ALLEN POV
"Hello? Allen, baby?"
Dad’s voice hit me like a fist. All the air left my lungs.
"Dad? Dad are you okay? Are you hurt?
James said he saved you.
Tell me you’re not hurt. Please."
The moment I heard him, I fell apart.
Tears burned, but I shoved them down. I couldn’t fall apart now.
"Dad, you’re all I have.
Mom died having me. I never even knew her.
It’s just been you.
If something happened to you, I’d be gone too.
Who would I talk to? Who would I cry to?
What’s the point of me being here
if you’re not?
If you die, I die too."
I was sobbing. Like a kid.
"Don’t say that." His voice cracked, then steadied.
"You’re stronger than this, Allen.
You hear me? You fight.
People only stay alive if they keep fighting.
This world eats soft people alive.
You make your own s
