Can You Hear Me? ~ Adopted by Fall Out Boy (COMPLETED)

Bang the Doldrums

I sat down next to Dad, still slipping the hearing aids in my ears. It looked like we were eating spaghetti. I listened quietly as the rest of my family began to talk again. 

"Patrick, have you gotten her enrolled in school yet?" My step-grandmother (Grandma) asked. Why did she have to talk like I wasn't right here? I gripped the fork tighter as I continued to eat.

"Yes, I enrolled her in a virtual school so that she could come with us on tour and so that she didn't have to deal with all the troubles of being deaf in public school," Dad explained calmly. I could tell he was angry though. No one really wanted his dad and wife there, Dad invited them over to be nice and to avoid their passive-aggressive comments. Not even Uncle Kevin and Aunt Megan wanted them here. 

"Only a few more days," I signed to Dad, knowing full well Grandpa and Grandma couldn't understand me.

Dad nodded, continuing conversation with them. I could tell he didn't want to though.

I turned to Mom, pulling my phone out to talk to her. But apparently, Grandma didn't like that.

"Why do you have to pull that damned phone out, girl?" She sneered. I gulped, leaning away from her (even though she was on the opposite end of the table as me).

"She has to use it in order to communicate for now," Dad seemed to be getting angrier. I could feel my heart rate speed up as he stabbed into his spaghetti. Mom could see that I was starting to freak out and took my hand. 

"She shouldn't have to. Why did you adopt this one, Patrick? You could have gotten a perfectly normal girl," Grandpa grumbled. Everyone gasped, and Dad gripped his knife like he was going to throw it.

"Get out," Dad snapped. His eyes were on his plate.

"What?" Grandpa asked like he had done nothing wrong. I clenched my jaw, starting to get pissed now.

"You heard me. Get. Out," Dad was looking at Grandpa now.

"Why, because we told you the truth about your daughter?" Grandma spat the word out like it was the n-word. She looked at me and sneered. That bitch-!

"Because Patrick told you to!" Elisa shouted, "His house, his rules."

"Fine. Don't expect gifts from us," Grandpa growled, getting up and leaving with Grandma.

The table was quiet for a second. Dad rubbed his hands down his face, groaning, "God I hated that."

"I know, but good news. I grabbed the gifts from their hotel room. They're currently in the back of my car," Uncle Kevin said, grinning. I cheered, and everyone laughed. The mood was further lightened by jokes and stories told by everyone at the table. I was quiet, obviously. It's kinda hard to be loud when you can't even talk. 

Dad talked to me though, communicating my thoughts to the others as well. He kept me calm as the room's tension slowly died down. It felt relieving to finally have them gone. Although I felt bad that Dad had to tell them to leave like that. It was for the best though. Hopefully.

That night we went and got all the other gifts out of the back of Uncle Kevin's car. Apparently, everyone got two gifts on Christmas Eve in the Stump Household. One pair of PJ's, and a Christmas ornament. We were allowed to put them on our tree. Mine was a cute little piano and a set of Captain America PJ's. I quickly put them on after getting them. Declan got a matching set of Batman PJ's and a Batman ornament (he was going through a Batman phase). Antero got a cute little Paw Patrol ornament and Iron Man PJ's. The cousins, of course, got PJ's too and all the adults also got ornaments. Everyone was happy when Uncle Kevin's family left that night to retire to the hotel.

As we all started to retire to sleeping areas, Dad hugged me one last time. 

"Go get some rest sweety," He said, smiling. I nodded, walking towards the lounge. That wasn't going to happen any time soon.

I reached the doorway and out of nowhere, I heard a loud BANG right in my ear. I collapsed to the ground, dizzy. My vision swam as Dad ran over. All I could hear was this screeching noise in my right ear. I could feel something running down the back of my head. Dad reached down and pulled the hearing aid out of my left ear, and shouted at someone I couldn't see. I winced as he touched my right ear, soon realizing something was very wrong.

"Are you okay?" Dad signed. Mom ran over with a towel as I shook my head. The entire right side of my face hurt, excluding the part where it was completely numb. A towel was placed under my head, and I could see the kids out of the corner of my eye. One of my cousins was crying and Declan, being the sweet kid he is, was comforting her. My aunt and grandparents were trying their best to shield them from me but I guess that she saw what happened. 

I felt Dad's hand slip into mine as Mom pulled her phone out. I could vaguely feel a towel being pressed against my ear, but it just made the pain worse. I squeezed Dad's hand as Mom began talking into the phone. Dad, I'm assuming, pressed against my head again and I visibly flinched. He looked apologetic, but I knew he was trying to help.

My parents kept their worried look until the ambulance came. Two workers came in with a first aid kit. They began to talk to my parents, checking every once in a while to make sure I hadn't passed out.

What the heck happened?