Dani

He placed his hand on her shoulder, squeezing down just a little bit to ler he know he was there. She paid him no heed, though, her mind lost in the dark little world she called thought. Her unresponsiveness was, nonetheless, unsettling to him.

“Dani?” he whispered, his hand squeezing her shoulder again.

She still didn’t respond, her eyes fixated on her hands so neatly folded upon each other in her lap. Her silken curls dangled in front of her face, hiding any signs of distress or pain. Her face was still, inanimate, her ruby lips locked together like a doll’s, her powerful, yet pitiful hazel eyes completely devoid of their typical sparkle and warmth.

“Dani…please talk to me. Please…”

She startled, her gaze broken for a moment as her head weakly picked itself up to look up at the taller, aged man with his world wearied hand on her shoulder.

“Four months. Four months, father.”

He nodded, a sigh soon following, “They’re doing all that they can, Dani.”

She shook her head, her fingers squeezing the hand below it. She said nothing else in response and merely returned to the position she was in, her eyes fixated back on the floor, a few tears streaking her plump cheeks.

He let her shoulder free, figuring nothing more could come out of having it there. Instead he wiped the sweat from his brow and dropped to his knees so that he was at the same level as little Dani. He searched her face for feeling, for something, anything.

“Father, why?”

He put his arms around her and shook his head, not sure of what to say at first. But he knew this would not suffice, she would ask that damnable question again, that question that he was afraid to answer.

He opened his mouth, ready to answer at first, but closed it soon afterwards. What could he say? That this is just how life is? That it’s unfair? That it’s apart of God’s master plan? No answer could truly suffice, at least none would suffice him to say. While it is true that this is just how life is and that it’s unfair, he doesn’t believe it’s apart of God’s master plan.

“Sweety, I don’t know why. I wish I had an actual answer for you.”

Dani took a gasp of air and brought her hands up to her face, hiding her eyes, nose, and mouth in their cupped form. She whimpered and let out sorrowful moan, only to have it muffled by her hands. The sight itself broke his heart in two, as it would any father seeing his daughter suffer so.

“Dani,” he whispered, his other arm moving around her with a tight, loving embrace following soon after, “I love you with all my heart and I’ll be by your side through all of this.”

She paused and pulled her hands away, only to give her father a stony stare, tears flooding her eyes, her pouty little lips quivering, her jaws trembling. She wasn’t angry at him or his lack of explaining why it had to be her, but angry at the fact this was happening to her when she was so young. But those words were the most comforting thing that had ever been spoken to her in all the short time she had lived on this earth.

“Father…I,” she paused, forcing a smile, “I love you too.”