It's Always Been You

Chapter Two

"Chanel?" A voice asks, pulling me out of my sleep. I open my eyes to see my dad sitting in front of me.

I inhale deeply and stretch out. "What?" I ask as I sit up.

He looks down at his hand and hands me a small plastic cup with some pills. "How are you feeling today?" He asks, not wanting to make eye contact with me.

That's one of the great things about my dad, he's never been one for wanting to make us embarrassed. I can tell he's afraid to glance at the burn scars that cover the right side of my body.

"Dad, you can look at me. It's okay." I assure him and take the pills. "And so far I'm good. Not too much pain. What time is it?"

My dad shrugs in his chair. "About 9 a.m."

"Dad!" I shriek and swing my legs over the side of the bed. "I told you that you didn't have to get the kids ready for school anymore!" I huff and slide my feet into my slippers.

My dad shoots me an evil grin. "I missed out on a lot of mornings with you kids. I really like getting them up in the morning, and besides," He looks at me, his smile unwavering. "They like my breakfast better than yours."

"Oh please." I chuckle and stand up, even though I know it's true. "I'm going to shower and change then we can go do something, okay?"

My dad's eyes light up. "So you're really feeling that much better?" He questions and stands up to follow me out of my room.

I dip my head up and down. "I sure do. Why don't we go down to Memorial Park for a bit? I haven't been there since I was a kid."

"Okay, dear," Dad agrees and kisses my forehead. "Whatever you want." He grins a huge, toothy grin that makes him look ten years younger. "I'm so glad you're feeling better." He adds.

My dad makes me smile so much. He's such a great guy and I'm so lucky to have such a selfless man in my life.

When I called him from the burn unit in Missouri, he dropped everything and got my old friend from middle school to drive out with him. Apparently they went to the same church. But either way, once he got there, he never left my side. Unless he was taking the kids somewhere or taking them to the hotel to sleep, he was at my bedside.

I've spent the last six months in the burn unit. Thankfully, I was able to be transferred to Chicago Med to be closer to my father and my kids were able get into a normal routine with school.

I even got to reconnect with an old friend, Laura. When my dad asked her to go to Missouri with him, she packed up right away and drove him out. When she can, she drops by the house to see how my dad and I are doing. It's nice to have a friend who comes by to check on me. I had forgotten what it's like.

"Thanks, Dad." I reciprocate his smirk and turn around and march to the bathroom.

After I shower, I get ready. I decide that I'm going to try to look nice for the day. A day out with my father is a perfect reason to look decent.

So I line my top eye lids with jet black eyeliner and finish off with dark mascara. The dark makeup makes my blue eyes pop and seem 5 times brighter than they usually are.

I pull half of my hair up, leaving the other half down and straighten it. After I'm done, I adventure over to my room and pull out an outfit that consists of dark blue jean shorts and a tight fitting long sleeve athletic shirt that is neon pink.

Since I'm a blonde with blue eyes, I think pink compliments me best.

"Chanel, are you ready?" My dad asks as he knocks on my bedroom door.