The call came late one evening
just before she would have been asleep.
Rob said "there's been  a hit and run."
"A stranger found Dad in the street."

She got herself dressed hurriedly
without an eye to style.
She left the kids with Steven;
A quick kiss as a goodbye.

She took Lyft to the hospital;
and as she watched the streetlights pass by.
She wondered how she ought to feel
If her father were to die.

The two of them were long estranged.
Had ever they been close?
Much easier to dress in black
if he had given up the ghost.

Rob called her from emergency
that Dad was fading fast.
His breathing was irregular
This night would be his last.

She joined Rob at the bedside
When she saw theirDad she gasped.
How could  he still be breathing
with all those tubes in place.?

The old man on the gurney
reached out and squeezed her hand.
Her father was too far gone  to speak
but hoped she'd understand.

There was no time for redemption
before the old man slipped above.
But, as she bent to kiss his battered cheek
there was time enough for love