Through the Storm

Chapter 8

It was morning before any of them woke up. Shannon was surprised. She never slept that long in her life. She was usually up before eight in the morning. She looked over at Faith, who had just opened her eyes.

                “Hi, honey.”

                “We spent the night at Nanna and Poppa’s house.”

                “Yes, we did.”

                “I’m hungry.”

                “You are? What do you want?”

                “Umm. How about bacon and eggs?”

                “Okay, let’s go make some bacon and eggs.”

                “Kay.” Faith jumped out of bed with a bowl full of energy. Shannon was glad that her parents still had some of her pjs and some of Faith’s. They both had changed into their pajamas once they got to her mom and dad’s. This was the start of her new life. A life without Ryan. Tears started to well up in her eyes, but she blinked them back.

                Once down stairs, she started breakfast. A few minutes later her dad entered the kitchen.

                “What smells so good?” her father said very dramatically.

                “Poppa!” Faith exclaimed and jumped into his arms.

                “Hey baby girl.”

                “Hey, Dad.”

                “Hey, honey.”

                “Where’s mom?”

                “Sleeping. She was up off and on all through the night because she wasn’t feeling very good or because she was hurting.” He put Faith down, and she ran into the living room.

                “Dad, it really seems like she’s going downhill pretty fast, and it had only been two days since you guys found out.” Her dad nodded. And Shannon thought she could see tears in his eyes. She didn’t mean to make her dad cry.

                “Well, she hasn’t been feeling well these past few months, you know that.”

                “Yeah. But still.”

                “What about you, Shan? How are you feeling?”

                “I’m…I’m doing pretty good. Not fantastic, but pretty good.”  She paused and then said, “I miss him dad. I really, really do.” This time she felt the tears well up in her eyes. Her dad came to her and pulled her into his arms and rubbed her back.

                “Oh, honey. It’s going to be ok. You will get through this because you are so, so strong. And you know that if you need anything you can come to us. No matter what.”

                She nodded her head and looked up at her dad and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

                When her mom entered the kitchen, she almost gasped. She didn’t look well. She didn’t look well at all. She was palier than normal, and she had bags underneath her eyes. Shannon looked at her father; he looked shaken. She looked back at her mom.

                “Mom, are you ok? Mom?”

                Her mom took a few steps toward her dad and said, “Rick,” and then fainted. If her father wasn’t standing right in front of her, she would have fallen to the ground. The look on her father’s face was one of horror. Shannon grabbed the phone and dialed 911. After talking to the operator, she turned back around. Her dad was sitting on the ground with her mother in his lap.