When I Needed You | RusAme |

Seventeen

It was over a week he'd been in the hospital, and he was looking a bit better than he had in a while.

His father called, surprisingly. He had been informed that his children left the country and called for his son's birthday and for Epiphany. It was thoughtful, and Ivan appreciated it, but he just wasn't on the best terms with his father.

Anya handed her son the phone, and look of confusion on her face. "It's your father." She whispered. Il'ya looked at Ivan with a look that said, 'I don't even know if this is any of my business'.

Ivan hesitantly grabbed the phone from her, and placed it to his ear (their conversation is not in English btw).

"Uh, hello?" Ivan asked lowly.

"Is that you, Ivan?" His father asked over the the phone.

Ivan looked to his mom with a frightened face. "Yes, it's me." He confirmed.

"Happy birthday. Aren't you seventeen now?" His father sounded very cautious speaking to him, and trying not to lose his self control. He was not exactly insane, but he was definitely losing his patience and his control on his impulses.

"Yeah, I am, thank you."

"...How are you? Are you well?"

Ivan looked to his parents in the room and wondered whether he should tell him. His mom just shrugged, "Just tell him." She whispered.

"Well, I'm currently at the hospital because I fainted at a school function and they told me I have a bad heart." He said bluntly.

It was a moment before his dad replied. "I'm terribly sorry Vanya, that's... That's no way to spend your birthday. Are you alright now?"

Ivan shrugged as he said, "I guess I'm fine now, I just have to come here so they can treat it."

His father hummed to acknowledge what he said. "I'll keep you in my prayers, I hope that you'll be okay... I feel awful for what happened, you know. And now you're I'll, and it feels like it's my fault."

"It's not your fault, there's... There's no hard feelings. I hope you have a nice holiday, and thank you for calling me. I'll be fine, I promise." He smiled weakly.

"I love you. Bye, Vanya."

"You too... Talk to you later dad."

Ivan gave the phone to his mom after his father hung up. He laughed airily, looking at his hands. "I didn't even think that I would ever talk to him again."

Il'ya was about to speak until the door opened.

Katyusha, Natalia, and Amelia all walked in.

"Look who we found in the hospital cafeteria." Katyusha laughed, Amelia holding up a bag.

"I got something for you. I don't know if you want to open it right away,, but if you do, fire away!" She sat on the bed next to him, and handing him the gift.

Ivan smiled at her, laughing quietly. "I'll wait until I've gotten to see what Natalia got for me, I promised I'd open her gift first."

Amelia nodded. She was happy that things were settling down again. Christmas had passed, and the year was about to finally reach a close. They all chatted, Ivan telling her what his condition was without feeling bad about it. She asked why it didn't upset him, and he told her it was because he would be treated.

He was genuinely pretty happy, and he seemed happier than ever. Natalia had given him a picture frame with a photo of the three siblings together. He loved it, and it made Amelia remember how distant she was to her family.. She wanted so badly to be as close to them as Ivan was to his. She didn't like having a big empty house with no one there. She wanted a cozy home where there was always at least one person there. He took that for granted, and it bothered Amelia.

So after he thanked his little sister, she handed him a card and something thin and square wrapped neatly in newspaper. He opened the card first, his eyes lighting up immediately as he read it.

"You did that for me? I don't even know half of these people." He handed the card to his dad so he could see.

Amelia nodded. "Yep! My friend Monica thought it would be a good idea, so she got some band and orchestra kids to sign it and I got some mathletes to sign too, as a get well and a birthday card." She smiled warmly.

Ivan was so flattered, his cheeks and his ears turned red against his paper white complexion.

"Awe, he turned red!" She pinched one his cheeks to embarrass him.

Ivan whined, "Mom!"

"What? It my job to make joke of you!"

Amelia laughed, Ivan really glad to hear her again. A reoccurring melody, that laugh. He opened the gift, but it was just a CD in a clear, green case. It read, 'Concerto' on it.

"What is it?" He asked.

Amelia smirked, "I know someone who knows someone who could make it for you. I've already listened to it."

He suddenly realized what it was, not holding back a gasp. "Is this my piece?"

She nodded, "You bet it is."

He smiled so wide you could see a dimple on his right cheek. Amelia had never noticed that (probably because he never smiled that wide), but she thought it was adorable. Wait, no. It was her friend, was she aloud to think like that? She pushed away the thought, and beamed at Ivan. She felt happy to know he loved the gift.

Maybe it was okay to think of him as 'adorable' though. She didn't really know, but she figured she'd think about it another time.

AN: Lol wanted to apologize for being kind of late. I'll possibly be out of town the rest of break, so if there are no updates then that is why. I hope you're enjoying my book so far, I'm hoping for another five to ten chapters and then finishing it, because we've gotten past the climax. Oh well, I'll figure it out. I hope everyone is having a nice holiday, and I'll update you in the next chapter about where I'll take this story.