Unforgettable

Chapter 6

Ian woke up shivering vigorously and screaming. His father was still laying in bed with him and calmed him down slowly.

"Mijo, what's wrong?" he said with a hard spanish accent.

"Nothing Pa. Just a dream."

"Mijo, ¿qué pasa? Se que estas triste. Tell me what's wrong."

"My girlfriend, and mom. Extraño a mi novia. She's not okay and it's my fault."

"Ian, no es tu culpa. It's not your fault. I know you don't trust me, but everything is going to be okay. Puedes hablar conmigo."

"I know Pa...lo se..."

The young man laid his head on his father's shoulder and drifted off into a deep sleep as his father ran his hands through his hair. His breathing became heavy and his head began falling onto his father's lap. Ian's dad covered him up with warm blankets and stayed with him the rest of the night.

Ian naturally woke up at 5 am ready to go for work and was surprised to see his dad still there with him and not yelling at him to get dressed.
"Pa, no vas a ir a trabajar? Aren't we going to work?"

"Si mijo, voy a ir a trabajar. But you will be staying here."

"No! Dad, I have to go to work. I'm a grown man and have to make a salary and be responsible. I'm not staying home! ¡Voy a ir a trabajar!"

"No! ¡Te vas a quedar aquí! You are staying here. You are not in the right mind to go to work and need to heal. You can go tomorrow, but today you stay here. Just look at your face! You are exhausted. Ahora vete a dormir. You're staying here."

Being entirely honest, Ian felt tired. He hadn't slept well since the breakup and hadn't been getting much sleep before that either. He willingly let his father tuck him in again, and with great ease instantly fell asleep peacefully. He didn't feel time pass as he was asleep and woke up surprised at noon when he heard his sister in his room bringing him something to eat. He ate in his bed and just sat there staring for a while before finally getting up to get ready. He was surprised at the fact that he felt great, almost like a renewed version of himself. He felt free and at ease like there was not a single thing that could ruin his life. It surprised him that he didn't once think of his girlfriend or the events of the past few days.

When his dad got home, he came with takeout food from his favorite place and desert for later on in the evening. For the first time in months, he sat down at the dinner table with his dad, sister, and his step siblings while having a good time chatting and catching up on life. They all ate together and laughed at the events of their day before they had desert and watched a movie in the living room. Ian felt weird sitting there with everyone, but he enjoyed every second of it, even seeing his dad with his girlfriend.

After the movie, Ian went to his room and did some reading. He hadn't read in months and missed the feeling of enjoyment and suspense he felt when reading. He got comfortable on his bed and started reading the multiple books he had saved on his phone, since he thought actual paperback books were getting quite expensive. After hours of reading, he finally decided to stop and take a break to breathe. He looked around his room and realized he hadn't felt so free in such a long time. Sure, he loved his girlfriend, but he sometimes felt trapped in their relationship because she had so many things going on in her life and didn't really want to be with her anymore. Not because she was a terrible girlfriend, she was amazing and was always there for him, but he just didn't love her as much anymore and it felt more distant, which was his fault.

In a small sense, he was happy that they broke up. He felt free from being in a relationship and the drain of always having to be there with and for her. He was, honestly, content with life at that moment and felt an awful lot better. He felt so free and had so much motivation that he thought he could do practically anything and everything in that precise moment. He left his room and decided to go for a long nighttime bike ride to feel the wind in his long, dark, hair. It felt amazing riding at night and even ran into a few of his friends before making it back home. He took a long shower and felt amazing going to bed. He felt so happy and at ease that he slept like a baby and felt extremely ready for work the next day that he did not complain once about the hard work.

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"Elle, I see you are finally awake." A distrusting doctor walked into the young girl's room and untied her from the bonds holding her onto the bed. "You have lost quite a bit of blood and it will take some time for you to fully recover from your, ah, injuries. But do not worry, the medication I am giving you will help you regain some energy along with some weight and sleep. Also, there is no possible way for you to overdose on these, so don't even try."

"Yes, sir." He cornered her on the bed and she felt the temperature of the room drop around her.

"You were such an amazing patient" he said whispering into her face. He smelled of death and was more than happy whe he left the room. She got up from the bed and gathered her few belongings, changing into her clothes and checking her phone. She dearly hoped that someone would have texted her, but there wasn't a single notification. One of the nurses came to her room so that she could be on her way home.

Once she arrived at her apartment, she couldn't stop thinking about the last time she was there and noticed all of the blood on the floor. She grabbed cleaning utensils and began scrubbing the floor where a puddle of blood had once been. She sat down on the couch and scrolled through her social media after being disconnected from the real world for about a week now. She saw that many of her friends were having a lot of fun and that her best friend had finally asked the man she loved if he wanted to date and they shared their first kiss. She had a million messages from her about it, but since she was in the hospital she never saw them. She was so happy for her and immediately sent her a paragraph and spammed messages hoping for a reply.

Her neighbor came over, apparently her name was Kassandra, and gave her some food and medication that the doctors had left her when they came to take her to the hospital. Kassandra had now become her oficial caretaker and had to stay with her until she was safe and asleep, along with deep checks of all her belongings, including her phone, to make sure she was sane and would not do anything horrible to herself again.

"Elle, how old are you?"

"I'm 21, miss."

"No need to be polite. I will be your mother now, at least until you've fully healed. Why aren't you in school?"

"I couldn't afford it."

"Would you like to continue studying? I could pay you your tuition if you want. I've heard that you were very smart and were about to graduate. I don't think it would be that hard to get you into a school to finish your credits."

"No miss, that is alright. I don't have the time to study anymore. I need to go to work later tonight."

"Elle, I called your boss and so did the people in the hospital. You will need the rest of this week to recover. You can go to work at the beginning of next week. In the meantime, you will be staying here under my care."

"But...I promised my boss I would go to work this week. He depends on me."

"We called him and told him your circumstances. Now please come and eat something, you must be starving."