Disconnected (Luke Hemmings AU)

Chapter 2

Since I didn't know my father personally very well, I never could have known prior to our very short , very serious chat on that fateful morning that my father is a emotional man.

"Are you alright?" he asked me. That was the first thing he asked when I was handed the phone, and it occurred to  me that he was the only person all morning that had asked me how I was doing with all of this shit. And in that moment as I was preparing to tell him I was fine it all hit me. A huge volcano of sadness and fear erupted inside me. It all came pouring out and I started sobbing.

"I'm okay," I managed to get out in between sobs and snorts. I am sure it was more than evident to him by the tone of my voice that I was anything but okay.

Then, incredibly enough, he started sobbing. "You sit tight, Allison. We're getting on the first flight to Los Angeles to come and get you."

To this day I am not sure how what happened next became reality, because certainly in my head I was dead-set against my father coming to get me. I had accepted the phone fully prepared to tell my father that his assistance would not be needed, that I could go crash at Katy's for the Summer and continue on my part-time job mixing fruits at Robek's and combing the Farmer's Market at The Grove for cute guys. But the idea of my dad coming to get me was comforting in a way that I can't even explain. It was overwhelming.

So instead of saying, "Don't worry about it, man. It's cool. I'm gonna crash with a friend until school starts!" I heard myself say in a tiny voice, "Please hurry."

 My father and his wife, Jill, were all the way in Turkey, the hospital social worker informed me. Little had I known that Pound was on a sold-out world tour, promoting their latest album, Stagger. Unrelated to my situation that afternoon, the album was receiving rave reviews and the band was playing over forty cities across Europe and Asia. All that meant for me, though, was that I was going to have to go to Koreatown with the Department of Child Welfare case handlers who arrived to fetch me: Lois (the old one) and Connie (the one who wore large hoop earrings and smelled like beef broth). And with the I would wait at the Department's temporary living facility for my dad to arrive.

We drove from the beautiful tree-lined streets of Beverly Hills down Wilshire Boulevard toward the ladies' office facility. The day was already getting kind of hazy and hot by the time I was brought to  a large corporate office and asked a series of questions while Connie typed up a file on me. Full name? Piece of cake. Father's name? My answer  produced the expected reaction; Connie raised an eyebrow and add, "Yes, that Cameron Atwood." Social security number? Seriously, no clue.

My mind started to wander back to my house. Had anyone locked the doors when we all for the hospital? Were they going to let me go back and at least let me get my reading list for school? What about my violin? I was supposed to be practicing every day- I had just won first seat in the Weatherwell Junior Symphony Orchestra. What about my mom's body? Where was it? Who would plan a funeral? 

Despite my panic, I was starting to get really sleepy. It was a Wednesday, nearing one in the afternoon. I realized I had missed my shift at Robek's and didn't even have y cell phone to call Katy and let her know what happened.

After I let  loose a mighty yawn, Lois frowned at me and told Connie that she could finish my paperwork later. Connie took me up to the dormitory floors and led me to a stark room with bunk beds. I was informed that for the duration of my stay at the Department of Children and Family Services facility I would be roommates with a girl named Anna who was at summer school for the day. None of this information was making any difference to me. I crawled under the blankets of the lower bunk and closed my eyes until Connie stopped talking and left me alone.

I had been wearing pajamas all day. I had no idea how or when  I was going to be able to get in touch with Katy or my mom's friends to tell them where I was. And my mom was dead. Gone. They hadn't even let me see her boy. I starting crying until I could barely breathe, and at some point I mist have fallen asleep.