UNEDITED
Not all storms come to disrupt your life, some come to clear your path.
Those are the words that Justin McCallister has been repeating in his mind since the day he was diagnosed with a non-cancerous brain tumour that's been causing partial...
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Justin
When Addie leaves to head home for dinner, I feel better than I have in years.
As of today, I've set a new record for being seizure-free. Eleven days. Eleven days of living like an almost normal person. Either the meds have finally started to work or I've been getting enough sleep and eating the right food. Maybe it's a combination of all three.
Whatever the cause, I'm so happy that my mom begins to throw questions at me during dinner.
"What's got you smiling?" Mom asks after a forkful of rice pilaf.
Chris rolls his eyes. "Isn't it obvious, Mom? He's in love with that Addie girl."
I reach over and rustle my little brother's hair. "Since when do you know what love is?"
Chris tries to swat my hand away, but because of the fact that he's smiling, I can tell he likes this banter between us. And I do too. Our relationship has been extremely unstable for the past year now that he's gotten older and can understand things better, and I desperately miss the way we used to be. I just want at least one thing to represent how things used to be in this family.
I know it will never be the same as it was. The only possible way for that to happen is if Chris was permitted to stop going back and forth between our parents and stay in one home, preferably this one, where I know he's safe and not stuck with some volatile psychopath we have the sad privilege of calling our father. Where I can protect both him and Mom in case anything happens again. But if we can get along, that's good enough for me.
With an ache in my heart, I look at the scar my mom bears just above her right eyebrow. The events of that day replay again and again in my head. A shiver caresses my spine and goosebumps dot my skin. I just can't bear to think what would have happened if I hadn't been there to pull my father away from her. It was four years ago, but that's the thing about traumatic events and pain – you only adapt to them, they never go away. No matter what you do, you've seen it and it will be in your mind forever, sometimes acting as a movie stuck on replay and other days hiding in the deepest, darkest parts.
Something smacking the side of my face brings me back into reality. "Huh?" I ask, reaching up to wipe my face. My fingers come back coated in rice pilaf. I instantly scope out the culprit: Chris. "What was that for?" I ask, trying hard to not break my poker face.
"Mom asked you a question," he replies, warily eyeing my fork as if he thinks I'm going to fling food right back at him.
"Oh," I say. "Sorry." I turn to Mom. "What?"
With a small smile on her face, she looks down at her food, pushing it around with her fork. "I was wondering if you're ready for your midterm?"
I think back to all the studying Addie and I have been doing, narrowly avoiding what happened after the studying. I definitely can't think about that right now. "Addie's done everything she can to help me," I reply. "I think I am ready. She actually made me a practice exam and I got an A on it." Just for safe measure, I throw in a shrug and take another bite of dinner. "I think I can do it."
