I really didn't want to start with the cliche beginning of waking up to the steady, and monotone beat of a heart monitor, but sadly that's the first thing I noticed. The second thing was the excruciating pain in the back of my throat. It was almost at if I was being forced to swallow thousands of red hot needles.
I felt warm, salty, tears squeeze out from my tightly closed and swollen eyes leaving tracks down my cheeks. Within fifteen minutes I was asleep again.
My dream started much like my day had. I was sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast, at our home in Vermont. When my father came down the stairs.
He was dressed in a pair of grey sweats and his maroon Harvard sweatshirt. This was very different from his every day attire. My dad was a lawyer, so not only was he always neatly dressed, but he was also never home.
"Dad?" I asked. "What in the world are you wearing? And what do you think you are doing home?"
He looked down at his outfit and smiled.
"I can't go to work today, I'm sick" he responded with a fake cough.
"Huh, well then I guess I can't go to school, either. I was really looking forward to that AP Chemistry test today too. Oh well." Snapping my fingers in mock disappointment.
"So how about I sit and watch a movie with my favorite daughter?" dad suggested.
"Dad, I'm your only daughter" I shouted as I ran upstairs to change into a pair of pajamas. When I got back to the living room with my pink and orange polka dot blanket trailing behind me, dad had already put a movie in.
"That's what makes you my favorite, duh" I laugh, but still felt the traces of sadness that usually came when thinking of my mother.
You see I was supposed to have a younger brother. Life was supposed to be perfect. My mom had always dreamed of having two children, a boy and a girl. Things didn't turn out that way, about seven months in my mom became really sick. My little brother was born almost two months too early, and was still born. Not only that, but my mom left with him.
Noticing my change in mood, dad pulled me into a hug. "I'm sorry Angel, I know you miss her because I do too, but she is watching over us always. Now come on, enough seriousness"
After watching The Avengers, The Sandlot, and the first Star Wars movie, my stomach was growling loud enough to put Chewbacca to shame. My dad, of course, thought it was funny and just laughed at me.
"Why don't we go somewhere to get some food?" he asked through his laughs.
"Okay, but I get to pick where, because you're laughing at me" I said, crossing my arms over my chest and walking towards the door. I stopped to grab my dance company sweatshirt out of the closet.
"Where to, princess?" he asked, opening the door and motioning for me to go through.
"How about Olive Garden?"
"Sounds good to me."
The car ride was quiet for the most part. Only the radio playing. I sang along to a few songs while dad tapped the beat on the steering wheel.
All of the sudden, the smile dropped from his face. His laughing smiling mood, gone. It was when I was about to ask him what was wrong when I saw it too.
A black SUV was now in our lane and was traveling straight for us. Dad tried to move out of the way, to pull to the side of the road, but it was too late, there was no possible place to move.
I clamped my eyes shut waiting for the inevitable collision. Praying to God that we would make it out of this alive.
My eyes snapped open, only to be clamped shut again as I flinched away form the harsh white light filling the room.
Once my eyes had adjusted, I took some time looking around the small white room. My eyes stopped when they met the teary gaze of a stranger sitting next to me.
He looked to be around my dad's age, with short dark hair and warm brown eyes. The tan he had gave away the fact that he didn't live in the east like I did. He mush live in a warmer state, probably in the south or western United States.
We stared at each other for a couple of minutes. When he opened his mouth to speak, he was cut off due to the door in the corner of the room opening.
A guy a little shorter than my dad walked in.
"Hello Ms. Grey, I'm Doctor Michaels."
When I tried to say something in response, a white hot pain blazed down my throat bringing tears to my eyes. Bringing my hand to my neck, I was met with a soft cloth. Why was there a bandage around my neck?
Dr. Michaels eyes filled with sorrow when he saw my pained and questioning look.
"In the accident the windows shattered. When you were brought to the hospital, there was a large shard of glass wedged in your neck." He explained.
"Did the glass do any damage, other than the pain?" The stranger beside me asked the doctor.
"Umm that's the thing. The glass went deep enough to sever your vocal chords. It will cause a lot of pain until the cut heals over, and it is very unlikely you will be able to speak again.
Tears again began rolling down my cheeks. I won't be able to talk or sing anymore. How am I going to talk to people?
I looked around for something to write with. Dr. Michaels excused himself, and came back in with a black spiral notebook and a pen. Handing them to me I wrote down the questions, I have been wondering since I woke up.
'Where is my dad? Is he okay? Did he get hurt? Why isn't he here with me?'
When I gave the pad to Dr. Michaels for him to read, he frowned and passed it to the other guy in the room. The man who I still had no idea who he was, or why he was here, but based on there expressions, I'm guessing I was about to find out.
He was the one to answer my question, and I really wished I didn't ask.
"Your father didn't survive the accident, Ashlynn. The impact killed him instantly." He responded, his voice cracking and tears filling his eyes as well.
I shook my head. No. That's not possible. He couldn't have died. He was all I had left, I already lost my mom and little brother, I can't have lost my dad too. Not my dad, not my best friend.
"I'm so sorry, sweetheart."
I couldn't take it anymore. Shaking my head I Curled into the fetal position, silently sobbing, as tears poured down my cheeks, but no sound came out.
I wanted to scream until I had no voice left, but I already didn't have one.
Dr. Michaels and the stranger talked about what they were going to do next in quiet voices. I was too upset to try and listen.
The door opened and closed, signaling that Dr. Michaels had left the room. A warm hand was placed on my back trying to give me some king of comfort. It didn't do anything. I don't want anyone but my dad to comfort me, and now he couldn't.
When I couldn't cry any longer, because of how dehydrated and tired I was, I turned and looked into the brown eyes of the man sitting next to me.
'Who are you,' I wrote on my tear stained notepad. Before wiping my eyes and turning it for the stranger to read.
"My name is Connor Tearins. I was your fathers best friend." His voice cracked again, but his tears didn't fall this time. I couldn't help but think that he was trying to be strong for my benefit, but I couldn't stop the pain I felt at the mention of my dad.
Oh, I remember him now. He and my dad were practically connected at the hip when they were younger. They did everything together, from grade school through high school. They went their separate ways for college, and haven't been able to see each other for years. He was the best man at my parents wedding.
'Why are you here?' I wrote. When I showed him, he smiled a little, but it seemed kind of forced.
"Well, that's where things get interesting. Due to the fact that you have no close relatives that are alive, and because I am your godfather, I have been given custody of you."
Wait, I'm confused. What does that mean for me? He must have noticed the expression on my face, because he laughed softly.
"It means your coming to live with me and my family in California."
My eyes widened. WHAT? California? I can't move to California!
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Hey, so this is my first story. Please don't be shy tell me what you think, did you like it? Did you hate it? how can I make it better?
Thanks.
~L3xi