Chapter 1
November 15, 2023 at 9:18 AM
Her legs hurt. It happens in the mornings from time to time, so all Lia did was frowning and taking a deep breath. This pain became a regular thing in her morning routine and she didn’t like it at all. She tried her best to remember one time she woke up feeling good and not as ill as an eighty-year-old woman, but she failed.
“I’d better tell Dad”, - she made a mind note, leaving it for later.
The girl didn’t do anything special to get rid of this constant pain, apart from stretching. Either it did help her in the past or she truly believed it helped, nonetheless she preferred to hope for the best once all of her bones cracked having been stretched.
When she entered the bathroom, it was clear as day that she wasn’t able to stand for a long time, let alone dancing while brushing her teeth. No, not today for sure. She found a comfortable position on the edge of the bath and tried to maintain all of her morning routine sitting. It wasn’t that hard. Having finished, the girl stood up too fast and the room switched for a sec, as if somebody turned it as a Rubik’s cube. Lia fell down on her back. Right on the floor. Gracelessly.
She could hear the sound of steps on the stairs, somebody was up to check on her. She closed her eyes with her hand, trying so hard not to be able to see the tremendous level of her embarrassment at the moment.
“Lia, baby, are you okay?”
She made a long sigh instead of the answer, though it was pretty obvious that she was not okay.
Will helped her to get up and get to her bed. He hoped that there was nothing serious and his daughter just fell on the floor being clumsy girl she is, and that’s all.
“What happened? Did you hurt anything?”
“I…I um…”, the girl was on the fence, she wasn’t sure whether it’s necessary to tell Will everything. Well, it’s not such big of a deal though, but it’s a health issue, so her parents should know, right? Right? “My legs hurt, Dad.”
“So you did get hurt?”
"No, I didn’t, it’s… different”, she felt embarrassed that she kept it for herself for so long and now she has to confess as if she did something wrong. “My legs hurt. Every morning. And today it’s just worse than before and I fell down. That’s it.”
She was fidgeting with a blanket corner, trying not to look at her Dad. She felt embarrassed. It was a common feeling that she got and Hannibal was trying to help her overcome it, but it takes a long way.
“Why didn’t you tell us earlier, sweetheart?”, he covered both of her hands with his hand. “Hannibal should know. He’ll help you.”
“Can you tell him, Dad?”
“No, I can’t. He’s your Father, so you should learn to communicate with him.”
That’s a pity. Well, she loved her Father, she sure did, but sometimes he gave her chills with his ice-cold calm attitude. He rarely smiled and he was incredibly difficult to read for Lia. She’s used to read people’s emotions. It is something she used to do in the orphanage and it helped her a great deal - she understood when she needed to talk or to shut up, when she needed to hide or ask for something. It was her way of survival. And manipulation, too. But none of her mastered skills worked on her Father and it was very devastating. She never knew what to expect from him. And she tried her best not to get him angry or upset with her.
"Do you need some help getting downstairs?"
Her smile looked a little sad even though it was full of gratitude.
"Yes, Dad, please. I think I need help."
***
"Hannibal, our Princess wants to tell you something." She was shocked with Will's calm tone, as if she was going to share her plans for today. "Thanks, Dad, I didn't ask for this" - she thought sarcastically, having absolutely no idea what to say at the moment. "Oh, yes…" she tried to seem engaged into the discussion she was avoiding at all costs. "The food is delicious. Incredible." She was not ready for this conversation, not now! And why didn't her Dad catch it from her reactions? It was so obvious, for Christ's sake… She will definitely talk to her Father, just not right now, when she doesn't have any ideas of what to say and how to put it… safely. So her Father wouldn't blame her for keeping silent all this time. And she knew for sure that he would. Moreover, hospitals along with doctors are her number one fear. Let alone her Father was a doctor himself, he would most certainly take her to multiple hospitals to find out what's wrong with her. Just one thought of that gave her the chills… "Something serious, Lia. Spill it." Will remained adamant. He was waiting. "Daughter, what happened?" - if it wasn't for his chilling tone, it would seem as if her Father was truly worried about her. She was scared to look at them. The girl was scanning her breakfast and holding a cup of hot tea in her hands. "My legs hurt. Every day, in the morning. Today I failed to stand up and fell down," she said very quietly. She could feel this burning red colour of embarrassment on her cheeks. "How long?" he asked her strictly, or so she heard. "Half a year… I guess… " she bit her lip, why would she say that? Why not "half a week" or "half a month" as she first planned to say? "And why do we get this information only now?" she could see with her peripheral vision that her Father leaned back in his chair. She couldn't feel any of his emotions. It scared her. "I'm.. I'm sorry, Father," she stuttered. "It's not the answer to my question," he stopped her with no hesitation. The room went silent. She needed a moment to proceed with her explanation. "I didn't think it was worth mentioning," her hands seemed to tremble. Even though it looked like an ordinary parents talk, she felt being slowly told off by her Father. She was afraid to say the wrong thing. "Is there anything else you didn't consider worth mentioning?" "No, sir." Hannibal smirked. She addressed him like that very rarely. He clearly understood that it was her way of distancing from him, her little way to show how differently she treated him and Will. Hannibal knew the reasons for such behavior and he didn't mind. He felt her fear, but he did nothing to help her with it. Nor he planned to. He was quite satisfied with his authoritarian position in the family. The man hoped that one day his daughter will take after him at least a bit of that so necessary confidence. And if she needs a good example, he will most certainly provide her with one. "Wonderful. Tomorrow we'll visit some doctors to see what happened to you," he took a sip of coffee. "Now, finish your food. We don't want you to collapse more than once a day."***
As soon as Lia finished her breakfast, she marvelously disappeared from the kitchen. Nobody would even believe that she had any sort of problems with her legs. Will sighed heavily. "Did you really need to be so harsh on her? She trembles enough at the very thought of talking to you." "And it's fine," Hannibal stood up collecting dirty dishes from the table. "For now she is a little scared of me, but it's not going to take her long to get used to. She will get over it eventually." "But I still don't get it, what's the point of terrorizing your own daughter?" "First of all, I did not terrorize her, what a choice of words -" "Oh, didn't you?" Will interrupted his husband. "Have you seen your face?" Hannibal glanced at Will, a bit offended. What a stupid point to make. "Secondly. I have no chance of so-called "terrorizing" you anymore." "Do you mean that time you stabbed me or falling down a cliff?" "Both", Hannibal… smiled? At least he looked pleased to take this journey down the memory lane. Will opened the door to the garden and leaned on it. "Oh right. Then of course it's better for our daughter to have a strict father rather than a father who can easily cut her throat open." "It happened only once," which sounded as an excuse. "We don't do anything like this anymore." "We?" Will pished. "Oh no, I was a victim and had nothing to do with it, Hannibal" "I am glad that you find this thought comforting, Will" "Oh, piss off!" Will went to the garden to smoke his morning cigarette in peace.
