Three

"You... answered." Marcus said, forgetting what he wanted to tell Josiah. The poor man’s head was everywhere.

"Is that what you needed from me? To see whether or not I'd answer?"

"Thando-" Marcus found it difficult to speak the words out loud; he’d taken the role since he was the elder of the two men that brought Thando to Hospital but such news were not easy to deliver.

"If it's about her marriage well, if you want her take her. We won't hand her over. Josiah was still high on anger that he could not even let Marcus tell him what he needed to know.

"She's in hospital, dammit Josiah. She was hit – some young man’s car hit her."

Silence.

"Which hospital?" Josiah had no time for details. He’d find out when he was finally at the hospital.

"Emmarentia Academic. I'm sorry man, you know she's like a daughter to me."

"Until such a time that you and nephew scammed her of her right or was it until your daughter was born?"

"Josiah you know that you're not being fair."

Marcus hung up and rushed to his wife’s side.

***

Tears leaving his now bloodshot eyes, the young man felt hopeless. He began sobbing and hoping that the young woman – who was named Thando was okay. Just as he was calming down a man came in with a loud voice demanding to see his daughter. Demanding to see Thando.

All Josiah saw was red. The receptionist was not impressed by him and had pointed to the young man in a black tux and-

"I promised to keep my calm tonight, but you bastards keep pushing my buttons."

"Josiah." Yolanda, called out.

Second hit of the night (or third if one really wanted to go there) and the young man’s nose was bleeding. His face heating up. He was sure the woman’s father would kill him. Did He know yet? He probably did.

Josiah pulled in the young man gripping onto his shirt. Fuming with anger.

“I didn’t mean to.” Josiah was not having it. He calmed down when the guards tried to chase him out. He quickly realised that it would do him no good being banned at the hospital his daughter was admitted into.

His daughter. Was she still his daughter? Anger leads us to a lot bad things.

As soon as he’d calmed down Adam came in asking to see his fiancé, but Josiah could not believe his ears and used all his power to hold himself back because surely he would be banned, perhaps even sleep in a jail cell.

"Try me boy, please try me. I can't believe I forced my daughter to marry a dog like you."

Adam's face fell, shame hitting over him like a relentless wave.

Who had called Adam anyway? Marcus did.

Marcus sent him a message stating that even though his fiancé had lost the fight for her share before it even begun she was fighting for her life too that night. Adam did not miss the disgust in his uncle’s message. Marcus was quite fond of Thando he’d considered her his daughter and was pleased that Adam would be marrying a dignified young woman- the young ruined it however.

"She could be dead right now and you're standing here disrespecting me. How dare you call her your fiancé?" Josiah had turned his back on Adam; looking at him would be fatal, he decided.

The young whom they discovered was called Jordan when the guards offered him help for his nosebleed was traumatise.

"I was thinking just the same Josiah. Maybe you should go see your daughter." Despite the shame, Adam felt the need to stand up to Josiah, his chances of becoming a son-in-law were clearly over but he’d also heard Josiah’s call with his daughter and the words he’d uttered when he was done.

"Sleep with one eye open Fisher, I'm coming for you." It was no empty threat.

Josiah turned and left for Thando’s ward. The last time he spoke to his eldest child he disowned her and now he was facing the possibility of that moment truly ever being the last time he spoke to her. He couldn’t even if he’d been kind to her, she was being operated on.

Jordan kept rubbing his cheek. The pain slowly leaving his face and quickly making its way to Adam’s heart. The whole night he could not help but picture Thando's shocked face when she heard that she had lost Luka Bank. It kept coming back to him and now he would no longer hear from her.

"At least she's alive right now."

He mumbled to himself.

He wouldn’t forgive himself if she wasn’t.

They all wouldn’t.