My Hockey Alpha novel Chapter 232

Enzo

At the last moment, Nina shoved me through the portal before I had the chance to try to stay behind. I knew, logically, that Selena was completely and utterly lying when she said that she would let my father and my friends live if I went with her. But my judgment was so clouded from the grief of my father’s imminent death that I wasn’t thinking straight, and if it weren’t for Nina’s quick thinking, I would have made the worst decision of my life.

But at the same time, for the briefest of moments, I resented her for that. I wished that I could have tried, even if it failed. Even then, however, I loved her all the same, and I knew that she did the right thing in pushing me through that portal.

My father and I didn’t always get along, especially after my mother died years before. That didn’t mean, however, that I didn’t love him. In fact, quite the opposite was true: I loved my father dearly. I just wished that I had realized that before it was too late.

And now, I was out of time.

I fell to the ground on the other side of the portal along with my friends. Nina came through just seconds after me and fell down to the ground beside me, panting heavily. The force of our fall caused me to drop my father, and when I came to my senses on the forest floor, I looked up to see him lying on the ground a few feet away. His body was so frail and limp, and I instantly felt panic rise up in my throat as I wondered if the impact was enough to kill him. I scrambled over to him on my hands and knees and grabbed his shoulder, rolling him onto his back.

His eyes were open and blinking, and he was breathing. But he wouldn’t be for long.

I scooped my father up into my lap as he stared up at me. I had always heard that people would often have moments of lucidity right before death, almost as though death was giving them the chance to say goodbye. Someone who could barely breathe and was basically a living corpse just moments earlier could suddenly sit up and have a full conversation with their loved ones.

My father was too weak to sit up, but I knew that he was fully lucid as he looked up at me.

“Enzo,” he said quietly, his voice sounding cracked and dry. “You’re a good kid. I’m sorry I never told you that sooner.”

“It’s okay, dad,” I replied, feeling the pit of dread in my stomach open even wider. Around me, my friends were groaning and coming to their senses. I could hear Matt, Lori, and Jessica speak in confused, but hushed, tones. They were waking up from Selena’s spell and were certainly confused about what happened and where they were.

But none of that mattered to me right now. I only had eyes for my father. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Nina sitting up on her knees close to me, but she gave us space and privacy for our last moments together.

“I’m so sorry, dad,” I said. My throat felt as though it was closing around my words, and it caused my voice to come out sounding choked. Part of me wondered if I would die along with my father from a lack of air to my lungs. “I should have tried harder.”

My father only shook his head. “You did the best that anybody could have possibly done. And besides… I’ve had a good life. Now, I’ll finally get to be with your mother.”

The pit of dread in my stomach opened even wider than before, and I felt my heart drop into it. I felt so heavy that I thought that I could simply drop through the earth now, boring a hole straight out to the other side.

“I love you, Enzo,” my father whispered, so quietly his voice could have been mistaken for the wind. “Don’t forget that.”

“I love you too, dad,” I replied.

But he was already gone. His eyes drifted up to the sky, and that was it.

I didn’t move for a very long time. It could have been an eternity for all I cared. I felt numb, and all I could do was hang my head as I held my father tightly in my arms, as though holding him there would suddenly bring him back.

At some point, I could feel my friends circling around me. They sat down around me, their hands reaching out to touch me and rub my back, but no one said a word. Or maybe they did, and I was just too far away from my body to hear it.

All I knew was that eventually, the sun somehow came up when I thought it never would rise again, just as it always did… And my father was still dead, even in the golden light of the morning.