The Coach's Daughter

Chapter 21

Reaching my house, I pulled into the driveway. Henry and Ben's car were here, parked on one side of the driveway. Charlie's car was parked on the street, leaving me room to park in the garage.  

I hopped out of the car and walked into the house. I could hear the boys laughing and talking in the living room, probably playing video games.  

I went into my room upstairs, and into the bathroom. I still had tear-stained cheeks, and somewhat of bloodshot eyes. My nose was a little runny from crying.  

I washed my face, and applied a little makeup. Foundation and mascara. I couldn't do anything with my eyes, because if I used too much drops, my eyes would start burning. 

I brushed through my hair, making it less frizzy. I washed my hands, turning the water cold, to calm myself.  

"Hey Anna, are you up there?" Charlie asked. I heard some pounding on the stairs, and I heard his voice much closer.  

I walked out of the bathroom and into my room saying, "Yeah I'm up here." 

I opened my door and poked my head out. I saw Charlie standing in front of the stairway.  

"I'm right here Charlie," I quietly said again.  

He snapped his head in my direction. He briskly walked to me. "Are you okay?" Charlie asked. His hands were holding my arms, and his greenish-brown eyes were full of concern while looking straight into my blue ones. "Have you been crying?" He questioned.  

"No," immediately flew out of my mouth. He raised his eyebrow at me in questioning. I sighed. "Yeah, I was."  

"Why were you crying? You're too pretty to cry," Charlie told me.  

I briefly smiled. "It's a long story," I warned.  

"I got time," Charlie said with smile.  

I pulled him into my room and sat on the edge of my bed. He followed my lead and sat next to me. He put his hand on top of mine, drawing circles on the top of my hand with his thumb.  

I was quiet for a while, until Charlie said quietly, "Anna, what happened?" 

"Well... My dad was at the store yesterday and on his way home, he was in an accident... He was knocked unconscious, and banged his left knee pretty hard... Since my dad was unconscious, the hospital had no way of knowing who to call, so they didn't try to call anybody. So when I came home last night he wasn't home. I wasn't too worried, because I knew he could handle himself... But then... This morning when I woke up, there was no sign of him. There was no note either. So I tried calling him, and some lady answered the phone... I found out that my dad was in the hospital unconscious, and the hospital never tried calling me. I took Alex's truck to the hospital, and visited my dad. He woke up while I was there... The doctor said he has a concussion, and won't come home tonight, and possibly not even tomorrow," I explained. I was close to tears.  

Charlie hugged me, swaying back and forth slightly. He kept telling me everything would be okay.  

We sat there for minutes, until I felt three more bodies sit on my bed. I pulled away from Charlie, wiping some fleeing tears away.  

"How long have you been up here?" I whispered asked.  

"We were standing in the hallway, listening the whole time," Ben answered quietly.  

"You could've come in," I told them.  

"We figured that you would have wanted to be alone for Charlie for a little while," Henry replied, winking. I weakly laughed. Everyone else let out a few chuckles.