Lustrous

Chapter 41: He Who Grounds Her

As Charlene walked over to Jasmine and started packing up her things, I turned to Anthony. "You can wait outside for a while. I won't be long." He promised me.

"No it's okay. I'll go in when I'm ready."

He nodded his head and gave my hand one last reassuring before he left to carry Jasmine.

I took a deep breath and walked into the room. My father wasn't conscious. He had a thick tube running into his mouth, a monitor to measure his heart rate, and a needle in his right arm pumping fluids into his body.

I listened to the sound of his heart rate. The steady beep, the only things that seemed to register in my mind.

I didn't even hear as Anthony came back into the room. "Sky." He spoke quietly and I jumped a little startled. "Why we go eat something."

I shook my head no.

"You haven't eaten in a while, and he's asleep Sky. The doctors said he won't be awake until tomorrow at best." He tried to rationalized with me.

"No I want to stay." I said a little firmer than I meant. He cringed a little at my tone. "I'm sorry." I walked towards him and cuddled into his chest. Despite my tone, he embraced me. His arms holding me tightly to his chest as he kissed the top of my head.

"It'll be okay." He assured me.

Anthony took a seat on the chair and pulled me down to sit onto of his lap. I let him and snuggled into his chest, my fore head pressed against his cheek. I closed my eyes just for a minute, but fell asleep in an instant.

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The hospital blinds did little to stop the morning sunrise from creeping into the room. I blinked away the sleep and looked around the room. It was the same as last night. Flowers in a vase on the bedside table. The steady beep of the heart machine. The bag of fluids that looked recently changed, and the pipe was missing from my dad's mouth by the hospital staff. I took a deep breath and watched the heart monitor and cuddled back into Anthony's chest.

It wasn't long before Antony began to stir under me. I pushed myself up to allow him some room to move as he woke up and took in his surroundings. "Morning." He gave me small smile and rubbed his face. His voice was husky and deep, cracking a little with sleep.

"Morning." I stood up and sat on the arm of the chair.

"I need coffee." He pushed himself up from the chair. "Need anything?"

"No." I sat in the chair as Anthony left the room.

I was alone for ten minutes in the heart breaking silence when Anthony returned, his hot coffee in hand and a packet of chips from the vending machine. "Coffee's crap, chips are stale." He shook his head, losing all faith in the medical system.

I smiled and pinched a chip from the packet - defiantly stale.

"I hate hospitals."

A groan sounded and I turned to see my father start to wake up. "Do you mind?" I asked Anthony, hoping he would give us some privacy. He nodded his understanding and quickly left the room, shutting the door behind him.

"Dad?" I moved to his side and helped him get comfortable on his pillow.

"Hey sweet heat." His voice was hoarse. I lifted a cup of water to his lips letting him take a drink to dampen his mouth. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

I sat on the edge of the bed and waited for him to start talking.

"Charlene shouldn't have called, it was nothing."