Waking Up.

Chapter 11: Cherished Heart.

"Hey, baby girl!" Wendy's father boomed, stretching out his arms to pull her in a hug. She ran over, practically jumping into his arms. He patted her back and stroked her hair.
"Daddy! I've missed you so much!" She exclaimed, tears rolling down her eyes and resting on her cheeks.
"I know, sweet heart! I've missed you too." He stated. Wendy's dad looked like the typical over weight hunter guy that likes to drink beer and talk crap about the government with his buddies. His voice was loud and gruff. He sported an over grown dark brown beard and hair that practically dripped grease. Their embrace lasted for a couple minutes, making me feel uncomfortable. I cleared my throat. Wendy glared at me, but they stopped hugging.
"Who're you?" The bulky man questioned.
"I'm Wendy's foster sister." I replied. He grinned and replied,
"You live with that Eric guy?"
"Yeah," I answered, straightening up a little.
"Tell him to go fuck off."
"I can call the police right now, sir." I retorted, not wanting him to try taking Wendy away. He looked at Wendy, then at me, and smiled.
"You threatening me?" He questioned.
"No. I'm just reminding you that you are awaiting trial and are not allowed to visit her without court consent."
"I don't need no reminders."
"Do you have a court pass?" I asked, knowing that he probably didn't. He scowled and squinted at me.
"No."
"Then I'm afraid we have to go, goodbye, sir." I said, grabbing Wendy's hand.
"Wait a minute..."
"I said, goodbye." I stuffed Wendy into the Jeep, and started the car, and off we went. Wendy, wide eyed and breathing really hard, started yelling at me.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!?! That was my dad!"
"I'm just protecting you, Wendy." I replied. She scoffed at me.
"From who, my dad. He wouldn't hurt me, Trish."
"Still, it's against the law, right now. We're going home."
"The law is stupid! I should be able to see my dad, turn around!"
"No, Wendy. We have to go home." I stated as firmly as I could.
"Look, just because you don't have a da.." She didn't finish the sentence. I felt a few hidden tears sting my eyes, but I held them in as best I could.
"I said no, Wendy. That's that." I said. She huffed and looked out the windows. We drove In silence all the way home. When she hopped out, she looked at me.
"I'm, uh, I'm sorry about what I said..."
"It's ok." I interrupted while holding up a hand. She nodded and went inside. The kitchen was filled with the scent of roast beef and hot rolls. Naomi was mixing dough with Cory, and Bethany was stirring the roast. Wendy went to our room, as usual, and Eric was watching, 'Untold Stories Of The ER.'
"Why can't anything interesting like that happen at our ER?" He yelled at the screen. I rolled my eyes and went to sit at the counter. Naomi and Cory were now putting the dough in a pan. Mom gestured to me,
"Trish, I need to ask you a favor." She stated while leaning on the counter I front of me.
"What?" I asked.
"Roxie needs a few new clothes for school, would you take her?" She asked.
"Sure, I'd love to."
"Great! She's brushing her hair, but she'll be down in a minute, there's some money in the freezer." She pointed in the direction of the box freezer that stood beside the refrigerator. Some people might think its odd that my parents keep valuable things, like birth certificates and bank statements, in the freezer. But think about it. If a fire were to start up, it's in the freezer, and it'll be harder to burn. Also, thieves don't look in the freezer. I mean, really. What kind of person goes to rob a house for money, and the first place they look, is the freezer. I've never heard of something like that. Which is why it's such a brilliant idea. I took out $100 and got my coat. Roxie came down in a pink jacket and blue jeans.
"Ready, Trith." She grabbed my hand and we hopped in the car. After I'd buckled her up in her booster seat, we set off for town.
"Can we go and get my hair cut?" She asked in a sweet little voice.
"I don't know, I'll have to text mom and see what she says."
"Ok." She replied, and then she handed me a little CD. I groaned.
"Do we have to?"
"Yes!" She giggled, and I sighed and put in the Dora soundtrack she loves to listen to.
"Come on, Vamenoes, everybody let's go!.." Roxie began to sing along. There are several things I'd rather do than listen to this disc. Like have my eye dug out with an ice cream scoop, for example. After 20 minutes of torture, we pulled up to 'Girlhood Goods', the most popular little girl store in Danville. They had two sections; little girls between 1-12, and big girls between ages 13-18. The store was packed with children and their mothers running every which way. One girl who looked like she'd be about 5 was throwing a tantrum because she wanted the pink skirt, not the green one. Two other girls were throwing socks at each other. I told Roxie to find three shirts she liked and then to come find me. Roxie smiled and bounded off into organized chaos. I lingered over to the big girl section, staying as far away as I could from the other one. I was browsing through the endless rows of shirts, when I saw Samantha come over.
"What happened to you last night?" She groaned, clearly in hangover pain. I thought about telling her about Danny, but then decided I never wanted to talk about it again.
"Well, I didn't want to stay at the party, so Aspen and I hung out at his place." I said. She smirked.
"And?" She asked, wiggling her eyebrows up and down.
"That's it."
"Sure it was. Seriously, what else did you do?!?" She laughed, not believing me.
"Well, let's see. We played video games and I fell asleep on his couch. Then the next morning, when I went to made bacon, his dad thought I was a robber, or something, and he pointed a gun at me. Then I went up stairs to see Aspen dancing shirtless in his bathroom mirror." I regretted saying the last part.
"You saw him shirtless!?! As in, no shirt?!?" She screamed. A few moms scowled at us. Samantha flipped them off.
"That's what shirtless means, Samantha."
"Oh my monkey balls! Was he hot!?!" She squealed. I rolled my eyes.
"Eh, he's ok." I replied. She shoved me.
"You, my friend, are a terrible liar."
"Am not! I can lie when I wanna."
"See! You're lying right now!" She giggled. I crossed my arms and pouted.
"Why do you hate me?" I asked. She pouted and patted my back.
"I don't hate you. Forever alone buddies, remember?" She replied. We both laughed. Roxie came over to me with five shirts.
"I said three!" I pointed, pretending to be mad. She gave me her puppy dog face.
"Can I get em, please?" She stared at me. I couldn't resist. After we'd all gotten back home,(Samantha decided to come,) I asked mom if I could spend the night at Marleen's.
"Ok," she started,"as long as there's no boys there."
"Mooom!" I said. We got into Samantha's black RangeRover and we drove our way to Marleen's house.
"There's something you are not telling me about the party," she stated, giving me questioning eyes.
"You're right," I began," you and Ashton need to tone it down a bit in the bedroom." She rolled her eyes and sighed.
"That's not it! What aren't you telling me!?!" She exclaimed. I thought about telling her about Danny, and decided, what the heck? She's one of my best friends.
"If I tell you, do you promise not to tell anyone? Not even Marleen?" I asked. She pretended to zip her lips shut and throw away the key.
"I swear." She stated.
"Ok, I'll tell you." I described the entire story. About how I was looking for Marleen and the bathroom incident and how Aspen saved me. I described the real reason why we went to Aspen's house. When I was finished, Samantha was wide eyed.
"Oh my god, Trish..."
"It's ok, Samantha. It wasn't your fault."
"I know, but there's so much I could've done to prevent.."
"There's nothing you could do. And besides, I'm ok. Aspen saved me." I replied.
"I promise I'll never let that happen again, k?" She wrapped me in a hug and then she turned on the radio. A song by 5 S.O.S came on, and Samantha nearly lost it.
"Oh my god! I can't believe the radio's actually playing something good!" She clapped and sang along. I turned on rich wood road and headed straight for Marleen's house. Everything seemed to be in order. The two story yellow house with its brown shingles were still there. The wooden door with its brass knob was still intact. Everything was good, until we got inside. We set down our bags on the hallway table and started calling out to Marleen.
"Marleen, it's us." We called. No answer.
"Marleen, I swear to god if you jump out and scare me..." She threatened as we turned into the kitchen. When we saw who was laying almost lifeless on the floor, our hearts stopped. Marleen's dad, Fred, seemed like a healthy guy, but here he was, laying motionless on the oak planks of his home. Samantha started freaking out.
"Omgomgomgomg, what do I do?!?!" She began to hyperventilate. I put a paper bag to her mouth and ushered her out of the room.
"Call the police, tell them to hurry." I commanded. She nodded and dialed 911. I went back to Fred and squated beside him. I put my ear to his chest to see if his heart was still beating. It wasn't. The summer before 6th grade, I had taken a babysitting coarse. They taught us how to do CPR. I hadn't wanted to give Fred CPR, but he'd die if I didn't. I placed my hands in the middle of his chest, and pressed down hard five times, counting while I did.
"One, two, three four, five..." I took a deep breath and blowed down his throat. Then I listened to his chest again, nothing. I did this two more times before I heard the small beats. He breathed a little, but he needed serious medical care. I stood and went to find Samantha. She was sitting with her head in her palms on the couch. I sat down next to her. She sniffled twice before she sat up to face me, eyes puffy and swollen.
"They'll be here soon."
"Did you call Marleen?" I asked.
"Yeah, her and her mom are at the car shop, they need a ride."
"Ok, I'll go get them and bring them to the hospital, you ride in the ambulance with the medics and Fred." I told her. She nodded and I left for the car shop. There was only one big car shop in town, and I knew exactly where they were. It took me about fifteen minutes to get there, but we sped off as soon as they were in the car.
"Is my dad ok, Trish?" Marleen asked through her sobs.
"I don't know, Marleen, I think he'll be ok." I tried offering comfort. She nodded and turned to her mom in the back seat. They hugged and cried together, and we were at the hospital in just under twenty minutes. Once there, we threw our selfs out of the car and sprinted inside. Samantha was waiting for us in the hallway, and so was Luke. Marleen embraced Luke, then Samantha. Marleen's mom, Lisa, and I tried to find the doctors taking care of Fred. Most of the doctors recognized me because Eric worked for the ER, but not many of them knew anything. I saw Doctor Quincy, a close friend of my dads, standing outside one of the long corridors, and I stopped him before he could get away.
"Doctor Quincy!" I hollered. He turned around and scratched his grey beard.
"Why, hello there, Trish."
"Doctor Quincy, I need to know what they're doing about Fred Coast." I stated, out of breath.
"Fred Coast, ey? Well, wait here, let me see what I can do." He strolled off down the hallway and disappeared. Lisa sat against the wall and started to sob some more. I sat down next to her and let her collapse into my arms. We sat there for a while, hugging and crying. A million thoughts stained the air, and the most terrible question hung in the air; what if he doesn't survive? What then? It took about thirty minutes before Doctor Quincy came to us with a clip board and a pen.
"Well, I have good new and bad news."
"What's the good news?" Lisa asked hopefully.
"The good news is, he's going into surgery, and we'll know if he'll survive in about 2 hours."
"What's the bad news?" I asked apprehensively. The doctor sighed, looked over at Lisa, and began.
"The bad news is, he had a heart attack. He might not pull through, but we'll know for sure in two hours." He said.
"Thank you, Doctor Quincy. We'll be in the waiting room." I ushered Lisa back down the hallway to the waiting room. The waiting room is an understatement for what it really is. What they should call it is, Hell with coffee. Luke and Marleen huddled in one corner of the room, and Lisa sat next to Samantha in the other. Lisa looked beside herself. She didn't look like she was conscious, all she did was breath. The clock kept ticking. I excused myself to the bathroom. I ran cool water on my face and took a deep breath. All I could see in my mind was Fred on the floor, his heart non-beating. The gloomy color of his skin, the look of horror on his face. The coffee wasn't nearly strong enough, but I drank it anyways. I was reading a life magazine, when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see Eric standing over me, concern in his eyes.
"Trish, what're you doing here?"
"Marleen's dad had a heart attack, we're waiting for results." I replied. He looked at the clock and asked,
"How long are you going to be here?"
"Till we get results." I replied.
"Which is?" He asked. I looked at the clock. We'd been here for almost two hours.
"Not much longer, they told us two hours." He nodded and gave me a ten dollar bill.
"Go get something to eat. I've gotta go, I love you, ok?" I nodded and he stalked down the ER hallway. We waited another ten minutes before a man in bloody scrubs and rubber gloves approached us.
"Will my husband be alright?" Lisa cried. The doctor sighed and gave us the answer.

__________________________________________________________________________________

I did my best on this chapter, but I know it kinda sucks. I hope you'll like the next one better! Thanks guys, bye. :) (also, sorry if I spelt Vaminoes wrong, I tried my best.:)