Learning to Swim

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“Dakota,” Addie’s insistent whisper breaks through my sleep-filled mind. I force my eyes open to find her perched on the side of my bed.

“What’s wrong?” I ask after realizing that it is still the middle of the night.

“Someone was yelling,” she says and moves closer to me. Her large gray eyes, that are identical to my own, are wide with fear.

“Who was yelling? Mom?” I question her before pulling her onto my lap and brushing her dark hair out of her eyes.

“And someone else. What if Mommy is hurt?” She shivers slightly and I tighten my arms around her. I’m surprised I didn’t wake up if someone was yelling. I guess I was just too exhausted.

“I’m sure she is fine, sweetie. Just try to fall back to sleep,” I assure her, but she looks unconvinced.

“Will you check? Please?” she begs in a small voice. There is really no way I can say no to her. She will be up all night worrying if I don’t go out there.

“Stay here. I will be right back,” I say and then slide out from beneath the covers.

My bare feet come in contact with the cold floor and I pad softly over to the door. I unlock it and step out into the hall. It is eerily quiet and I start to think Addie might have just been dreaming. Once I step into the living room, though, my doubts are pushed aside. My mother is sobbing on the couch while some guy I have never seen before stares at her with disturbingly cold eyes.

I hope to retreat quietly without attracting either of their attention, but apparently luck isn’t on my side tonight. The man’s eyes shoot up and meet my own. A sick smile spreads across his face and I take an involuntary step back.

“And who is this? I think you forgot to introduce me,” he addresses my mom, but his eyes never leave my own. My mother is then forced to take in the fact of my presence. She stares at me with swollen red eyes that seem to be having trouble focusing.

“That’s my daughter,” she slurs and then suddenly narrows her eyes at me. “Go away.”

I have no desire to argue with that and quickly turn to go back to my room. I hear the man whispering something to my mother, but I do my best not to hear whatever it is. Right before I reach my room a stabbing pain coming from my foot causes me to crash to the floor. I brush my hand along the bottom of my left foot and it comes away sticky with blood. That is when I notice the broken glass scattered on the floor. My mother or her new friend must have thrown it during the argument that Addie heard.

I scramble to my feet, still fearful of the man in the other room and duck into the bathroom. I grab a box of band aids and a wet washcloth and stumble back into my room, trying to put most of my weight on my right foot. I shut my door behind me and flick the lock once again. Addie seems to have fallen back to sleep on my bed while I was gone and so I sit down on hers.

Using a flashlight I examine the bottom of my foot. There is a surprising amount of blood still gushing out and I have to turn my face away because I feel nauseous. I gently prod it and find that a jagged piece of glass is stuck in my foot. It doesn’t seem to be too large and I really hope that I don’t need stitches. There is no way I would be able to afford a hospital bill.

So, I take a deep breath and tug on the glass. I have to bite my lip to stop myself from crying out. It takes a few tries before the glass finally slides completely out. It was actually bigger than I thought it was and now that it is out there is nothing blocking the blood flow. I use the washcloth to wipe away most of it, but it is still steadily bleeding. I hold the wash cloth there for almost a half hour before it seems like the flow is finally slowing. I’m pretty sure that I do need stitches, but I’m going to have to make do without them. I will just have to hope that it stops on its own.