When China Breaks//Ed Sheeran #Wattys2016 #NewVoices

back to reality

I had all my things in a plastic bag, and my butt was getting sweaty from sitting in the wheelchair for so long. I hadn't heard from my mother in exactly tw
o weeks, and I had no idea if she even had a shred of love in her heart to come get me. "I'm gonna miss you, kid." Doctor Z said, rubbing my shoulder. I looked up at him and smiled, swallowing the lump in my throat.

"Are you sure she's coming?" I asked him, tearing holes in my bag. Doctor Z checked his watch.

"She said eleven am. It's currently ten forty-nine. Try to relax."

"I really don't want to go with her," I whispered more to myself than with him. His eyebrows furrowed and he glanced down at me.

"You don't like your grandmother either?" he asked me, surprised.

"My grandmother? Who? I haven't seen my grandmother in years." I told him. Before we got to discuss who it was I was truly leaving with, a few people appeared in the doorway, completely unfamiliar to my eyes.

"Aaliyah?" The man said. He was tall, and if I didn't know any better, I would think that he was a basketball player or maybe even a football player.

"Yeah?" I asked in a shaky voice. I prayed to God that they weren't here to pick me up, but he called me by my first name, so it was more than likely.

"I'm here to pick you up," he said. No one said anything after that. A short woman, who I assumed was his mother, was the first to break the silence

"Look how she's looking at us!" she snapped, pointing her finger at me.

"How--how am I looking at you guys?" I demanded. "Like strangers?'

"Aaliyah, I'm your dad," he said. I was tempted to snort and say, "Obviously," but I managed to keep it to myself.

"Where's mom? Why isn't she picking me up?" I demanded, both at him and Doctor Z.

"Your mom is sorting a few things out, and we didn't want you sitting in here if you have family outside. Now are we going to sit here and argue about this, or are we going to go?" He asked me. I hated that he had just as much attitude as I did, but I probably got my hot temper from him. My mother was just as fiery too, so it could be either one.

I didn't respond. Doctor Z did the honors of wheeling me downstairs to the main lobby, where I was discharged. I didn't want to go with these random people, but I didn't have a choice. I had nowhere else to go, and I figured I should be grateful that someone would even come pick me up in the first place. It must be hard for him to stop his life and agree to pick up a person with disabilities, especially when he wasn't allowed to see me for the first sixteen and a half years of my life.

"What about my wheelchair?" I asked as we approached a black Lincoln. Doctor Z opened the door.

"Its already taken care of," My dad said. "It's in the trunk."

I breathed a sighed of relief. I wrapped my arms around Doctor Z and he helped me into the car. It was a bit labor intensive, but I did my best to hide my discomfort. "Everything okay? Any pain?" he asked me. I shook my head.

"Everything is fine," I said. I placed my seat belt on and sat back. My dad's mom sat in the seat beside mine and looked at me for a long time.

"You are very skinny," she noted. I looked over at her for a second. It was awkward being so close to someone I didn't know.

"I'm a dancer," I told her. She scoffed.

"I know. That's why I thought you'd have more meat on your bones. Don't worry, I am the best cook, by far, so I'll get you nice and plump in no time."