Our Sick Inheritance (editing)

Ch 120 (anna) - I See You

Normally she had a higher energy than others, but Anna was starting to wind down. The music was barely keeping her foot on the petal. Anna kept seeing Jackrabbits on the side of the road which made her brain twitchy. She knew her eyes had to be jiggling. She reminded herself that the rabbits were real, and she just had to stay between the lines on the road.

Anna remembered when Harmony had brought the jiggling to her attention when they were young. Her father took her to a doctor where they found she had a nervous system disorder called Oscillopsia. There was damage in parts of her brain and inner ear that affected her balance sometimes. Skiing helped her learn to keep her balance when in motion. Colin even used to tease her that the reason why she was obsessive was because she never wanted to appear imperfect. Anna often took anti-anxiety pills so the problem wouldn't be debilitating to her vision or balance, but they gave her energy without the nervousness, which was odd.

Nobody but Anna's family and Harmony knew about her health issue. Her condition was mild, but it still caused some problems. Anna heard her father say that there was something physical that happened when she was young, before she moved to Washington. Anna overheard Christine tell Colin once that she often had to stay close to Anna when she was around her mother because of her anger aggression. Anna never remembered that her mother had a temper, or was physically violent, but she mostly judged her by the pictures that she had of her. Anna didn't really remember her at all. There wasn't much Anna knew about Tessa except that she was a gorgeous model and her father was obsessed with her. Her death seemed to have changed their lives, but Colin could barely talk about her. Anna didn't mind, she could wait until he was ready. That would be when she would tell her father a secret, she had of her mother that he didn't know.

Anna hated when her father said he was going to send Nate. She loved Nate with all her heart but hated when he used Nate as a threat. Nate was always looking after her and she was so grateful because he was there during times when she needed guidance. Once of those times was a session of spilled secrets. Puberty started to bring out an imbalance in Anna that nobody was prepared for. The symptoms of her illness were more pronounced, and her condition was progressing. Nate had come up from California to stay with her. Anna was alone in the house because Christine was home with her family for two days taking care of her sick kids as she had a cold herself. Colin and Caesar were throwing a special party at an opening of a new resort. Anna was too unstable to go outside of the house. Nate was going to stay the weekend with her while they were all gone so she didn't have to be alone. Anthony guarded the outside of the house so nothing could get to Anna by herself in the big house without even the staff as company, was unnerving.

Nate had been working with her Dad in the California resort which he often left Nate to run. Nate had helped Colin from an early teen age after Anna's mother died and they had moved to Washington. When the opportunity opened in California, Nate took it because he wanted to be near Colin and Anna. He visited way more often, without her dad as an escort.

Nate grew to be like a gentle parent with Anna as she jumped into puberty. She trusted everything he said until it came to Kayleen. Anna often wondered if Kayleen knew that Nate heard voices. They are the soft little whispers of his inner thoughts that he can converse with as if they were separate. There was a name for it that wasn't split personality.

The doctors said it was a result of a tragedy as a kid that he couldn't remember. His adopted parents told him they never knew what it was because they got him a day after he was born. They wondered if it had anything to do with his mother dying at birth and it being too difficult for him during the birth. She had been a single mother and didn't get the medical treatment she needed because she was young. Nate didn't know much about his birth mother other than he felt he killed her during birth. It was something he was very sensitive about and couldn't forgive himself for, even though it was unavoidable. According to his adoptive parents.