Effacing

Chapter 2 : Meeting the Family

        "Hello, Crystal," the man said. He claims to be my dad. "You ready?" The man has black hair, and light olive skin. His dark brown eyes looked excited.

        I felt I was going to explode. This was all going too fast. I just woke up from a brain surgery and they expect me to get up from this bed and go with these people and to this place called home? They expect me to just wake up for the first time again and be brave?

        How can I be brave if I don't know who this man is?

        "Ummm. . ." was all I was able to manage. The nurse smiled encouraging and reminded me not to be afraid. So really what choice did I have? It's not like I can just not go 'home'.

        "C'mon," the man said. "Your sister is waiting for you!" With that said, he grabbed my hand and dragged me across the room toward the door. I got dizzy by the sudden abbruptness and stumbled to the ground.

        "Woah, there," the nurse said as she caught me. She looked at the man. "We need to refresh her on how to walk, remember?"

        Then the nurse and my 'dad' carefully strode back to the bed with me slumped against their shoulders.

        "I can walk," I said. The last thing I need right now is a lesson on how to walk.

        "Oh, ok then," the nurse said, confused. "Just get up slower, then."

        My 'father' smiled and offered his hand. I grabbed it and, slowly, leaned forward to stand up. The nurse held out her arms cautiously as if to catch me like I was going to fall.

        I stood for a second, so I could regain my posture. My 'dad' tugged on my hand impatiently.

        I put one foot forward, and then the other. The nurse smiled and clapped. "Wow! You're a fast learner!"

        I pulled my hand away from the man and slowly followed him to the door. He opened it, and we went through the hall, the nurse behind me.

        I lingered  back a little to talk to the nurse. "I never got your name," I said with a smile.

        "You can call me Ms. Brood," she said, returning my smile.

        We kept walking and arrived to an elevator. When we got inside, the nurse pushed the 'lobby' button.

        When the elevator started going down, I started to panic. I felt that the elevator walls were closing in on me, and I started to sweat. I crouched down to the floor and put my head between my knees.

        "Crystal, what's wrong?" I hear the nurse say. I feel a hand on my shoulder, then the elevator stops. I look up to the concerned faces of the man and Ms. Brood. I just shake my head and get up. "I. . . I guess I got di-dizzy," I mumbled.

        Ms. Brood helped me into the lobby and into a chair.

        "Are you okay, do you need anything?" the nurse asked.

        I shook my head and I saw the nurse's concerned expression. She said, "What happen, sweetie?"

        "I - I thought the walls were closing in, I'm just crazy," I spit out.

        "Hmm. . . Do you want some water?" she asked. I shook my head, and stood up.

        "So, where's my sister?" I asked. I was done with having all the attention on me.

        "She's right there," my 'dad' said. I look at where he was pointing and head in that direction.

        I saw a little girl waving at me from a chair. She got up from the chair and came running straight toward me. When she continued coming in full speed, I was sure we would crash.

        My prediction was right. She never slowed, and almost knocked me down as her attempt to hug me.

        "Crissy, Crissy! Crissy!" she yelled, looking up at me. She had brown hair and brown eyes. She looked like she was around eight years old.

        "Hello!" I said. Is it weird how I can comfortably talk to my sister, but I can't accept my father? Oh, well. I mean, you can never go wrong with an adorable eight year old girl.

        "I missed you!" she said, "I can't wait until we get home, and we can play again, and we can finish our paintings! Remember our paintings?"

        "Sweety," my 'dad' said, crouching down to meet my sister's gaze, "She doesn't remember anything, remember what I told you?"

        The girl's eyes widened, then she looked down sadly. Then she said, "Oh, well that's okay. We can always start a new painting. . ."

        Then her eyes lit up. "Let's go! Let's go!" she said, tugging on her dad's shirt. The man chuckled and said, "Alright, alright. Ms. Brood, are we free to go?"

        "Sure, just go to the front counter to sign out," she said. Then she turned to me. "It was a pleasure tending you. I'll see you next month."

        With that, the man, my sister, and I went to the front desk to sign out.