The Long Journey Home (Completed)

Chapter 13 (Edited)

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes,

always perseveres.1 Corinthians 13:6-7

I yawned and pulled my truck up to the hospital before parking it in a parking spot. My whole body was slightly tense, because it still brought back the memories of my father's death. However, I knew that I had to do this, because I was bringing so much joy and love to the little kids, and I enjoyed the light in their eyes when I sung to them.

"Is this where your father had died?" Gabriel asked, causing me to grimace. He glanced over at me, and I could see a bit of sadness in his green eyes. There was something in them, but I couldn't make out what it was before it was gone.

"Uh... ya," I said. "And the place where I was born as well as the younger twerps." I shook my head and grinned, glad that I had came into this world early. If I hadn't, then I wouldn't have been able to find such great people that cared about the person.

"And the place where Emmy comes when she gets hurt," Patrick pipes up from where he was seated behind me.

I shook my head, too tired to comment about it. I couldn't sleep at all last night and spent most of it crying my eyes out. I had to place some make up over my eyes, just so that I would be able to not let anyone know. "All right, let's get out before it starts to rain again," I said. I looked in the back to see Jaz staring out of the window, listening to music. "Jaz," I called, causing her to look at me.

She pulled out an earbud and raised an eyebrow. "What?" she asked, sounding a bit harsh.

"It's time to get out. Can you let Patrick out, please?" I grimaced, hating the fact that she was taller than me.

"Sure," she said, unbuckling Patrick's seatbelt. Her whole body was tense, and I could see that she was having some anger issues, though I really did not know what her problem was at all.

I shook my head while I opened the door to my truck and jumped out, making sure that I had my keys with me. "Hey, Gabriel?" I asked, slamming my door shut and moving to the back. "Can you grab my guitar and let Nila out of the back?"

"Sure, why are you taking your dog?" He walked to the back, meeting me halfway. "I'll grab her, but why?"

"She's a "special" canine and can come in when she wants to," I replied. "Lot of the children love her." I smiled while Gabriel opened the back and let my dog out. "Sure, she's a German Shepherd, but she is a sweet girl."

Nila looked at me and cocked her head. She gave me her half-grin before going back into her cage and grabbing something.

"What is she getting?" Gabriel asked, confused.

"She's getting her little bag. She has stuffed toys or coloring books in it. Red helps by getting that get together the night before and places it into her cage with her vest."

"Vest?"

I nodded my head while Nila backed out of the cage with her vest as well as her little bag. I grabbed the stuff while Nila jumped down. "It's like a service dog vest, but it's to let people know that she's allowed to be in there."

Gabriel frowned but nodded his head, grabbing my guitar. "What song are you going to be playing first?"

"I'm With You," I replied, kneeling down and placing on Nila's vest and small backpack. I stood up. I gave Gabriel a 'thank you' smile before putting the strap of my guitar across my back. "I will be singing it with Jaz."

"And I don't normally sing," Jaz muttered, walking over to us. She gave me a look before turning to look at Gabriel. "But, I do sing this song."

"Come on, let's go. I'm sure that everyone is waiting for us," I said, walking to the hospital. I didn't glance back, but for some reason, I felt my sister's glare on me. I hid back a shiver, not knowing why she was mad at me.

***

"All right, we have our Ember Castille singing for us," Dr. Agetha said, clapping her hands. "After some songs, she'll be taking some requests. For those who has family members in a room and couldn't make it, Ember will be going to their rooms and singing for them."

"What if we don't want her to go in the room?" a male asked in the back corner.

I turned to look at him and frowned when Nila let out a powerful growl. "Nila, hush," I said, causing her to stop. "And who are you?" I raised an eyebrow, not really liking him.

He had black hair and dark brown eyes. He wore dark jeans as well as a leather jacket. Some people would say that he was handsome, but I think he had an ugly soul or something like that. He stood at 6'5, and I was sure that he had a six pack. "Reece," he answered, winking, catching me looking him up and down. "Babe."

I rolled my eyes and let it go into a whole head roll. I didn't believe in love at first sight, but I did believe in hate at first sight. "Well, does your family member have four crosses hanging off of his/her door?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No..."

"Then if you don't want me to sing for your family member, then make sure that you do," I said. "Now why don't you be my guest and be quiet so I can start with this. That'd really appreciated."

There were a couple of covered up laughter which caused the male, Reece to frown. "Be my guest, I bet you will not be any good."

I smirked at him. I didn't say a word while I sat down and took out my guitar. I looked at Jaz and nodded my head before starting to play 'I'm With You'.

"Love is a hurricane in a blue sky," I sung, playing the guitar.

Jaz sung her part before we sung together. She didn't look at me, letting the music go through her.

I couldn't help but smile, glad that I was doing something that she enjoyed. I didn't know if she believed that I was with her, but I was. I was never going to let her go, no matter how much of an asp she was to me.