Perfectly Imperfect

Chapter 25

There was an ominous atmosphere in the ER waiting room as the family and Joshua sat there. David's mother had offered to bring Joshua home, but he refused -- saying Kalel was a friend and he had to be there for her. David borrowed Mari's phone and called Ian, letting him know the situation and telling him to call Anthony. Once the mechanical things were out of the way, all they could do was wait. And waiting was worse than anything because it allowed David's anxious thoughts to snowball into the worst possible scenarios. What if she didn't make it? How could he deal with knowing he was mostly responsible for her death? What would her future have held if this hadn't happened?

David folded his hands together in front of his face, resting his lips against his thumbs. It was a motion akin to prayer, except he didn't know the first thing to do beyond that. He never believed in God or any of those spiritual things before, but if it took a miracle beyond his power to right this wrong, he was willing to try anything. So he shut his eyes and repeated the mantra to himself and any deity who might have been listening -- please let her be okay. PLEASE let her be okay!

Twenty agonizing minutes passed by; twenty agonizing minutes of people rushing in with various maladies, nurses scurrying around, and, ultimately, twenty minutes of waiting. Eventually, the door burst open with Ian and Anthony dashing inside. David lowered his hands and looked up at them somberly. 

Anthony was the first to locate the group, scurrying over with breathless concern, "How is she?"

David shook his head gravely, "No word."

"We've been waiting for about a half hour now," Joshua added.

Mari sat there, chewing her nails anxiously, "I was so scared. I never saw someone bleeding like that before. And I've seen a lot of injuries and messed up things happen over my career as a dancer. I just hope she's okay..."

"You and me both," Anthony agreed, swallowing his lump of fear. 

"You..." Kenichi began low, extending his index finger toward Anthony. "You did this to my daughter! It's because of you she's not sleeping! It's because of you, she's distracted from her studies!"

Anthony's eyes widened at the accusation, and for a moment, no one jumped to his defense, not even himself. He made a sound of protest, but David got up first, "No. If anyone it's because of you."

It was Kenichi's turn to be surprised. He reared back for a second, astonished, before regaining his bearings, "What did you just say?"

"You heard me. Maybe if you didn't give her so much pressure to fit into your mold. Maybe if you spent a little more time nurturing her for who she is and less time praising her accomplishments as though they're the only things she's worth, we wouldn't be here. Maybe if you accepted that Kalel's less than perfect and that's what makes her beautiful, we wouldn't be in this fucked up mess!" David's voice rose by the end as did his anger. He wasn't necessarily mad at Kenichi, more so at the situation, but Kenichi made a great scapegoat. 

Everyone fell into stunned silence. For a moment, Kenichi's expression contorted in rage -- but the expression soon collapsed into despair. "You're right. You're right, I've been a terrible father." He looked toward Anthony. "I'm sorry."

Anthony shrugged it off, "It's no big deal. And there's no point in tossing the blame on anyone. We all want the same thing right now -- for her to be okay. So let's focus on that, yeah?"

The group nodded, but David didn't feel appeased. He was still full of anger -- at himself and at the situation -- that he needed to do something. He couldn't just sit there. So he muttered that he was going outside, storming forward and grabbing the nearest trash can -- upending it on his war path before kicking the door open. David stalked through the parking lot, moving forward with no real goal in mind. After a few seconds, he heard the door open behind him -- and then in no time, there was a warm rush of arms around his waist. David didn't even have to turn around to know it was Ian.