Straight from the academy

28.

tw - death

"Hey mum." I say down the phone.
"Sweetheart?" My mum says crying.
"Mum? What's wrong?" She doesn't answer at first. "Mum, your scaring me, what's happened?"
"It's..it's your dad. We're at the hospital." She splutters through tears.
"What? Why?" I say, my voice trembling.
"He's had a heart attack. The doctors don't know why."
I don't say anything, I'm too stunned to speak. Tears start to run down my face.
"We are flying home tomorrow so I'll be there as soon as I can." I say before hanging up. I collapse into the floor and start balling my eyes out. He's my dad, he's one of the best people on the planet, why did this have to happen to him? He is so kind and so genuine, why him? I notice Gio poking her head out of the changing room.
"Els?" She shouts, clearly looking for me. She's drawn to the sound of my tears and within seconds she's stood in front of me.
"I was just coming to find you since you'd been gone a while, what happened?! " She says sitting down next to me.
"My..my dad..he's had a..a heart attack" I say, the tears stinging my eyes. Gio doesn't say anything, she's just as shocked as I am. She pulls me into her lap and holds me close to her chest. She rubs my back and rocks me back and forth, almost like you would a baby.

We fly home the next morning I don't say a word to anyone, other than than the odd word to Gio or Leah, who of course found out quite quickly about what happened. Once again I'm nervous for the flight, but that almost completely goes out the window as it's nothing compared to how nervous I am for my dad. I sit next to Leah again, and I'm resting my head on her shoulder.
"I told my mum I'd be there" I say, almost whispering, into her neck.
"Do you want to go?" I nod my head. "Then we can go as soon as we get home, me and Gio will go with you."
"Okay." I say quietly.

The girls told me they'd sort out all our bags and things so all we had to do was go though passport security which didn't take long. Then we walked to the car park and walked to Gio's car. When we get to her car, I get in the back, Gio sits in the front and drives whist Leah sits in the back with me to keep me company. Gio starts driving to the hospital and I just stare out the window, my leg bouncing up and down and my mind racing. Leah puts her hand on my knee, a small gesture but she and I both know it was one I needed. We pretty much drive in silence the whole way there, which made the drive seem ten times longer, but I wasn't up for talking anyway.

When we finally get there I run inside to the front desk.
"Is my dad here? Mark, Mark Lewis"
"Your mother is in that waiting room." She says pointing to the room.
"But what about my dad, can I see him?"
"Speak to your mother first." What does that mean? I walk over to my mum to see her sat down with her head in her hands, crying.
"Mum?" She stands up and I can immediately see the pain in her eyes. "Can we see dad yet?"
"No..no we can't." Her voice cracks and she holds onto both of my hands. "He's gone"
I stand there in disbelief. My mum wraps her arms around me but I feel numb. My whole body turns limp, my knees buckle and I am forced to sit down.
"But..I don't understand.." I say, the tears now falling and the realisation setting in. "He was fine, he was alive"
"The doctors aren't sure, but sometimes these things just happen."
"But why? Why him?" Leah sits down next to me and puts her arm around me, kissing my head.

Not long later I notice a tall man and a little girl walk in and hug my mum. India and Ben. I stand up and hug my older brother, trying to wipe away my tears even though they are immediately replaced by new ones. Then I look down at my younger sister, tears also running down her face. She looks up at me with her big brown eyes and it breaks me. How could something like this happen to such a happy little girl? I pick her up and she latches onto me, putting her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck. I sit back down with Indi in my arms and I hug her tightly. We stay like that for ages, neither of us wanted to let go.

We just sit around the waiting room not saying or doing much, until a nurse tells us that we need to leave as we are taking up seats for other people who need them. We all slowly walk out to the car park, I still have Indi in my arms but now she is resting on my hip.
"Indi love it's time to go home." My mum says.
"I want to stay with Ellie" she says quietly, tucking her head into my neck.
"Come on, we need to get home." Indi shakes her head.
"It's alright mum, she can stay with us. Is that okay with you?" I ask, turning to Leah.
"Yeah of course, I'll let Beth know."
"Okay, if you don't mind. I'll come and pick her up in the morning?"
"Whenever mum, there's no rush." Truthfully, I didn't want to leave India either, I probably needed her just as much as she needed me.

We all get in Gio's car once again, this time Leah sits in the front and Indi and I sit in the back. Again, not much is said, but within 10 minutes we are home. We get out and walk up the stairs to the apartment, then Leah opens the door and we all walk in.