”
Leilani shakes her head. “No, I’m okay.”
“It wasn’t a question, Leilani. You need to eat; we will go down to the cafeteria. The nurses have my number if there is any news they will call.” I speak sternly, leaving no room for argument.
Leilani nods and follows me to the elevator. The elevator comes up from the ground floor, dinging loudly as the door opens. A mother and her child get off the elevator carrying a big get well soon balloon, and a bouquet of flowers. I smile politely. Leilani and I step on to the mirrored elevator, after pressing the ground floor button I give Leilani a soft kiss.
“What was that for?” She asks smiling.
“Do I have to have a reason to kiss my beautiful mate?”
The elevator dings and the doors open, a line of people waiting to get on stare at us. Leilani tries to walk away but I hold her still in front of me. “People are waiting.” She says quietly, blushing.
“And I’m waiting for an answer.” I say calmly.
She giggles. “No, you don’t have to have a reason.”
“Good.” I wink. We step off the elevator, Leilani stares at her feet embarrassed. I walk confidently, ignoring the glares. “Baby, you should hold your head up high.”
“People were staring at us.” She whispers, crossing her arms over her chest.
“I don’t care if people were staring, taking pictures, talking about us, or whatever. They can do all of that and I will keep doing whatever I want. You should do the same. When you are the alpha people are going to stare all the time, and you are going to have to be confident.” I pick her chin up, forcing her to look me in my eyes. “Be confident baby.”
She tries to look down at her feet, but I keep her head steady. “Fine, I will try to be more confident.”
“Good. That’s my girl. Now let’s go get some food.”
Leilani smiles. It only takes a couple minutes to make it to the cafeteria, where the smell of stale food and strange chemicals fill the air. We scan over the options, deciding a sandwich would be the safest option.
I watch as Leilani picks at her sandwich. “Baby I know you are stressed but you need to eat, okay? Starving yourself isn’t going to help your father.”
She stares at me for a second before taking a bite of her sandwich. I watch as she nibbles on her sandwich, taking smaller bites than a mouse would take. Leilani eats about half her sandwich and pushes the rest across the table. I guess half a sandwich is better than not eating anything at all.
“I can’t eat any more.” She says quietly, fidgeting with her fingers. “Is my dad out of surgery yet?” Leilani whispers so quietly I almost miss it.
Taking her small hand in mine, I rub my thumb along the back of it. “Not yet baby. The doctor will call as soon as there is news. How about we go for a walk?”