Is This What You Call a Family?

"Oh, glorious frabjous day! It’s the day, it’s the day," I cheered as I sat up in bed. I only managed two hours of sleep last night but the sun was fully raised in the sky meaning in only a few hours I will be back in pants and checking out of this sterile world.

Papa and I had talked for hours on end about my mom and dad’s younger life, my family that I would soon be meeting, and even about how my life had been growing up. He hadn't seemed too please on the few details I would give him about mom’s boyfriends so I learned very quickly to steer clear of that topic completely. He hadn't left until around six and promised to return this morning to sign me out and talk with Eric Mathers.

The door to my room suddenly opened and Ruth’s head popped in the crack the formed between the door and the frame. Once her eyes locked with mine, a wide smile took over her face as she pushed open the door fully. I noticed a pile a clothes in one of her hands and almost cried at the sight. 'Good morning sunshine."

"Freedom! Clothes!" I shouted as I pumped my fists over my head. Ruth chuckled as she stepped forward to place the pile of clothes next to me.

"Yes, yes. I know you’re excited to leave today. But you aren't leaving ‘til at least ten. That means you have three hours to finish your last hour of your deal, shower, eat, and get dressed."

I picked up the cardigan on top of the pile which also revealed shoes, socks, jeans, and a tank. All of which was very unfamiliar to me. A look of confusion crossed my face as I looked towards Ruth again. "These don’t belong to me...?"

Ruth suddenly looked bashfully as she busied herself with writing down the stats from the machinery around me. "Yeah, I know. They do now. I had to guess on your sizes and whatnot. My daughter was more than happy to share some clothes she didn't wear much anymore. She said that she hopes you like My Chemical Romance or she’s disowning you. Not sure what she’s disowning you from, but you know how weird sixteen year olds are."

"Thank you, Ruth. This means a lot to me," I spoke sincerely. I can’t remember the last time I was given a gift, much less someone who didn't have a blood tie to me. It was heartwarming to say the least. "Do you know what happened to my old clothes? I’m not too worried about it, just curious."

"Well the paramedics had to cut open your shirt since they were worried you had an open wound from the amount of blood you have on you. It ruined your shorts completely and you didn't have any shoes on so..."

"Is this the same underwear I've been wearing?” I hadn't really thought about it at all. They were pretty fucking clean for all that blood spill if so. That sounds pretty disgusting of me, actually. I guess trying to remember if I owned the underwear I was wearing kind of faded into the background of all that was happening.

"Oh, no. I bought you a new set of undergarments since I didn't think you wanted to be naked minus the gown. I would have asked you about it first, but y’know, slight coma," Ruth explained, her face flushing red.

"It’s fine, Ruth," I laughed. Ruth’s discomfort instantly left and she was soon grinning at me again.

"Whelp, c’mon! Time to get up and at ‘em. What do you want to do first? Rehab, food, or shower?"

"Shower!" I blinked at my sudden shout and smiled bashfully. "I mean, I’d like a shower first, if you don’t mind."

Ruth laughed and agreed, gathering the clothes in her arms again. She let me shuffle off the bed and head to the bathroom on my own. I hadn't needed the IV since yesterday afternoon and because of the three hours of rehab I already had, my legs were much stronger. My ribs were still extremely tender but applying ice packs and the breathing exercises Ruth’s been showing me were helping a lot. And, last night, we went for another x-ray and nothing’s changed on the status of my innards. So good news all around.

After Ruth placed my clothes on top of the toilet, she handed me two small travel sized bottles of shampoo/conditioner mix and a travel sized bottle of vanilla body wash she had been carrying in her scrub pants. As she kneeled down in front of the cabinet below the sink, she explained over her shoulder, "I picked those up in the gift shop downstairs. I was going to go out to get better ones, but I woke up late today. Sorry."

"This is more than enough, Ruth. Thank you." It was more of an effort than I could have ever hoped for in a hospital. Maybe it was because of the few times I went to see my mother in the hospital with the shitty staff they had, but I was always uncomfortable with doctors and nurses. Ruth and the other staff I've seen around here, however, have definitely changed my view on these kind of places.

"Well I’ll leave you to clean up then. Here’s the hot water and the cold," Ruth explained, tapping each knob in turn. She placed a towel on top of my clothes before handing me the cloth that she had grabbed which she informed me was to use for washing my body. "I’ll be back in, like, fifteen minutes."

"Alright." Ruth offered one last smile before leaving the room and shutting the door after her. I turned my attention to the shower and began to fiddle with the knobs until I reached my desired temperature. Once it was set, I dropped my gown at my feet and hastily stepped under the stream of water.

I almost moaned at the feeling of the hot water hitting my body. It’s been three or four days since I had been able to enjoy a full shower. Ruth said they had given me a sponge bath while I was out but it obviously was not quite the same. After using both bottles of shampoo/conditioner and scrubbing my body long enough to tint my skin pink, I finally turned off the water and forced myself out of the shower. The clothes Ruth’s daughter gave me were a bit too big on me. The tank and cardigan didn't matter but the pants (which were also not the ones I wore the other day. What the heck happened to those?) slipping down my hips were definitely going to be a problem. The neon socks and shoes fit perfectly though. I was beginning to think Ruth measured my feet when I was asleep or something.

Cleaning off the mirror I noticed a comb that I hadn't quite seen before. I thought it over before deciding that either Ruth left it there or I was just going to have to hope that the last person who possibly left it didn't have lice. After combing through it, I toweled dried it as much as possible before throwing the damp cloth into the hamper in the corner of the bathroom. I also decided to save myself efforts for later today and tossed my hair into a messy bun. Just as I opened the bathroom door, Ruth opened the door to my room.

"Feeling better?"

"Oh my god, yes," I groaned as I headed over to the door. I let out an annoyed sigh as I had to pull up my jeans again. Skinny jeans weren't supposed to do this kind of shit, but yet here we are. Ruth noticed my problem and let out a hearty laugh at my angered face.

"C’mon, we’ll find you a belt on the way to rehab, alright?"

"Bless you and your face."

- Time Lapse -

"Juliet!" I jumped slightly, nearly face planting on the treadmill. The machine was quickly shut off as I placed my feet on either edge of the belt. I took a deep breath as I took out the earphones I had been lent. Ruth ushered me off the treadmill and looked me over as if I had somehow managed to get a visible injury. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. Sorry, guess I was just into the music." Ruth had let me use her old phone to be able to listen to music while I was doing my rehab through some cool app called Spotify. It was such a nifty little thing. I want something that had that on it. "What’s up?"

"I accidentally let you stay on too long. Your grandfather and Mr. Mathers are waiting for you in your room." I blinked in surprise, looking down at the phone in my hand that I had pulled out to turn off the app. It was in fact 10:10, an hour over what I was supposed to have been in here for.

"Oh, well. Guess we should get going then." As I gave Ruth back her phone and earphones, I could feel the butterflies in my stomach. This was it. I was going to be going home to a whole new family. Papa had already explained that my father wasn't going to be picking me up until Monday so I was going to be staying with Papa, his wife, and his daughter - my aunt, even though she was only a couple of years older than me.

Before I knew it, Ruth was walking us into my room where Papa and Eric Mathers turned away from each other and stood to their feet. Papa instantly swooped forward to give me a hug, making sure to be very mindful of my ribs. After we parted Eric Mathers greeted me with a handshake that I hardly grasped before letting my hand fall back at my side. If Eric Mathers was offended he was very good at hiding it.

"Well, I've already talked to your grandfather about what’s going on but I still wanted to explain it to you so if you have any questions you can ask them now," he spoke with a smile on his face.

"Thank you," I spoke sincerely. It was nice to know that he wasn't going to treat me like a child. Points to Eric Mathers. Maybe one day I will be willing to refer to him as just one half of his name.

"I’ll be right back, Juliet. I’m going to go sign you out and see if Ms. Ruth here can help me find your doctor," Papa spoke as he placed a hand on my shoulder. I nodded and soon he was led out of the room by Ruth. Once he shut the door behind himself the room felt smaller than it had the last few days. Eric Mathers motioned for me to sit in the seat Papa had occupied and I obliged.

"The basic idea is that once your father gets back his business trip I will be coming to his house to see how you’re doing. Then I will be coming to visit you once a week. If he treats you badly, no matter if it’s physically or mentally, that’s the perfect time to tell me. Though I will give you my phone number in case an emergency happens between my visits."

I thought this over. So he was going to be checking up on me to make sure everything was going okay. If I was unhappy with the way he treated me I could back out and truly become a warden of the state. I mean, hopefully it wouldn't come to that, but it’s nice to know there was always that option.

"How long will you be checking up on me?"

"It’ll be weekly and after a while it’ll be monthly. After that, you probably won’t need me around anymore. So, estimating, I would say about six to eight months?"

"Am I going to to have my name changed?"

"That’s up to your decision," Eric Mathers admitted. "Your mother changed your name from Haner when you were younger so if you decide to change it back, that’s at your discretion. But you don’t have to make that decision until you’re ready."

I nodded and thought over my next question carefully. "What if I just don’t really....care for him? Like, not that he abuses me or hates me, but what if we just don’t really like each other. Is it just like, well, I’m stuck with him or...?"

"Uhm." I stumped Eric Mathers for maybe 2.7 seconds before he was back into his ‘I have all the answers’ persona. "Well, I mean, yes. As you put it, you are stuck with him. Not liking your parents isn't a reason to get taken away, Juliet."

I gave a small nod again with a slight frown.

"Unless your father decides to put you up for adoption." My head shot up at that. He almost looked disgusted with himself for mentioning it, but he didn't try to take it back or avoid it. "Your grandfather assures me it’s not likely for him to do so, but if you and your father both don’t agree with each other, he can give up his parental rights to the state of California."

Or if he just decides he doesn’t like the idea of being a father.

I quickly threw out the thought. I couldn't afford to think that way right now. Luckily I didn't have too long to hover on it since this was about the time Ruth, Papa, and Dr. Starling appeared. The three beamed at us which Eric Mathers instantly returned while mine was more half assed. We both stood and Dr. Starling swooped forward to testily prod at my ribs. When I gave no more than a wince, he seemed content enough to allow Papa to sign some papers for my release. He went over the fact he wanted me to continue my physical therapy on my own and to do the breathing exercises and apply ice packs.

After a hurried goodbye from the doctor and a handshake exchanged between Papa and Eric Mathers, we were left alone with Ruth. She was giving Papa a more detailed explanation of what the doctor wanted me to do. Once he was fully caught up and feeling much better about what was happening, Ruth turned to me with a soft smile.

"Thank you Ruth. For everything."

"It’s no problem, Juliet. You've been an absolute delight to have around. I’m gonna miss your sarcastic, smart ass remarks," Ruth laughed as she gave me a hug. I tightly returned it with a soft laugh too. "If you need to talk to someone, you can always contact me through the hospital. You don’t have to call me, but just in case you need me."

"Again, thank you." With one last squeeze, Ruth bid us her goodbye as we headed to the door. It was relatively quiet as we made our way down the hall and to the elevator. Once we exited onto the first floor and then strolled into the parking garage where Papa parked, I breathed in deeply. God I've missed the outside world. Papa led me over to a silver Mercedes-Benz which had me raising my eyebrow. I didn't realized a guitarist for hire could afford a vehicle like this.

"You hungry?" I snapped my head up to see Papa leaning across the top of the car.

"Starving," I admitted with a chuckle. Papa smiled and patted the car.

"Whelp, get in. We’ll eat on the way home."