Meet Me By The Dock

Chapter 24

"Lilah, could you grab my package from the counter?" My dad asked and gestured to the kitchen, while keeping his eyes glued to the TV.

We just finished eating dinner, and we took turns telling each other about our days. My Dad told me about how the fishing supplies company he works for is moving staff members from one side of the building to the other. I had no idea what he was talking about— nor did I have any interest in it. But I nodded and smiled at all the right parts. Then my Mom told me about how a student wanted 3 extra days to work on a paper because they needed to travel. Apparently the student told her that they didn't feel "grounded" in this college setting. Mom shut that down real quick.

"Mhm." I slid off the stool at the kitchen island and grabbed the package that was left for him at the door earlier today while I was at school.

As I walked through the doorway into the living room, where my father sat, I flipped the box upside down. I was trying to figure out what was inside, I hadn't even thought twice about it.

"What did you just do?" My dad watched my face intently. A wave of fear washed through me so quickly I barely even realized it had happened at all. I knew this feeling too well— the calm before the storm.

I knew there was no choice in lying, "I flipped the box over, I was trying to figure out what was inside." I confessed.

"'You flipped the box over?'" He mocked me. "You did much more than flip it over, do you think I'm an idiot?" He asked incredulously. "I just watched you walk in here and shake the box around, do you never use your brain?"

I stood there stupidly, with the box still in my hand, and the TV illuminating his face. I didn't respond, of course. "You just walk through life oblivious to everything around you." He said harshly, his voice was on the brink of being considered yelling.

"I didn't think it was that big of a deal." I said, careful to keep my voice even. If it raises a pitch he might get defensive.

He dug his fist into the center of his chest, then asked, "Yeah but it would be a big deal if I went into your room and started throwing your books everywhere, huh?" He stood quickly and ripped the box out of my hands from where he stood across the coffee table.

I was confused as to how that could possibly be considered the same level of destruction. "You have no respect for me or my stuff even though it was I who put a roof over your head and I who provides you with food and your phone and your stupid books!" He yelled.

I kept my face carefully crafted into an indifferent mask even though my heart raced out of my chest as he towered over me. Mentally, I click the rewind button on time to when I was studying in the kitchen and he was watching basketball.

I take a deep breath in and try to relax the lump in my throat. Because I know if I allow it to settle there I will start to cry.

I will not cry.

"Fucking stupid." He muttered under his breath, "Can't use her fucking brain."

I'm positive he knows I can hear him. That's the goal.

I watched as he began picking off the tape from the side of the box, then he paused and pulled at the neck of his t-shirt. He clears his throat and shakes his head a little.

Then it felt as if everything was being fast forwarded.

Suddenly he's standing and then he's grasping at his chest. "Dad?" I ask. I can hear the fear in my own voice, "Dad?!" I yell when he collapses onto one knee.

I rush around the coffee table to his side. "Emma?!" He called for my mom and I remember the name rasping in his throat. I grab his shoulders just as my mom bursts through the doorway.

His face was bright red and scrunched together in pain. A choking noise erupted from him when my mom pushed me aside in her hurry. I scrambled to my feet quickly and stumbled backwards.

"David? David?!" She cried shrilly, "Get the phone- Lilah get the phone!"

My heart thundered in my ears as I ran through the doorway, around the corner, and into the kitchen. I snatched my phone from the counter and hit the small phone icon in the corner of my screen.

Even though there was screaming coming from the other room, the only thing I could think about was the fact that I have never called 911 before. You hear it all the time, in movies, classrooms, and in TV shows. But you never think you will actually have to do it.

I punched in 9 1 1 and hit the call button.

"Hello 911, what's your emergency?"

I sucked in a breath, "Hi- hi-," My voice shook as I stuttered, "I don't- he fell, he isn't moving." It all leaves me in a strangled rush.

"Okay, what's your name? And who isn't moving?" The woman asks from the other end of the line.

"I'm- I'm Lilah Grace," I tell her, "And my Dad- my Dad fell." I explained. "I think he's having a heart attack."

—————

After that, it's all a blur.

I heard sirens and I flung open the door for the EMTs. They rushed to my dad and one woman slowly backed my mom up towards the wall. I watched as the woman turned my mom around to talk to her about what had happened. Now my mom had her back to my father. The man she was so hopelessly in love with, who was now being loaded onto a stretcher.

Have you ever felt like time stretches so thin that you're standing in anticipation waiting for it to snap? Well, that was me.

I stood frozen in the doorway of my kitchen watching as a man and a woman carried my father out into an ambulance.

Following them was my mom, she had tears streaming down her face as she clutched the front of her sweatshirt. She swiped at her face with her sleeve and the woman EMT she was talking to earlier was leading her out.

My world snapped back into focus and I ran out to follow them. My mom was stepping into the ambulance and sliding across the padded bench inside when I made it to the doors.

"Mom! Mom, what's going on? What's happening?" I asked, desperately. I just wanted to go back and redo it. It all happened so fast and my brain was struggling to catch up.

It didn't feel real. It couldn't be real.

My Mom faced me and said, "I don't know sweetie, I don't know." Her sentence broke off into a sob, "But stay here okay- I'll be back, I'll be back." She repeated.

Now I know that she didn't want me to see him like he was. Laying down on a stretcher with an oxygen mask strapped to his face.

She quickly kissed my forehead and I watched her grasp my fathers hand tightly before they shut the door on my face.

I can't remember anything after that.