\u201cWhat happened?\u201d I whispered.<\/p>\n
He looked at the people gathered in the room and said only one thing:<\/p>\n
I will explain later. For now, pretend that everything is fine.<\/p>\n
After that, I couldn\u2019t hear the birthday song anymore. Everyone clapped while I stared at the kitchen door. Strange things had been going on in our house for the past week. Dad woke up at night with the slightest noise, kept the curtains closed and repeatedly checked the front door. Two days earlier he had returned from work unusually early and spent a lot of time talking to someone on the phone. When I walked into the kitchen, the call quickly ended.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was it?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cA wrong number,\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n
But I had heard his last sentence:<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t come near my daughter.<\/p>\n
Guests left around ten o\u2019clock at night. Grandma offered to stay with us, but Dad stubbornly refused. He didn\u2019t even let me open the door when the last guests left. He himself stood by the entrance, waited until his cars walked away and then locked the door and also placed the upper latch. By then, I was convinced that someone was watching us.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cNow tell me what\u2019s going on,\u201d I demanded.<\/p>\n
Dad remained silent for several seconds. Then he picked up his phone, sent a message to someone and told me to go up to his bedroom. Next to his bed he had already placed an armchair with a pillow and a blanket.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou will sleep here in the chair, and I will sleep in bed,\u201d he said. We\u2019ll close the door from the inside.<\/p>\n
I asked him if we were in danger. He sat on the edge of the bed and covered his face with his hands.<\/p>\n
I made a bad decision, Emily. I thought I could take care of everything by myself. But I\u2019m afraid something will happen tonight.<\/p>\n
A chill went through my whole body. I remembered the phone call, the curtains closed and the fact that Dad hadn\u2019t allowed me to come back from school alone for several days. At half past eleven, we heard a noise down. Someone slowly opened the kitchen door.<\/p>\n
I jumped off the chair. Dad immediately grabbed my hand and took a finger to his lips. Then the lights of a vehicle went through the window. Someone knocked on the front door three times. Dad paled.<\/p>\n
\u201cStay here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t want to let him go, but he left the room and closed the bedroom door behind him. At first I heard whispers below, followed by heavy steps. Someone was going up the stairs. The doorknob began to move.<\/p>\n
\u201cEmily, open the door,\u201d I heard my father say.<\/p>\n
When I opened the door, Dad was there with two men dressed in medical uniforms. One of them was carrying a bag full of equipment. The other one brought the chair closer to the bed. I had no idea what was going on.<\/p>\n
Dad sat down and finally told me the truth. A few weeks earlier, doctors had discovered a serious heart rhythm disorder. His doctor had warned him that he could not delay treatment, but Dad had postponed it because he didn\u2019t want to spend my birthday in the hospital. That morning his condition had worsened. The doctor had insisted that he go immediately to the hospital, but Dad had asked him for one more night at home so he could be with me.<\/p>\n
The phone call I had accidentally heard was also from the doctor. Dad had said, \u201cDon\u2019t approach my daughter,\u201d because one of the paramedics wanted to tell me what was going on during the party. Dad was afraid I\u2019d panic.<\/p>\n
The reason I had asked myself to sleep near him was painfully simple. I was afraid that his condition would get worse during the night and no one would notice. I wanted him to be close, not to scare me, but so he could ask for help. However, the doctor had not trusted his decision and had sent some health workers to our home.<\/p>\n
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