“I'll be right here when you wake up,” John promised him.
Adam blinked sleepily at him. “I know,” he sighed, a soft smile on his face as he drifted off.
John sat there for a long time, just watching Adam sleep. But after a while, he knew he couldn't put it off any longer, and this was as good a moment as any. With Adam taking a nap, John could have the time alone to get through whatever emotional breakdown he might have.
He quietly left Adam's bedroom and pulled the door almost shut, still wanting to be able to hear in case Adam woke up and called for him. Then he went to the living room and pulled out his phone.
John paced in front of the couch, taking slow, deep breaths. His chest ached from how hard and fast his heart was beating, but he knew he had to do this. Adam had been so brave, facing a decade-long fear and finally letting go of his grief.
It was high time for John to do the same.
Moving slowly and deliberately, John unlocked his phone and opened the voicemail app. Frank Barnes's message was still there. Or at least it appeared to be there. John had no idea if it would play again after that one accidental time, but he had to try. If anything, he could always run home and find the file on his computer.
Except he didn't want to wait that long. He wanted it finally over and done with.
John took a deep breath and hitPlay.
“John, it's Frank,” the message began. John almost heaved a sigh of relief. The message was still there. Now he just had to get through whatever words Frank had left for him. “I wanted to apologize for my behavior last night.”
John blinked. “Apologize?” he asked aloud, the question gushing out of him in shock. He stared at the phone, trying to reconcile the words with what he'd been expecting to hear all these years.
“I came at you like that and never gave you a chance to tell your side of the story, and I'm sorry for that. I know you to be a good and honorable man, so for me to jump to the conclusion that you'd ever actually hurt my son…” Frank's voice trailed off for a moment. “I heard Adam's distress, and the parent in me couldn't help but defend my child.” He paused, breathing a laugh. “But you know how Adam can be. My little drama queen. Not that I'm discounting what he said or what he's feeling, but I suspect I've misunderstood the entire situation, and I'd like a chance to sit down and hear what you have to say.”
John dropped onto the couch like his legs had been cut out from under him.
“So I hope you'll call me back when you get this. If I don't hear back from you tonight, it might be a few days before we can talk again. I'm going in for shoulder surgery tomorrow.” Frank breathed another laugh. “Adam's been pestering me about it for months. We even had a big fight about it. But the truth is, he's right. I need to get this over with. I've been putting it off for way too long. Anyway, I hope to hear from you soon. Thanks, John.”
The message ended, and John dropped the phone onto the coffee table, staring at the screen until it dimmed and then went dark.
For nearly a decade, John had thought for sure that Frank had still been angry with him. Instead, Frank had been ready to hear his side and forgive him.
And John had missed the chance by never answering the phone. He'd chickened out, and by the next day, it was too late.
For the first time in almost thirty years, John cried.
Chapter 26
_________
ADAM
ADAM WOKE to the sound of crying.
It took him a long moment to recognize it as such. At first, it was so faint through the small gap in his open doorway that he couldn't be sure he was hearing it right.
Then it grew louder. Unmistakable. Except the only person it could be coming from was someone who never cried.
But this wasn't just crying. This was agony. Bone-deep, gut-wrenching, uncontrollable sobs, sounding like they were being torn straight from the depths of someone's soul.
Adam's heart began to race in panic. He weakly pushed back the covers, trying to get out of bed. Except the pillows had crushed beneath him in his sleep, so he was reclining more than when he'd drifted off. The angle was too much. When he tried to sit up or even swing his legs over the side of the bed, he felt a tug and a pressure all across his chest. Adam tried again and again, but he couldn't move.
“John!” he finally screamed. He had to get to John. He had to know what was wrong.
Footsteps raced across the apartment, and his bedroom door burst open.
“Adam?” John panted. “What's wrong? Are you hurting?”
Adam's jaw dropped. He couldn't answer as he sat there, taking in John's face. The tear-stained cheeks. The bloodshot eyes. “J-John?”
