My Dad Turns Out to be Eyes

52

"Jessica?"

Jessica turned to the phone in her hand and put it close to her ear. "Yes." Yeah."

"You..." Nathan spoke as he heard gasps from the phone. It was Jessica who was currently trying to endure her pain. "Do you want me to keep talking to divert your pain?"

"Yes. Unless you currently have a liter of alcoholic beverages and a pill of painkiller then I would not assume you were able to divert my pain. Do you have any?" answer Jessica.

The girl shifted a little, trying to improve the location of her back to make it feel more comfortable. He stared at the night sky for a second and then he heard a small explosion coming from the house.

Nathan cleared his throat slowly for a while, "I don't think that you should be drinking alcohol and painkillers at the same time like that" Nathan told him.

"And I'm kind of worried that I won't be able to help you there if anything happens. Yeah, but I'll keep talking to you, try to help you get out of pain until the ambulance comes."

Nathan was standing in his office. He did not even look at his computer screen once and just stood in the middle of the room.

Her eyes then looked down as she brought her phone closer to her ear and tried to concentrate more on Jessica's voice.

Jessica remained silent for a while.

"Don't shut up and say something so I can figure out you're okay there" Nathan told Jessica.

Jessica smiled. "Something I want to ask."

"Why do you ask? What'sthat?"

"That's about what you said before..." Jessica whispered on the phone. "Have you been tracking me the whole time?"

"All the time, should we say it like that." Nathan hesitated with Jessica. "Em, yeah. I've been tracking your location for a long time."

"I think it's illegal" Jessica said.

Nathan laughed, "I agree. I even imagined that I would get a restraining order immediately because of that."

Laughter is heard from across the phone. Nathan now felt his throat choked. He gulped his saliva roughly and spoke back.

"It's hard" Nathan said then in a soft voice.  "... it's hard to take care of you. You've made my life feel more interesting so far."

"Ck, not a good thing." Jessica replied to him.

"I don't know what this is." Nathan replied. "Just, it's nice to have you around me. You're different from the people I've met all along. Different from my usual team."

"Do you consider me your team?"

"I don't think a job in this organization is right for you. If I'm to be honest, you're not really gifted with technology."

Jessica chuckled, "Yes, I am indeed not really talented at anything other than drinking and partying,"

Jessica laughed after admitting that, her eyes closed and moans came out from her as she again felt an immense pain around her legs.

"I know about your hobby. I saw it on your social media page" Nathan said.

After hearing Nathan's words, Jessica's lips lifted. He smiles.

"Wow, do you admit that you've been spying on my social media, Nathan?" Jessica wondered to Nathan. "I think it confirms your status as a stalker."

"Yes, call it that." Nathan replied to him. "I saw your social media when your father first told me about you. Just a prank."

It went back to silence for a while. They both kept quiet. No one continues the conversation. Jessica then spoke again.

"I don't know what to think about this" Jessica said. "I mean, I don't know what to think about these four days."

"That makes you look like you didn't expect that none of this was the truth. You can't believe what's going on" Nathan said.

"No" Jessica replied. "If I thought so, it's the same as I assumed that I never met you back then, right? I mean I can say it's a blessing to meet you."

Jessica then shook her head. He asked himself if he was hallucinating. Why did he have to say that to Nathan just now? He doesn't know either. He could only think that Nathan must have thought that he was crazy by now.

"Well, nice to meet you" Nathan told her.

Jessica was surprised by Nathan's reply, then she smiled. "me too. It's nice to meet you."

"Hm, I assume that these aren't signs of separation right? Right now we don't have to say goodbye, do we?"

"I don't think so" Jessica said smilingly hearing that. "For me a farewell usually indicates that someone is nearing death. And right now I don't see Dimitri around me. So I don't think there's going to be a breakup because I'm going to be safe for now.and..."

"I know," Jessica said, her belief in her father was unshakable. "Hey, Nathan, we've been together for a while but you never told me anything about you. Your hobbies, your favorite foods, what things you like and don't like, or anything else."

"I'd prefer it if we didn't discuss anything about me. It's because there's nothing interesting about me to tell anyone." Nathan smiled. "Don't it sound much more mysterious."

"Yes, but if we go for a drink together then I can barely know you other than your name, right?" Jessica said make sure.

"You want to go have a drink with me?" Nathan made sure. He then grieves. "I think Mr. Robert would have shot me in the head if he heard that. Like we went out drinking together."

"I just felt like I owed you my life after you saved my life back then" Jessica replied. "So, do you intend to tell me about yourself?"

"I. I usually-"

"Hey can you hear that?" Jessica exclaimed and cut Nathan's sentence as the young man tried to tell him a few things.

Nathan himself chose focus and tried to hear a faint voice from the phone line.

"It was obviously the sound of an ambulance" Nathan told Jessica "You're waiting for it first. They'll find you soon, Jessica."

"Thank you" Jessica whispered to him.

"Jessie!"

Nathan frowned when he heard Robert's voice exclaim and approached his daughter.

"Dad!" Jessica called back.

Robert knelt beside Jessica as paramedics exited the helicopter.

"Nathan, are you still there?" Robert checked as he took the phone from his daughter's hand.

"Yes, did you get it Marie?" ask Nathan.

"No," Robert said as he shook his head, his tone filled with regret. "Dimitri got to Marie before I got there and was able to save her. Marie, he's dead, Nathan. I failed!"

Nathan sighed slowly. "Then what now?"

"Now I want you to start tracking down the signs of Dimitri's whereabouts. The agents coming are looking for him right now."

"And you?" Nathan wonders.

Robert was silent for a while. "I'm going to the hospital with Jessica" said Robert as Jessica suddenly began to feel her vision blurred.

Jessica felt her body melt. And he doesn't know why. He closed his eyes while his hand tried to grab his father.

Robert looked at him, dropping his phone into the grass.

"Jessica" Robert whispered his daughter's name. "Jessie. Stay with me..."

"Robert?" Nathan spoke, his voice entering Robert's ear and making Robert sober.

He forgot the fact that Nathan is still on his phone.

"Nathan, let's move on later." said Robert still trying his best to resuscitate the girl.

Nathan stood in the middle of his office room while his ears still continued to listen to everything that was happening hundreds of miles away from him. He waited with worry.

The phone connection eventually died and Nathan dropped his iPhone roughly onto the table. His body felt numb for the first time after a while. He was really worried and curious about Jessica's current state.

"Should I just catch up with him?" nathan muttered to himself.

Nathan saw Jessica's bag. He picked it up and put it on his shoulder and thought back to what he would do after that.

"I'll deliver the bag" he murmured once more.

Nathan took his things and put them in his own bag. He stared at Jessica's bag.

He had already decided that he would go and deliver the bag back to the girl. And he didn't care if to deliver his bag until he had to make Nathan travel abroad like today.

Nathan then thought of taking sick leave in order to have free time.

***