Cognizant (Adopted By Alex Gaskarth: Book 2)✅

Chapter 2

My hands began shaking.

"W-Wha- I..."  I began pulling at my hair and shook my head. The girl looked up at me with a sense of familiarity, a sense of family. I knew that look. That expression.

I shook my head and hid it between my arms.

No, No, what the hell?

"Lisa," I called out. I walked away from the door and began pacing around in circles. "Lisa, come here!"

My arms continued trembling, and I didn't understand.

Am I hallucinating?

Am I having another nightmare?

No, no, this isn't real, Alex. This isn't real. You're dreaming, or, or hallucinating or your meds had a bad side effect!

"Babe, baby! Alex, what's wrong?" Lisa stood in front of me, rubbing her thumb across my face to try and calm me down. I motioned towards the open door, where the girl hadn't moved, her arms still crossed tightly against her as she struggled to even stand. Lisa cocked her head in confusion before stepping closer to her.

"Adelpha?"

She can see her, too.

The girl's voice rang through, cracked and squeaky as if she hadn't spoken in years, filled with tears. But it still had the same emotion and tone that I knew my daughter had. "Hi, Mom."

I opened my mouth shakily. I couldn't speak. I didn't know what to do.

This is real. I'm not hallucinating. That's Adelpha? That's not Adelpha. It's not. What happened?

"Adelpha? Sweetie?" Lisa's voice began filling with tears. The teenager gave her a weak smile, barely having enough energy to move even that much.

I lost control of myself.

I don't care what happens. That's my daughter right there. That's my Adelpha.

I approached the small girl and hugged her tightly. She jumped and winced before hugging me back tightly.

It doesn't fucking matter. She's fucking here.

I knew it was Adelpha. From her eyes, her expressions, her body language, and her hug. Nobody gives hugs like Adelpha did. Nobody had the bright green eyes like she did, which she called 'fanfic green,' even though I never understood it. But I loved it. Nobody could be so sad and give such a genuine smile like she did, but be so broken. Nobody.

Her entire body was shaking, whether from fear or weakness, I didn't know.

I finally pulled away after what seemed like an eternity. She looked up at me, her eyes filled with tears she hadn't cried. I gently moved my hand to her face, unable to believe she was here, that  I was here, hugging and coming in contact with my daughter.

"Sweetheart, w-what the hell happened?"

Adelpha opened her pale mouth to speak, but she only began shaking more, until she burst into tears. I pulled her close to me, now aware of how much I might hurt her if I hug her too tightly. I gently held her as her thin arms wrapped around me as she sobbed and cried. Lisa stood in shock, her eyes filling with tears. I began crying, also, as I pulled Lisa in to hug her and Adelpha.

I held Adelpha tightly in one arm, almost completely holding her up, and Lisa in the other, and she kept her arms wrapped around both of us. My shirt began clinging to my chest as it soaked with tears, and suddenly I didn't care too much about the person at the door seeing the drool on my sleeve.

Hours and hours seemed to pass until Adelpha's sobs died down to the occasional hiccup and slow tears. She clung to me tighter than someone with her level of malnutrition usually wouldn't be able to, hugging me as if her life depended on it- which, it probably did.

I fell to my knees slowly in front of her, taking her face in my hands. It was then that I wondered how and why she had black hair. Obviously, it was dyed. But why?

"Sweetheart, what happened?" I stared into her exhausted and tear-stained eyes. "This... This doesn't make sense, you- I saw you. You ble-bled out."

Adelpha opened her mouth to speak again. "Dad, I-I," she squeaked out. "I-I g-got hu... hurt, but I," she hesitated. She tried to continue, but her voice wouldn't let her and she mouthed and breathed out weak words.

"Honey, we've got to get you to a hospital." I went into protective-dad-mode, understanding she wasn't in any state to speak, and needed help. And she needed it now.

"Lisa, could you grab some water and the keys?" I asked urgently and quickly, ignoring Adelpha's flinch in surprise as I picked her up and cradled her in my arms. "We need to get her there, now."

We wasted no time getting to the car and starting it to get to the hospital before something even worse happened to Adelpha. Tears still slowly poured out of my eyes as I sat her in the backseat with me, Lisa almost literally jumping in the driver's seat to speed off.

I didn't bother with seatbelts, holding Adelpha close to me, cracking open the water bottle for her and giving it to her. She breathed out a weak "Thank you." She tried continuing her explanation, but she still couldn't speak, and tears began forming in her eyes.

I hushed her gently. "Just relax, kid, it's okay. It's going to-" I stopped myself.

That's exactly what I told her last time.

"It's going to be okay."

"Don't worry, kid, It'll be all right."

Adelpha held the water bottle in her bony and clammy hands as she pushed against me for comfort, her legs still draped over my lap as she sat next to me. My arms kept her steady and pulled her towards me.

"It's okay," I whispered. "I love you."

She weakly nudged her face against my chest, and I knew it was a silent acknowledgement and response.

I could hear Lisa speaking softly with Urgent Care on the phone as she drove, occasionally checking the backseat from the rearview mirror.

Lisa hung up the phone, and looked at me from the mirror. "We'll be there in five minutes. Don't worry, Ad, we're going to make sure you're okay."

We drove over a speedbump as we entered the hospital's parking lot, and Adelpha jumped, making an involuntary squeak noise, which sent her into a fit of coughing. She coughed and sputtered weakly until a small amount of red substance stained her lips. She wiped the blood off of her mouth and it transferred to her ripped black longsleeve shirt.

Lisa parked in one of the Urgent Care reserved spots, and I effortlessly picked up Adelpha, cradling her in my arms once again as we frantically made our way to the door of the stone building. We ran to the front counter, and I held Adelpha closer to me as she curled into a tight ball in my arms.

"Gaskarth," Lisa said stressedly.

"Oh, you called not too long ago," The woman recalled. "Right down that hallway, first door on the right. Hurry."

We rushed to the room, where doctors and nurses waited, prepared for our arrival. I hesitantly let the man take my daughter, and the team put her on a bed before hurrying us out and closing the door. I could hear the wheels of the bed squeaking as they moved her around and down a separate hallway from the room.

I pulled on my hair and hit the back of my head against the tile wall.

Please be okay.