A Father to Anxiety

Original

Author's Note:  I plan to upload 2 versions of this story. This first version is the one I turned into my English teacher for a grade. The second version will be written the way I wanted to write it originally but couldn't because of time restrictions/it wasn't school appropriate. Hope you enjoy both.

 "No!" I lunged for Carla. "Please, I can do this!"

"Obviously not," Carla's grandfather, Harry, stepped in front of me.. "I think you've proven what you can do," he said, gesturing to the scene behind me. He must have heard about what just happened and rushed over here to take Carla. "You can't even hardly take care of yourself, let alone a child. I gave you a chance and you blew it."

"I'm sorry! There was a patch of black ice and..." I stumbled back, almost overtaken by nausea. I put my hand to my head, feeling the my something sticky.

"Sir, we need you to sit down. You're injured," an EMT stepped between us, grabbing my arm to steady me.

"I'm fine. I just want to help my daughter." I watched as the ambulance they had just loaded Carla into sped off, siren blaring and lights dancing off the ice covered buildings. I began to get light-headed at the thought of losing her again. Her mother, Sam, had died giving birth to her leaving me and my boyfriend, Kyle, to take care of her. But Sam's father wanted me to have absolutely nothing to do with Carla, because, to him, being bisexual made me a spawn of the devil.

"Levee?" Kyle's hand on my cheek drew me back to reality. "You hit your head on the steering wheel, you really should listen to the medics." He was obviously trying to stay calm despite our near death experience.

"I'm fine," I began to walk away but only made it a few steps.

Kyle and the EMP caught me so I didn't hurt myself on the way down, "Yeah, totally fine," the frustration in my boyfriend's voice was beginning to show.

I let my head fall back so I could look up at him. It was beginning to feel as if I was in a dream. Maybe if I wake up it'll all be okay. "You're not real," I said, looking at Kyle.

"Wait what? What do..." The rest of his sentence trailed off as black at the edge of my vision grew and I drifted off into a different world.

I woke up, the smell of sterile materials filling my nostrils. I opened my eyes, blinking a few times to adjust to the light. My head was throbbing. Was I in a hospital? So it wasn't a dream?

I felt someone grab my hand. "You awake?" Kyle's voice confirmed my suspicion.

"Yeah," I tried sit up but Kyle put his hand on my chest to prevent me from doing so. "Where's Carla?"

"Recovering from surgery." His short answer worried me.

"Wait, what was the surgery for?"

"Don't know. I've been in here with you. Harry won't let me anywhere near her."

"That's not fair. I was the one driving, not you."

"Yeah," his voice trailed off and we sat in silence for a while longer. My mind began to drift to back to what happened.

"Can we go to McDonald's?" Carla asked from the backseat.

"No, there's food at home," Kyle replied.

"But I want McDonald's,"

"Sorry, Baby Girl," I looked in the rear view mirror to see her. Her black hair was a mess and there was scrapes on her knees. She probably deserved McDonald's for working so hard in her futsal game, but I didn't have any money on me at the moment. I drew my eyes away from the cute face in my mirror back to the road. Red light. I hit the brakes, feeling the anti-locks kick in as I slid into the intersection.