Day After Day

Chapter One - Understanding

"Ava, get up here, I need your help!" My dad yelled as he was trying to get my mom up out of the floor. I figured she had gotten drunk and passed out again, so I made no effort to hurry upstairs to help him. My mom is the type that wakes up drinking tequila and goes to bed drinking tequila, well actually, she doesn't exactly go to bed, she sleeps wherever she passes out at until my dad finds her and puts her to bed. She turned into an alcoholic right after my younger brother Hayden died.
He was 13 when he passed. He was on the baseball team, and they were on their way to a game out of town and had a bad accident. Hayden was the only one who died in the accident, but there were many injuries, some still haven't recovered. It's been two years since the accident, but my mom still hasn't gotten over the fact that Hayden is really gone. My dad and I have coped with the situation, but there's still times I can't even get out of bed without wanting to curl into a ball and cry myself back to sleep. He and I were very close. Even though I was the oldest, he treated me like his little sister and always tried to have my back and protect me. He was my bestfriend.
My dad says he's okay, but he doesn't smile or laugh anymore, and he rarely talks. He stays in his office most of the time___ I guess that's his way of coping also. My mom chose to turn into an alcoholic and my dad turned silent. Our family fell apart a day after Hayden's funeral. That was the day we realized he wasn't coming back. He would actually be turning 15 in two days, so my mom has gotten extra whiskey this week to help her not think about not being able to spend another birthday with him.
I'm 17 now and my parents barely acknowledge the fact that they still have a daughter. The only time we really communicate is when my mom gets drunk and passes out. When she finally wakes up, she pleas for us to forgive her and she'll never do it again, she'll poor out all of her alcohol and she'll change for the better. Although, she doesn't ever mean a thing she says, we always tell her we believe her.
My dad is a big time lawyer. He shuts my mom and I out most of the time blaming it on him "working on a case." __ but I know that's not the truth. He doesn't want to see my mom drunk and he doesn't want me to remind him of Hayden not being here.
"Dad why do you keep letting her do this? You make her think it's okay Everytime she gets drunk and passes out like this. I know she is still grieving for Hayden, but it's been over two years. She needs to get her life back. We all miss him dad but we can't keep dewelling on the past. Hayden would want us to be happy, not like this. He didn't leave this earth wanting us to be unhappy. We have to live for him."
A tear shuffled down his cheek, but he wiped it away suddenly so I wouldn't see it. He tries to be the brave one and pretend like he's okay, but he hides out in his office to keep from facing the truth that he misses Hayden just as much as mom does.
"Please Ava, not tonight. Just help me get her into bed."
I rolled my eyes, but helped him anyway.
He knows how bad it frusterates me to see her like this, but he continues to let her do it, so she continues to do it.
"She needs help Dad." I tell him as we grab her on each side of her shoulder picking her up off the bathroom floor. Her glass was shattered next to her with her left over whiskey on the floor. ___ How did she even make it up the stairs?
He lowers his eyes, "I know Ava, but some people just don't want to be helped."
"It doesn't matter if she wants help or not, she needs it. I'm tired of seeing her like this."
My dad doesn't say anything after that. He just proceeds to get her into her bed.
~~~~~

A week later I started looking around online for rehabs for my mom. I found one that I think she'll really like. It's only a two hour drive from our town. We live in Nebraska and since the rehab is only two hours away, I think dad should consider it, although I haven't exactly mentioned it to him yet. I'm not sure how he'd feel about it, I just want her to get some help and not throw her life away. I can't imagine what it would feel like to lose a child, and I don't blame her for grieving over him. I grieved over him for a year, but I finally realized he wasn't coming back and he'd want us to be happy. That's the kind of person Hayden was.
He was always happy. He always had faith. He could be having the worst day, but he still made the best out of it and still managed to smile and make us all laugh. ___ we were so happy. Now it's all gone.
I've decided to talk to Dad about the rehab. I really want to get his opinion on it. I think inside, dad actually agrees with me on the rehab, but he's been waiting for me to do all of the work. Here it goes.
"Hey dad, can I ask you something?" He glares at me for a second but finally agrees with his constant eye contact.
"I think I may have found this really great rehab for mom. It's only two hours away. I think we should consider it." His eye contact dropped and he started tapping a pen on his desk.
"I don't know Av..."
"Dad please! We have already lost Hayden, do you want to lose her too?"
At first, I thought I had taken it to far, but the look in his eyes told I hadn't. Guilt and sorrow washed over his face as if it was his fault Mom is the way she is.
"Okay, I'll do it. She's leaves first thing Monday morning, just give me the weekend with her."
I grab his hand, "Dad, you're doing the right thing. You're doing it because you love her, because we love her."
"You're right sweetheart, she needs this."
He lets go of my hand and walks out of his office, shutting the door behind him as if I wasn't still in here.
~~~~~

This weekend has been the longest weekend I've had to face in a while. I'm nervous for my mom, but also for Dad. This is the first time we've separated since Hayden has been gone. Even though we haven't been much of a family, we've all still been living together in the same house trying to escape time that seems to continue to fly by.
It's Monday, and it's time for Mom to leave, but we've decided to wait until 2:00 to leave. Fighting the morning traffic is by far the worst thing to get through. Although I feel good with myself for getting her some help, I also have a smaller elephant on my chest for making her go. I keep trying to convince her that it's for the good, but I honestly think I'm trying to convince myself. "It's for the best." I keep telling myself.
After Moms luggage is loaded into the vehicle, we all get in and start our way.
"Ava, can you look up the address, so I can put it into the GPS?" Dad asks.
Without further words, I immediately locate the address and place it in the GPS.
We ride in silence the whole way there. Mom doesn't say a word until we're about to pull into the parking lot of the rehabilitation center in Blaine, Nebraska.
Considering the fact that we live in Cherry, Nebraska, it wasn't nearly as bad of a ride as I thought it would be.
"Ava, Dan, I want you guys to know that I love you both and thank you for bringing me here." Mom says. "I know I can do this. When I'm better, and I come home, I want to live as a family for Hayden. I know he'd want this."
After her speech, we got out of the car and gave our hugs, then she disappeared into the large building.

The ride on the way back to Cherry was silent. Dad didn't say a word the whole two hour drive__ no radio, no talking, just the sound of the moter running in our SUV, and every now and then Dad would swerve to the edge of the road and hit the bumps, which was the most noise that was made.
I decided not to break the silence, not because I didn't want to, but because of the fact that I didn't know to say. I decided looking out of the window would be the best decision__ so in silence we rode, once again.

I must have dozed off somewhere between Blaine and Cherry, because when I woke up, the sun had disappeared and we were pulling into our driveway. At first, I wasn't aware of where we were, but then I recognized the statues in our front yard, and realized we had made it back home.
I leaned up with a large stretch, and a slightly larger yawn. I looked over at Dad, trying to regain my focus before saying anything to him.
The words finally came to me, "You okay Dad?"
He acted as if he didn't hear me, so with that said, I got out of the SUV and walked into the house.
After I got inside, I went straight upstairs to my room, not bothering making my way into the kitchen to vandalize our fridge and cabinets for food. My bed was calling my name. This has been a long day.
_______________________
Okay guys so I know this chapter wasn't very long, but I'm still getting the hang of things and I would really like to hear some feedback from you guys. I do believe that if you guys give it chance, you'll really like the rest of it. So like and comment if you'd like too! Your help will be needed along the way!!