The Barefoot Girl

Chapter 16

The crowd of us files in and Luke's on office duty again.

"Oh! I was just about to put you on the phone with the doctor; he wants to talk to you," he announces to Mom and Dad.

Mom bites her lower lip in worry. Everyone else seems to hold their breath as Mom and Dad are led to an office and the rest of us are given masks and told we can go see Lacy.

The minute we walk into her room, Ben's eyes well up with tears.

And that tough guy hasn't let me catch him crying a day in his life.

Lacy does what I fear she would do. She gives him a long, hard stare with a confused look and asks,

"Who is that?"

Ben's tears spill over.

Megan walks over and whispers something in Lacy's ear. Lacy's eyes go wide and she gets an apologetic look on her face. Ben walks over to wrap her in his arms and Lacy returns the hug wholeheartedly.

Then she lets out the mosts blunt but heartfelt statement I've heard in my life.

"I don't remember you at all, but boy do I love you!"

We all laugh and Ben stands back and holds Lacy at arm's length just taking in the sight of her. I'm sure he's feeling all the emotions I felt when I'd first found her, maybe more.

I suddenly wish Genevieve was here. After all, she's the real reason any of us came across Lacy.

But I fear I would embarrass myself in front of my older siblings if I were to tell them I was friends with... Well, someone who lives on the street.

I feel guilty for the irrational fear and scold myself silently for such a ridiculous thought.

I'm just telling myself that Genevieve should be introduced to the rest of my family when I'm snapped out of my daydream by the high pitched sound of Lacy's voice.

"Bridge! Show him "Unicorns of the Magical Forest!"

Megan, Michelle and I explode with laughter as Ben's face smiles at us with the most confused expression ever.

I take out my phone and show him one "episode" of the plotless show.

Lacy's giggles for a full minute straight after it's over and claps her hands at 100 miles an hour.

Ben laughs. I can't tell if it's because he's not sure what he just watched, or because Lacy is so excited over it.

"Ben, you can play the dragon in the next show!" Lacy offers like its the most generous thing anyone's ever given to him.

He chuckles and accepts his role as "Drew the Dragon."

I put the camera on and filmed the cheesiest, most adorable romance between Ella the Unicorn and Drew the Dragon. By the end of it, Megan and Michelle are laughing their heads off, clearly weirded out for the day.

Just then, Mom, Dad, and Lacy's doctor walk into the room. Mom's face looks red, as if she's been crying.

All of us become visibly afraid of the news that's awaiting us. The doctor looks around at all of us and rubs his hands together. Then he announces,

"We're sending Lacy home!"

Ben, the twins, Liam, and I erupt into cheers, each of us pushing to be the first to Lacy. But Lacy looks more confused than happy.

Once she's no longer being attacked with pats and hugs, she stars crawling across her bed. She comes to the end, where I'm now standing. She stands on the bed. I let her wrap her arms around my neck and her legs around my torso, holding her close.

"Home," she mutters into my shoulder.

The room suddenly becomes more solemn, leaving me utterly confused. This is amazing news! Our Lacy is better! Right...?

Why else would she come home? I reason with myself.

Then suddenly something hits me.

I stroke Lacy's head.

"Is home scary, now that you've been gone so long?" I whisper into her tiny ear.

I'm answered by a little tear, that falls onto my shoulder. There are tears flooding from Mom's eyes and all my siblings are confused.

I just hold Lacy, trying to absorb the two years I'd missed of her. Thinking of all the times I'd cried for her; the countless times I'd blamed myself for what I thought would lead to her very death. The thousands of times I'd soaked Natalie in my tears and the hundreds of times when I did the same to the twins.

Meeting Genevieve who brought me back to Lacy when I'd lost hope for good. Finding out our little girl had cancer...

Hearing Lacy say Jesus was the reason she was brave....

It's all too much and before I know it, I have my own waterfall of tears. It's as if all those emotions of the past two years and have come crashing down on me at once.

I squeeze Lacy, never wanting to let go. And she holds me back repeating,

"I love you Bridge, I love you," over and over and over.