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O N E
"Is that Agatha I hear?" I popped my head in front of the screen of my computer after hearing Dr. Nguyen's voice. "Hi, honey! Oh, that haircut looks fabulous on you. It makes you look even more beautiful, and it makes the glow you have shine. Right, Grant?" She added, patting my father's shoulder.
I waved at her while absentmindedly running my fingers through my new short hair. A chuckle bubbled up in my throat at Cara's never-ending enthusiasm. At times it was hard to keep up with her and her bubbliness.
"No matter what she does to her hair or herself, she will always look beautiful," my father replied, smiling up at her.
It has been close to a year since Cara started dating my father, and I couldn't deny that I love having her around. She makes my father happy, which is something I haven't seen him be since mom passed away. On the other hand, she treats me like a daughter, which I was not expecting. She would never replace my mom, of course, but having her and Athena as mother figures in my life was nice and much needed.
"Are you ready for your first day back at work?" Cara asked. By the tone of her voice, I could tell that she was curious yet concerned, and I couldn't blame her for it.
"I am more than ready. I can't believe I'm saying this, and I will deny it if you guys say anything, but I miss having my uncle scolding me every five minutes for not listening to his orders." I replied with a devilish grin on my lips. I love my uncle to death, even when he claims that I will cause him a heart attack one of these days.
Dad sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Louise, it has been some rough months for everyone. Don't go making Bobby's job any harder than it already is."
"Calm down, father. I'm joking, well, kind of. You know I'm not good with following orders sometimes." I shrugged, not bothering on lying to him. "All jokes aside, I do miss working. These couple of months between being hospitalized and being on lockdown in this house without you guys have been incredibly eternal. I think I've seen every show and read every book they have created in this world, including the ones for toddlers."
The months that followed after Chloe's stunt and fire were kind of a blur to me. The events of that day were the last straw for me mentally. The experience brought to the surface feelings I had been holding inside for too long, causing me to have a mental breakdown during a house fire call putting in danger my life, the victims, and my team.
After a sit down with my uncle, dad, and Evan, I admitted that I was not okay and needed help. It pained me to admit that I was not as strong as I wanted to appear, but the experience of that call was scary enough to make me realize that I couldn't do this alone.
