Kathleen couldn't sleep, she kept tossing and turning on the bed, it was almost dawn when she heard Derek's car pull up the driveway and a few minutes later she heard the door open and he entered inside the house, she kept her eyes tightly shut, pretending to be asleep and hoping to avoid him, he quietly climbed the bed, kissed her forehead, he said nothing as he simply climbed on the bed and fell asleep, tears slipped from the corner of her eyes but she made no attempt to open her eyes.
Kathleen opened her eyes and squinted against the morning ray of the sun, the blinds were opened, she gazed around and saw no one in the room, she was about to stand up when the door opened and Derek entered bearing a tray of breakfast, "good morning sunshine" he greeted as soon as he entered, showing dimples, " I brought you breakfast" he placed it on the table before her.
Perhaps he was trying to cover up his guilt for spending the night with Nicole, she stared at the food, sulking, "I'm not hungry" she replied simply as she got up from the bed, he came close to her and placed his hands on her shoulders but she flung it off her, moving away from his reach, "don't you dare Derek, why are you here? You can go make breakfast for your mistress"
His blue eyes were unfathomable as he regarded her, "what do you mean?"
"What I meant is exactly what you heard, you've started spending your night with her using Kyle as an excuse, why don't you also serve her breakfast in bed, Afterall, you can always use Kyle as an excuse" she yelled, tears streaming from her eyes and she angrily dashed them away, Derek moved closer to her and she backed away, "Kath, listen to me"
"No Derek, I'm done with listening to you so that you always think of new ways to you with my emotions, I don't think you love me anymore"
His eyes darkened at her words and in two strides, he held her in his arms, she struggled against him but he refused to let her go "you can accuse me of anything but don't ever say I don't love you" he rasped
Was that pain she heard in his voice? It must be her imagination, "if you love me, why are you spending the night with her, can you boldly tell me that nothing happened between the two of you?".
A muscle twitched in his jaw as he stared straight into her eyes, "nothing happened between us".
She stared at him for a moment, doubt swirling in her eyes, "she didn't try anything?" She whispered
"She did but nothing happened, trust me, you're the only woman in my heart and in my head, I am attracted to only you"
She gazed at him for a long time, deciding what to believe, "don't you believe me" he was gazing into her eyes and watched as tears pooled in her eyes and slide down her cheeks, he cleaned it with his thumb, he hate to see her in tears and knew he had once more hurt her, he was such a fool, "I'm sorry Kath, I know you feel I am spending too much time with Kyle and lesser time with you, I'm sorry".
"I'm not against you spending time with your son, I just want to be left some part in your busy schedule too"
He kissed her upturned nose and her damp cheeks, "I'll remember that, I'm sorry that I made you feel neglected".
"Do you also believe I hurt Kyle intentionally?" He kissed her lips before answering, "I knew you would never hurt him intentionally, I was just angry that you weren't careful enough but it never crossed my mind that you'll hurt him on purpose"
Kathleen rested her head on his broad chest and sighed, taking in his scent.
"I was just trying to avoid Marcella seeing me with your Dad, so I tripped on the stairs" she tried to explain, recalling the events that happened, Derek grimaced as he took her chin in his palms, "why would you be hiding to see my Dad?" Kathleen shrugged at his question, "I guess Marcella doesn't want me anywhere around him"
"He's my dad and you are free to visit him whenever you wished"
"It's been a while you visited him, are you still pissed with him? I think you should let go of past hurt Derek, he's still your father"
Derek studied her for a moment, his gaze indecisive, "I don't know Kath, all I see are bitter memories whenever I see him"
"Surely, there must be some good memories you both shared, they can't all be bitter" Kathleen stared deep into his eyes, she understood his conflict, deep down, she knew he must miss his dad but he was only allowing bad memories flood his brain, if that is the last thing she does, she would make sure she reconcile father and son and clear off all the anger and malice he harbors in his heart.
"Can you accompany me to go and see him?" She requested and doubt swirled in his eyes mixed with some other emotions.
"Kath..." She placed her fingers on his lips to silence his protest and held his hands, leading him away from the room and towards his father's room, Derek gave up on protesting and reluctantly followed her.
Kathleen's eyes narrowed on the doorway when she sighted Marcella dropped a drug into her husband's tea and stirred, it was the same drugs she had seen her collected from the hospital, she glanced at Derek but his attention was on the frail form of his Dad and had paid no attention to Marcella as he walked slowly to where his father laid.
"What was that?" Kathleen asked Marcella, eyeing her suspiciously.
"It's his dose, it's time for him to take his medicine" Derek glanced up briefly at both of them before focusing his attention once more on his father.
"Can I see the drug?" Kathleen demanded and Marcella looked at her furious.
"That was the last of it that I just mixed, got an issue with that?" She gritted and Kathleen shook her head.
Marcella had just told her she had mixed the last of the drug, how was that possible? She had seen her just the other day in the hospital collecting a full packet of it, she had thought the medication was for her, what kind of drugs would that be? She shook off whatever it was she was feeling, perhaps she was thinking too much. She watched as Marcella took the tea to Michael Deloux and attempted giving him, Derek stared at her for a while, "let me give him" he suddenly offered and Marcella's eyes widened, "you don't have to Derek, I can do it"
"He's my father, I don't get the chance to do this often, let me do it"
Marcella handed the cup to him and little by little he fed it to his Dad.
Kathleen's heart went to him, she could clearly see how he missed his dad but he had been allowing bitter sentiment to flood his brain, this was a sign towards breaching their differences, hopefully, his wounded heart would heal after he had found it in his heart to forgive his father.
He handed Marcella the now empty cup and stood up to leave when suddenly his father jerked violently on the bed, his neck twisting violently and his hands stretched out stiffed.
Kathleen dash towards him, she held his cold and stiff legs, what was happening?
"Call an ambulance" Derek barked at Marcella
"We can't, what about his image? He would be all over in the papers"
"I don't give a damn about the public and the papers, call an ambulance right now" Derek yelled and Kathleen saw Marcella hesitate, she quickly ran from where she was, brought out her phone, and put the call across.
Michael Deloux was still stretching with spit coming out from his mouth, "was that the usual drug that I fed him?" Derek asked and Marcella nodded in affirmative.
The ambulance finally arrived and he was rushed into the ER .