The Lost One

Chapter 12: Happiness

Dinner wasn't as awkward as earlier. My father and Kale told my mother and I how the fishing went. "He's pretty good..." My father started to say. Kale raised and eyebrow and finished the sentence. "...but you are much better." They chuckled. The conversation made me think of men sitting in a room, in suits, smoking and drinking.

My mother and I gave each other looks that said "men." Although, my mother seemed a bit surprised that I returned the look with a nod. Kale started laughing. "I'm guessing you didn't tell them what happened to us?" He looked at my father, who nodded. My father looked between me and my mother as he spoke. "Kale here got hold of a whopper and nearly lost it. I got the net and we put the fish behind us, on the cooler. After looking away for one moment, we turn back to see the fish is gone."

He paused, laughing for a moment. "So we look over and the fish is in the hands of a giant racoon. It hisses at us and starts chasing us. I grab the cooler and started to leave when Kale runs towards the beast and starts screaming back at it. I thought the thing had rabies, but then, it just grumbled, turned around, and waddled away." We all broke into laughter. Kale made a look on his face that said he was proud of his actions.

My father raised his wine glass at him. My mother and him liked to have a glass of wine for special occasions. I only saw them once or twice a year, so I guess they considered this a special occasion. "Here's to you Kale." My mother raised her glass with him. "I didn't know what kind of man you'd turn out to be, at first. After what happened today," he gave him a devilish grin with a light, warm-hearted chuckle. "I can see that you've got what my partner would call 'big sports equipment'." As we drank, Kale looked across the table at me. I mouthed "balls", which made him nearly choke on his water, making my mother look at him worried, but I just laughed knowing he'd be alright.

After we all finished eating, I insisted on doing the dishes. Wile I was washing them, I looked through the glassless 'window' that showed into the living room. My mother was watching NCIS, sitting with my dad on the bigger of two couches. I looked at the other couch and saw Kale staring at me, smiling. I blushed and looked back down at the sink, cleaning the glasses.

I cleaned the silverware and half of the plates when I saw Kale get up and walk around the corner, to my left. "Would you like some help drying them?" He asked, walking up to the dish drain, where I'd placed all of the dishes I had just washed. I shook my head, still holding a sudsy plate. He chuckled warmly and grabbed a dish towel. "Let me help. You'll be finished twice as fast."

I nodded, yawning. "Besides, you're still tired. I'm guessing you didn't sleep that much; studying for finals?" I nodded again. Suddenly, I became dizzy. The room was slowly spinning and I could feel my arms and legs getting weak. "Ellain?" I heard Kale say. My hands lost their grip ont he plate and it fell to the floor, shattering. I started to collapse with my eyes closed, too dizzy to tell where I was and too weak to stand.

"Ellain!" I felt myself being caught by something. Opening my eyes, I saw Kale, looking worried. No, beyond worried; frantic was more like it. As quickly as it came, my dizziness went away, but I still felt weak. "What happened?!" I heard my father yell from further away. I looked over and saw Kale was holding me above the ground, over the shattered plate. He was kneeling on it.

Effortlessly, he lifted me up further, so he was now standing, and carried me into the living room. "She suddenly fell." Kale said, laying me down on the smaller couch, which was just as long as I was. My father and mother looked at me worried. "How are you feeling?" Kale asked me, checking my pulse on my right hand. I raised my left to my head, rubbing it lightly. "I got dizzy and my whole body went...limp...or numb. I can't really describe it."

He nodded, turning his head around so he was looking at my mother. "Do you have a flashlight around here?" She nodded and grabbed a small one off of the fireplace mantel, right under the TV, to my right. Handing it to him, Kale turned it on and shined it into my eyes. "Have you been feeling strange lately?" I thought about it and shrugged. "I don't know. I've been having more headaches recently and get more tired easily." He nodded and shut the flashlight off. "How much sleep have you gotten in the past week?" I thought back, inducing more of a headache. "At least...maybe five hours a night. I was studying for finals."