Bella almost died today. I don't think it registered until I walked into the emergency room. I knew dad and I would have to make a visit here sooner or later, my sister is the clumsiest person I know. I guess her face has begun to attract cars now instead of gravity, crappy improvement if you ask me. Dad and I were given direction to the room Bella was in. It wasn't long before I was in a room with Tyler, my sister and Edwin. Dr Cullen and my father left the room to discuss Bella's condition in detail and Tyler just could not stop apologising about the accident, he kept going on and on and on. Meanwhile my sister wants to treat this whole situation like it isn't a big deal, as always. She kept giving the Cullen kid weird glances, like she can't wait to be alone with him. My sister almost died today and she has not acknowledged my presence… not even once. And suddenly it feels like I'm back at Phoenix. I stop that line of thinking when Edwin or whatever his name is, turns to look at me like he is waiting for me to finish speaking, weirdo. Only then did Bella look at me, and all she has for me is a small reassuring smile. I just turned and left. Dad and Dr Cullen were just finishing up when I got to them. "Oh Andrew, meet doctor Cullen." his hands pointed to the doctor "Carlisle this is my son Andrew." This time he they both faced me. "Yea, dad may I have your car keys, I think I'll wait for you there." I know I was being rude but I just wanted to be alone with my music. Dad gave me a disproving look but handed the keys over.
On my way to the parking lot people kept asking me if my sister was okay, I'm not sure what answer I gave them but it seemed sufficient enough since they left me alone soon after I spoke to them. I went into the cruiser and turned the cars stereo on. Some old sixties rock music came on and it just brought a smile to my face. It's one of those things that my dad only shares me…well with Billy too since they share their love for rock music. Turns out Billy and the old man used to be rockers, they even had motorcycles. They sold them when a friend of theirs died while speeding through the freeway, guy hit a tree and died on impact. The next song started playing and I almost lost it right there. This is the song my dad sang to me when I was upset, he's the only person to ever comfort me when I'm upset, he even sings this song to me when I'm angry. Hey Jude by the Beatles is a great song. I'm thinking of using the song in my next routine so dad won't feel so uncomfortable attending a contemporary dance show. I saw dad and Bella approaching so I turned the stereo off. Bella complained about having to calm Renee down since dad told her about the accident. I put my headphones on to tune her out till we get home.
Bella was in her room talking to Renee when the old man called me to the living room. "Am I in trouble?" I asked since I knew I would not be getting away with the way I spoke or rather ignored doctor Cullen earlier. "We both know you are Andrew. I'd like to know why you were behaving in that manner. You're usually this way when you have to go back to your mother after the holidays and since that is not the case I want to know what's wrong." I took a few deep breaths before looking into dads eyes. All I found in them was worry and a bit of disappointment, the disappointment made me feel a bit queasy. "Bella ignored me in the hospital today. I know she's not the most social person in the world but I just thought she'd try a bit harder today since she almost…" I looked into my lap and started playing with my fingers. "I just thought a near death experience would make her realise that we are right here, that she'd like to know me better you know? I guess she doesn't care about me that much." "She does care Andrew, maybe I should talk to her about it, make her spend more time with you." "Dad we spend enough time together, she'd just rather read her boring books than actually talk to me. Don't make a big deal of it, I'll sort it out myself." He gave me a small pat in the back "Okay, you're still in trouble though. You should never take your emotions out on other people therefore you get the honour of cleaning the attic." "Dad that will take me weeks, plus you have no organising system in there. Hell this entire place was a disaster before I nagged you into improving it, I still have nightmares about those hideous yellow cupboards in the kitchen." He laughed at that. "Alright I'll help you a bit. We can turn it into a project." I gave him a dubious look before an idea popped into my head. "May I sell all the things we don't use anymore, like my crib and stuff? We both know you are a hoarder dad." He gave me a bit of a pained look and I knew he just needed a bit more convincing. "You know dad if we make enough money we can use it to buy me a car next year. This way it won't have to come out of your salary or my college fund." He gave a bit of a huff. "Fine, this is starting to feel like I'm the one being punished." "It was never meant to be punishment chief, I've been begging to get my hands in that room for ages, and you just never allowed it." He rolled his eyes at me "Well the home projects we did together seemed to cheer you up a lot and it seems like you need it." I moved closer to in order to give him a hug "Love you dad." He kissed the top of my head "Love you too kiddo." That's when I realised that this is what family should feel like. Dad finds my method of cleaning overzealous and he finds any type of home making boring, yet he is going to do it because I need it. He is showing me that I might not be important in Bella or Renee's life, but I am in his. It's always been me and the chief, and he is all the family I need.
