Pucking Fantastic

Chapter 34: He Did Nothing

Keeping up with my promise! Keep an eye out for the <>!

Shopping malls and a lot of social activities here in Brazil have shut down because of the virus so I am thinking I will have more time to finish this book up.

Darla

As I slept there was no moment that was special, or memorable. People always write about having this 'draw nearer to God' moment. But for me, there was nothing, it felt like I was just having a dreamless sleep through the night.

While I did sleep, however, I felt like my sleep wore off at times. It allowed me to hear bits of conversation, moments of laughing, crying, and silence until a deeper sleep pulled me under again. This happened multiple times until finally at one moment, the silence and peace of sleep stopped. I heard laughing, it was joyful, it sounded like Paulo with the sound of a TV in the background.

There was excitement that buzzed around me. I felt it through my body, causing me to wake more than I had since I was put under for surgery. I felt my grip of sleep slip again, but this time, I was more aware. Sleep wearing off and this time there was no lingering feeling to pull me back under.

The TV turned off and the laughing was replaced by a steady sound of beeping as the room grew quiet.

I felt something up my nose and instantly I wanted off of my face. I tried to move my hand but it was too heavy.

I heard voices ring out clearly. "Ssshhh... she's waking," I heard a voice call out.

There was more silence. I wanted to nod and say that I was here and that I heard them. There was so much that I wanted to say to them but my body didn't want to move.

<>

After what felt like minutes, sleep wore off enough that I was able to crack my eyes open. I squinted at the bright room and blurry peach blobs around me. Light was everywhere and it hurt my eyes. I tried to rub them but my arms wouldn't move. My fuzzy eyes were struggling to see anything right.

"There she is," Dad said with excitement as he grabbed a hold of my hand.

I tried to smile at him but it quickly turned into a grimace. I laced my fingers with him and tried to squeeze his hand. Every movement seemed impossible for me to do. However, I felt my eyes slowly fall into focus as I looked at him. He smiled at me with joy but his eyes showed a different story. They were worn, tired, bloodshot. It looked like he hadn't slept in days.

Mom walked out of the bathroom and beamed at me. She wiped her wet hands on her pants as her eyes welled up with tears. It was as if she hadn't seen me in forever. "El, look at that, even you're punctual in your sleep," she said with a small chuckle. She sat at the foot of the bed as she pulled on her shirt to straighten it. Her T-shirt was stained and wrinkled like she had been wearing it for too long.

Jaimie moved to the side of me and smiled at me. His eyes wanted to say so much more but he remained silent as Paulo walked up to hold onto my other hand.

I smiled lightly at them. After all that had happened, after all the bad, I felt like one thing made all of this worth it. It brought us together. For the first time in years, dad wasn't gone every other week. Paulo was actually talking to me. And Jaimie, he was focusing on us instead of his studies. Mom, she never changed. But then again, she didn't need to. She was already perfect in my eyes. We were a family again and for that I was grateful.

For the first time in weeks, I actually could feel the love they had for me bursting through this room. They had loved me from the beginning. But since this all started, I had been so against them, more interested in starting fights, so much so that I was blinded from the love they had for me. My smile grew. I loved them too, so much.