Saving 6 (Boys of Tommen #3)

by Chloe Walsh

I frowned, confused. “Granda, it's me. Joey.” "I named you Joseph," he croaked out, swallowing hard now. “Did you know that?” “No.” I shook my head. “I didn’t know. How’d that come around?” "Your father wanted to name you Theodor after him,” he strangled out, breathing labored. “He said you were going to be just like him…” he paused to cough wheezily. "But you were no Teddy. You were Joseph." He coughed again. "So, I bribed him with a tenner for the pub, and called you what I wanted you to be called." He smiled up at me. "My Joseph. My brave, brave boy. Terrible burdens. A cursed cross to carry. But always rising from the ashes. Always getting back up. Always the… protector.” “Yeah.” Panicked, I looked around the empty room, feeling at a loss. “Granda, I’m just going to go and get the nurse for you, okay?” “Don’t give in to them,” he rasped, holding onto my hand with strength I was surprised he was capable of. “Promise me that you’ll… never… give in to them.” “Give in to who, Granda?” I croaked out. Gasping and wheezing for air, he looked me right in the eyes, green eyes on green and whispered, “the demons your father put in your head.”