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Daemon sat lost in thought in the witness box, his knees feeble and his fists clenched hard. He can't believe he just got divorced, his chest tightened and he felt dizzy, he was just a line away from hyperventilating, he tried hard to gasp air but his throat felt dry, with his eyes tightly shut and his hand on his chest he inhaled hard-really hard. At this point, he was losing it really fast, his hands started shaking...
"No, no, no! Wrong place!, wrong place!" He said in a firm but quiet tone. He reached for his pockets for his pills but alas, there were none. He had forgotten to refill his pill wallet with dosages of prescribed medications, he literally has not been himself the past months, especially with the divorce process going on, he has been tardy, drunk on some occasions and completely disorganized. He hated this version of himself and blamed it on no one but himself, there really wasn't time to regret a lot of things cause his seizure was graduating to the next stage. It usually starts from dizziness to his hands shaking profusely then the vibration seeps through his entire body, then, black out! Sometimes the black out lasts for hours, minutes and if he's lucky enough, few seconds. He prayed earnestly in his heart that it doesn't grow past the hands shaking cause he can't afford letting the world know of his ailment cause he has tried darn hard to keep it a secret from everyone, including his wife and family, only his mom knew and she did a great job from keeping it locked tight between them, she knew it would ruin his chance of having a normal life if people knew cause they would treat him as fragile, whenever he experienced a seizure at school and the school asked, her response was that he was reacting to some medications from a distant continent. He chuckled now at how ridiculous that sounded but it always worked, he seldom experienced much seizures at school cause his anxiety was always in check, sometimes off completely but right now it's going through the roof, he struggled hard to keep the hands from shaking too much. "Oh no" the vibration has begun to spread across his ribs and soon it'll move up his rib cages affecting his breathing and once his oxygen supply is interrupted, it'll shoot up his spine in chills and shut his brain off. He started breathing hard and fast, he looked around to check if anyone was watching or might notice but to his favor, everyone had seem to forget about his existence and for once he was happy not being noticed, he breathed in a labored manner, he tried so hard to stand cause standing slows the process but his legs were jelly at this point, he felt like groaning out loud but that would draw attention to him, the vibration at this point is at the chill stage, just few seconds before his brain goes off, he took hard deep breathes knowing at this point it's game over, his secret will be out, the world will know and he could imagine the headlines of the news articles already.
"Billion dollar empire heir collapse after divorce" ''heart break or health break?''... Just as the last thought was about escaping his mind, the chill was at this point graduating to his brain, he could feel it almost shutting, in seconds he would be out out, he started the count down in his mind.
"5..4...3...2..."...
"Daddy!!" Came the voice of his four years old. He gasped hard, took four long deep breaths, exhaled like that'll be his last. The sound of his daughter's voice stopped his brain from shutting off completely.
"K...kaila" he stuttered as he tried hard to gain control of consciousness, he stared at her but all he saw was blurred dark visions of who stood before him, he blinked hard to get a clear view. She pressed tight against him in a warm embrace, her little hands wrapped his neck.
"i want you daddy" came her voice in a teary tone. "Kaila!" He managed to call her name amidst his struggling.
"Mommy said you don't want to be her bubu anymore, why daddy?" Said kaila in between sobs "i want my daddy, i want you!".
"O kaila" Daemon said in a soft and comforting tone, this time the chills had weared off alongside the vibrations, his hands still shook but he could move them, he hugged his daughter dearly and sobbed a few.
"Daddy isn't going anywhere. Look kaila" he freed her from the tight embrace and brought her to face him. "I love you kaila, always, i may not be mommy's bubu anymore but i'm forever kaila's teddy, yeah?"
"Yeah"
"I'll forever be you and khalid's dad, nothing can stop that ok?"
She nodded in affirmation still sobbing.
"There dear, it's ok" he held her close, his heart ached so much for his little daughter, he didn't know how to process the whole divorce thing cause he grew up in a love home, his parents never got divorced, this is all new to him though he had few friends who came from divorced homes but it was never an experience to relate with, if he's lost and helpless in this situation, he can only fathom how his kids are processing it, at this point he felt his world shattering as he peered into his daughter's eyes and saw the heavy sadness that sat there. He heaved a heavy sigh of relief as he gathered his thoughts, he looked around the court room, although crowded, he felt alone and abandoned, he held his daughter's hand and with the strength he drew from it he stood up, this time with an amazing amount of strength and vigor, he walked to where his son was seated.
"Hey khal" he rustled through his hair playfully. "Dad!" Khalid responded with laughter in his tone. Daemon squat to meet eye and eye with his kids "how are you guys holding up?"
"I miss mom" replied khalid in a sad tone
"Yeah, me too, but hey! We are one unconquered team yeah?"
"Yeah!" Chorused khalid and kaila
"Mom left without saying goodbye, doesn't she love us anymore?" Khalid said tearfully
"Hey, she loves you both so much. Look, some things in life are best letting go of, you both will forever be a part of her world and she'll never forget you both in a hurry, she loves you so so much. Here" he hugged both of them in a tight embrace, he really was trying hard to keep his emotions in check, someone tapped his shoulder he turned to see his sister smiling softly, she had the most charming and comforting smile, he felt light flooding through his heart. "Bibi"
"Bob" came his sister's response "mom's waiting in the car" she nodded towards the exit.
"Alright guys, let's go meet gran gran". All four of them made for the exit...
**...**