Everything Has Changed //Ryan Blaney//

2.0 - Over and Over Again

Ryan

I don't think I could have mentally prepared for the sight that awaited me when I got to Sienna's house. Three police cruisers sat in her driveway and an ambulance was pulling away from the road as I rounded the corner. Parking in the grass beside Sienna's truck, I swiftly made a beeline for the front door. A guy in a uniform stopped me the second the door opened. 

"Sir you'll have to wait outside." It was about that time that Eleanor saw me from the living room and came racing towards me. "Daddy!" To my surprise, she didn't seem the least bit fazed by what was happening. Sienna must not have said anything about what was happening to her.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were the dad." The officer commented after hearing her words and watching Eleanor jump into my arms. I waved his mistake off, knowing that the fact wasn't true or known to many who knew us.

"Hey baby girl, where's your momma at?" I walked further into the house, noticing that Sienna wasn't in the kitchen or living room. I could hear her voice as she talked, but couldn't make out her words. "She's in the bedroom down there." She pointed down the hall to the room that was used mostly for storage and anything that El had gotten tired of playing with. It confused me even further as to why Eleanor was out here sitting with an officer.  "Let me go talk to your mom for a minute, you sit here and watch some cartoons." Sitting down on her feet, she grabbed her sippy cup of juice and blanket, which she haphazardly tossed away when she realized I walked inside and laid down on the couch. Puppy Dog Pals played on the screen and I knew that it was one of her favorites. She wanted to watch it constantly, and now I'm always singing the theme song. Brad had even made fun of me the other day as he caught me singing it during an outtake of filming for the Penske Games.

Bracing myself for the worst, I walked back to the open room. The first thing I saw was glass all over the floor where the window had been busted out, a makeshift cover placed over the window now in its place. The boxes that used to be neatly stacked around the room were now tossed across the floor messily and some had even been torn open. Mud-covered boot prints from this evening's rain storm had been tracked throughout the entire room, and to my dismay had even appeared out into the living room now that I had thought about it. I knew that someone had broken into Sienna's house and the mere thought of someone even doing something like that had me wanting to hunt whoever did it down. When I calmed down, I caught the end of the officer's words about the guy being in custody.

Getting a toned-down version of how Eleanor greeted me, Sienna saw my face and immediately had me within arms reach of her. It was just a little while longer before the cops had gotten everything they needed information-wise, and were gone. After shutting the front door and locking it, Sienna turned to me. The look on her face had my heart squeezing in pain. Before she could even say one word, I wrapped her in my arms, holding her as tight as I could. She didn't say anything, just clung to me tighter.

"What happened baby?" The air was tense after asking but I had to know, I wanted the whole thing put together. With a soft sigh, she started. "I was in my bedroom folding clothes when I heard a loud crash come from downstairs. I knew it wasn't any of the cats causing a mess because they were both lying on my bed with El. I went to the top of the stairs to see what was going on and I could hear the loud bangs as he threw the boxes around. Before I could think, I was back in the room, locking the door and calling the police. While I waited on the line with the respondent, I took the small handgun that Ashton always kept locked away on top of the bookcase in our bedroom just in case." I had taken a bit of a double look when she said that part, mainly because she had never mentioned owning one before. I didn't mind her having it, I had a cabinet in my garage with them in it that I used to use for hunting. They don't get much use anymore though, but because I've had them since I was a boy, I can't part with them.