Adopted

Chapter 94

"Jess!" Mom called. 

"What?" I called back. 

"We have to leave! Dad's flight lands in twenty minutes!"

"One sec! I just have to finish this one paragraph," I called back. 

It was November. Thanksgiving was a week away and Dad was coming back from tour today. He'd been home for about a month between the end of August and the end of September, and then they went to Australia. I was so excited he was coming home. I missed him, even though he FaceTimed us every night. 

I typed up the last bit of the paragraph of the essay I was working on, saved the file, and frowned at the paragraph. I didn't like it, but I could fix it later. 

I walked carefully down the stairs and met Mom in the front hall.  She handed me my coat and I pulled it  on carefully. My joints hurt a lot now. I felt like an old lady. And I was always cold. Going outside in LA in November felt like going outside in Alaska in January. 

Mom helped me into the car and I sat back against the seat. She turned the seat warmer on, and I pulled down my beanie and put my hands on the vents to heat up my hands.  My hands were always freezing. 

We left and headed for the airport to pick Dad up. 

"Excited?" Mom asked as we pulled onto the freeway.

I nodded as I was wracked with a coughing fit.  My lungs were not friends of mine these days. I finished coughing and sat back against the seat to catch my breath. 

"Dad said he wanted to go out for dinner when we pick him up. He said he misses In 'N' Out. You up for that?" 

"I guess," I breathed out. 

"If it's too much, we can get it to go and bring it home."

"Whatever you guys want," I said. 

We pulled up to the airport and saw Dad and Zack waiting. Kala was standing with Zack, waiting for us. 

"You're late, ladies," Dad said, wrapping me in a hug as I got out of the car to give him the front seat."

"Someone had to finish their English essay."

"I did not. I just had to finish a paragraph. And I don't like it. So I'm going to have to fix it when we get home, because someone had to fly home today," I grinned. I saw Dad exchange a look with Mom as he wrapped me in another hug. Mom nodded. 

"So. Junior year," Dad said, helping me into the back seat of the car. "How's that going?"

"Fine," I said. 

My sophomore year hadn't been too bad.  I'd made Dean's List again, but spent a lot more of the year out of school and in the hospital. The school had managed to help me navigate online school courses so I could keep up with my class, but work from home or the hospital. 

"Do you still want burgers?" Mom asked Dad as we pulled away from the airport. 

He looked back at me where I had curled up on the back seat. Sitting up was tiring. And I was falling asleep. 

"Let's just do drive through," he said. 

He carried me into the house and deposited me on the couch, where I woke up. Mom had the bags of food.  She went into the kitchen and got my feed and hooked me up. I was back on the feeding tube because I had sores in my throat and stomach and couldn't really eat or swallow without being in a lot of pain. 

My phone rang while they were sitting beside me in the living room. Dad had put his food down, then put my head in his lap while he ate his burger.