Look Up At The Sky

Chapter 6

“That one helps him breath. We're not sure why he's not breathing on his own. One of the other nurses have taken some tests to find out.” She told me. She had obviously seen me starring at the tube. It looked a bit scary. As my eyes started to tear up and Stella left me alone. Before she'd left, she told me that if I needed anything I should just call for her and she'd come as soon as she could.

Pete called me – I had given him my phone number when we talked before – when they were in the reception. He thought maybe I should talk to Lilly before she saw our dad. Try to prepare her for what she was about to see. I was really happy he thought about that because I hadn't. I felt a little bad about it for some reason.

Telling Lil about what had happened, seeing her reaction was one of the hardest things I've ever done. I didn't tell her everything, just what she needed to know. I left out the suici.. I left out the part where he was going to go and see mom. I can tell her that some other time. She was fighting the tears, trying to be strong, she didn't want to cry. We went in to dad's room, Pete came in too. She saw our dad laying in the hospital bed with machines attached to him. That's when she broke down in my arms. It was a lot to see for an eight year old. It's hard to for any child to see one of his or her parents like that. With Lil in my arms I walked to one of the chairs that stood beside his bed and sat down.

“I'm so sorry.” Pete said quietly. “Is there anything I can do? Do you want me to leave?” He asked.

“No, don't leave. Just stay for a while. I don't think I can be alone with Lil without breaking down myself. She need me to be strong and I know I won't start crying if there's someone else in here.” I said, almost pleading. If I hadn't been so tired I would probably be a bit embarrassed. “That's not family, I mean.” I added. He nodded with a half smile and then sat down on the chair next to me.

Time passed. Hours and hours flew by. Lilly had fallen asleep absolutely exhausted, she had been sobbing non stop for at least 20-30 minutes.

Dr. Brown had come in a about an hour after Pete and Lilly had arrived. He had asked me to step out to talk to me. Pete had taken Lilly then. Telling me that he had gotten the whole case, they didn't need two doctors on it. He also said that my dad's inner organs had started failing because of the amount he'd been drinking through out the years. They'll give him some medication – I can't remember the names - to give him as much time to get a kidneyandlivertransplant. That was all they could do for now.

Me and Pete talked about everything and absolutely nothing for a long time. The two subjects we didn't bring up was my dad and mom and his family. It was so easy to talk to him and he was funny too which made it even easier somehow. It was nice. Even though I was sitting there with my dad in front of me, he managed to keep me distracted. Not thinking of all the drama that was going on. Because I'm not easily distracted that was saying something. I enjoyed talking to him. That however, didn't stop me from falling asleep early Sunday morning. I was exhausted, it had been a long day.

“Lilly! Hurry up, we need to go!” I yelled to her. I was late to drop her off for school on my way to the hospital. Lucky for me I didn't start until noon so I had time to visit dad before. “Lilly, c'mon. We need to go. Hurry hurry, run as fast as the lightning.” I said rushing her a bit when she came down the stairs. She put her shoes on really fast for being her. It usually took her at least five minutes, not that I mined at all, the faster the better.

“Are you going to see dad again today?”

“Yes, before school. Then after school I'll pick you up. You know I was thinking, maybe we could go to the playground in the park. It's been along time since the last time. What do you think about that? “ I asked, giving her a quick glance.