It's a Wednesday evening, T.K and Carlos are sitting down ready to eat dinner when there's a knock at the door.
'You expecting anyone, babe?' Carlos asks T.K.
'No.' T.K. shakes his head. 'You?'
'No.' Carlos also shakes his head, standing up. He walks over to the door, unlocks it, and opens it. Standing on the other side is a seventeen-year-old girl around five foot, with light brown eyes and chestnut brown hair. She's wearing a grey sweater tucked into some denim shorts, white vans, and a backpack on her back. 'Carter?' Carlos takes in his younger sister.
'Hey, big bro.' Carter smiles. 'Can I come in?' Before Carlos can respond, Carter walks past him and into the loft. 'Thanks.' She grins. 'Sick place.' She adds, turning around as Carlos closes the door and re-locks it. 'Hey, T.K.' She smiles at her future brother-in-law.
'Hey, Carter.' T.K. smiles slightly.
'What are you doing here?' Carlos asks his sister walking towards her.
'Oh, you know-,' she starts, still looking around. Her eyes land on a tank with a bearded dragon in. Lou Two. 'Sick, dude, you have a bearded dragon?' She walks to the tank and turns around. 'Can I hold it?'
'Erm- sure?' T.K. replies, standing up and joining Carlos. Carter turns back around, slides open the tank, and picks up the reptile. She sinks to the floor and sits cross-legged. 'Hey, buddy,' Carter looks down at Lou Two, gently stroking him, 'I bet you're scaring Papa Carlos shitless, huh?' She looks up at Carlos and T.K. 'What's his/her/their name?'
'His name is Lou Two.' Carlos tells her. 'You gonna tell us why you're here? Why aren't you at school?'
'Oh, I got kicked out.' She shrugs off-handedly. 'You got any crickets I can feed him?'
'You got kicked out?' Carlos raises an eyebrow. 'Does mom and dad know?'
'Uh huh.' Carter nods. 'Ooo, what about a ball? Do you have a ball? A small one?'
'Carter?' Carlos prompts.
'Yeah?'
'Have you been taking your meds?' He questions.
'What meds?' Carter asks innocently.
'Carter.' Carlos sighs.
'Well...' She drags out in a high pitch. 'No.' She deadpans. 'Through no fault of my own though.' She adds. 'Oh wait, I have a ball in my bag.' She sets Lou Two down on the floor, takes her backpack out, rummages through it, and takes out a ball. 'Ah-ha.' She grins. 'Watch this.' She places the ball near Lou Two and pushes it around a couple of times before Lou Two lunges at it. 'Cool, right?'
'Okay, we're going to put him back in his tank so we can talk properly.' Carlos raises an eyebrow.
'You're no fun.' Carter huffs. 'You putting on your big boy pants and doing it yourself.'
'Nope.' Carlos shakes his head, stepping back and slightly pushing T.K. forward. 'T.K. can do it.'
'Of course.' T.K. shakes his head laughing as he picks Lou Two up and puts him in his tank.
'Come sit at the table, I'll dish up some dinner for you.' Carlos tells his younger sister. 'No excuses.'
'Fine.' Carter sighs. She stands up and follows Carlos to the dining table where she plonks down.
'Pasta good?' Carlos queries.
'I guess.' Carter shrugs. Carlos gets a plate out and starts dishing up the pasta whilst T.K. sits down with Carter. 'How's your dad?'
'He's doing good.' T.K. nods. Carlos walks over to the table, places the plate in front of Carter, and sits down.
'So, you wanna tell us what happened?' Carlos asks. 'Why aren't you at school and why haven't you been taking your meds?'
'The dumbass school put a new rule in place stating you can't take controlled substances on school property.' Carter explains. 'Hence, no meds.'
'Your Ritalin is prescribed, though.' Carlos states.
'Try telling that to the school governors.' Carter laughs. 'Anyways, I've been off them for like two months. Last week, I was in Chem lab and I was getting bored and distracted. We were using the Bunsen burners for an experiment. So, I started spinning the little thing that covers the hole and that may have resulted in a tiny fire.'
'Jeeze.' Carlos rubs his hand over his face.
'It tipped over and it fell on top of some paper. It was put out quickly. No one was hurt. However, they were quite quick to say that if I'd taken my meds, that it wouldn't have happened.' Carter carries on. 'I tried to say that I wasn't able to take them because of the stupid rule and they said that I was still able to take them. So, I grabbed a screenshot of their rule that said all controlled substances, prescribed or not, are forbidden. They redacted that immediately and in a meeting with the board and all that to discuss my future at the school, they showed the revised rule and I was kicked out.'
'Does mom and dad know all this?' Carlos asks.
'They do now. The school was apparently still refilling my prescription, just holding it hostage. Dad looked into it when they were told about the incident.' Carter responds.
'Isn't that illegal?' T.K. questions.
'Very.' Carter laughs, nodding. 'Dad is going to work with the Department of Education to file a complaint and launch a full investigation into the school.'
'So why aren't you with mom and dad then?' Carlos asks.
'I hightailed it outta that school the second I could and got an earlier flight. The flight I was meant to be on lands in like 15 minutes.'
'Carter.' Carlos groans, throwing his head back. 'Where's all your stuff?'
'Dropped them off at home in the garage before I came here. Mom and dad weren't home so I assume they already left for the airport.'
'I better call them then, let them know that you're here.' Carlos sighs. 'They're going to be worried sick when you don't turn up.' He stands up, gets his phone out, and walks off to call Andrea and Gabriel, his and Carter's parents.
'You should have told your mom and dad you were getting an earlier flight.' T.K. raises an eyebrow.
'I know.' Carter sighs. 'In my defense, a million and one things were already going through my brain and I just wanted to get out of there and I forgot. It was until I landed that I thought to call them but then it was just easier to go home but then they'd already left so I just dropped off my suitcases and came here.' Carlos returns to the table.
'Neither mom nor dad are answering.' Carlos tells them. 'I've left a message but I'll try again in about ten minutes.'
'Okay.' Carter nods as Carlos sits back down. 'I know I should've told them but-'
'It was in the back of your mind but with everything else you forgot?' Carlos finishes knowingly.
'Yeah.' Carter laughs and nods.
'You said you weren't taking your ADHD meds but have you been taking your others?' Carlos questions.
'Yeah.' Carter replies.
'Keppra?' Carlos pushes.
'Yep.' Carter nods, knowing Carlos is now going to list her medication, wanting to double check she is taking them.
'Diazepam?'
'Only when needed, and yes, that's how it's prescribed now.' Carter responds.
'Zoloft?'
'Yep.' Carter smiles.
'Risperdal?'
'Of course.' Carter nods once more, relieved that the interrogation is over now that he's listed all of her other medications.
'Good.' Carlos nods, satisfied. 'The doctors still doing regular check-ups?'
'Every six months or so.' Carter tells him. 'Mainly been phone calls though.'
'The important thing is that they're actually doing the check-ups. You're not lying about any side effects or anything like that are you?' Carlos says, relaxing back in his seat.
'Do you really think I'd lie?' Carter scoffs. Carlos just raises his eyebrow as if to say, "you know full damn well you would". 'Okay, maybe I would,' she shrugs, 'but I haven't been. It's either take all the meds and retain my functioning, even though I hate them, or have full-blown meltdowns and breakdowns.' She adds. 'I'm swallowing my pride and taking my damn meds.' The words come out harsher than she intended.
'Okay.' Carlos raises his hands in surrender. 'I'm just looking out for you.'
'I know.' Carter mumbles. 'I appreciate it but mom and dad are already breathing down my neck about this. I know you're overprotective but I don't want you doing it too.'
'Okay.' Carlos simply nods.
Ten minutes later, the three of them have finished eating.
'Why don't you go sit on the sofa whilst I try and get hold of mom and dad again?' Carlos suggests to his younger sister. 'Read a book or something.'
'Okay.' Carter nods, standing up and walking to the sofa. She grabs her bag and, sure enough, pulls out a book, The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon, before sitting down on the sofa. Carlos chuckles and shakes his head as Avery opens the book and starts to read. He leaves her to it and turns to T.K.
'I'm going to go to our room and try and get hold of mom and dad.' Carlos tells him.
'I'll clean up and keep an eye on Miss Trouble.' T.K. nods with a slight laugh.
'Thanks.' Carlos smiles slightly before walking off.
Fifteen minutes later, T.K. is finishing washing up the dishes when Carlos stands beside him.
'Don't turn around to Carter, I don't want to worry her.' Carlos whispers to his future husband. 'The calls were ringing through at first then going to voicemail. After three tries they went straight to voicemail.'
'Doesn't your dad keep an extra phone fully charged in case his one dies?' T.K. whispers and Carlos nods.
'I tried that too.' Carlos keeps his voice to a whisper. 'Going straight to voicemail too. Something's wrong.'
'What do you want to do?' T.K. asks.
'We'll keep Carter here whilst I figure out what's going on but she's going to start asking questions soon.' Carlos replies. He looks behind him and sees Carter still engrossed in her book. He turns back to T.K. 'I'm worried. It's not like them to let their phones die. What-,' he's interrupted by T.K.'s phone ringing. He gets it out of his pocket and looks at it.
'It's my dad.' T.K. tells Carlos. He answers the call and puts the phone to his ear. 'Hey, Dad. What's up?'
'Hey, is Carlos there? I've tried calling him but he's not answering.'
'Yeah,' T.K. replies, 'he's been trying to get hold of Andrea and Gabriel since Carter turned up. She got an earlier flight back and didn't tell them. They're not answering their phones.'
'Wait, what's she doing back?' Owen questions.
'I'll explain later.' T.K. tells him. 'What's going on? Why have you been trying to call Carlos?'
'I got a courtesy call from Sherwood.' Owen starts, referencing one of the AFD captains. 'He also tried to call Carlos but had no luck. Gabriel and Andrea were in an accident. You need to get Carlos and Carter to the hospital. Now.'
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First chapter is done!!! Yes, as always, I'm starting the book off with a little pain lmao. Do you think Andrea and Gabriel are going to make it?
Let me know what you think!