Floating in the Abyss ✔️

Chapter 49

I made sure to creep around the house, trying to avoid Ryan. I wasn't exactly very independent yet. I still didn't know how to use the TV and I wasn't great at making myself food, since it was never a skill I could practice much. This meant that I really had nothing much I could do.

"River?" I yelled out. Bad idea.

"A-ha!" Ryan yelled, running into the kitchen where I was standing. The only place I could run was the pantry, and that wasn't going to help at all. "You're stuck Ash." He smirked, lunging for me. I screamed as he grabbed me by the waist and threw me over his shoulder.

"Ryan! Put me down!" I yelled, laughing whilst panicking. I didn't know where we were headed, but as we walked through the living room and out the back door, I really began to worry. "No, no, no, Ryan! Put me down right now!" I screamed.

"Fair's fair baby." He laughed. Before I could plead any more, he threw me into the pool. Although I had treaded water just fine with dad next to me, alone was a totally different story. The pool had dropped in temperature from having no heater turned on, and my tracksuit pants were weighing me down. The last second I had before my head dropped under water again, I heard yelling.

I couldn't have been underneath for more than a few seconds when a strong arm grabbed my wrist and pulled me right out of the water. I sat on the concrete, trying to catch my breath.

"Get your mum right now!" Dad yelled. I had never heard him yell before, and it was in serious anger this time too.

"I'm okay." I told him, once I'd almost caught my breath. My body wasn't strong enough for anything like that, so no wonder I felt as woozy as I did.

"What happened?" Mum came out, frazzled and worried. Ryan was close behind her. She had a few towels which they wrapped around me, trying to stop the shivering. It was more from shock than it was the cold.

"I'm fine." I told them, trying to catch Ryan's eye, but he kept looking at the ground.

"Go upstairs Ryan." Dad said strictly. "He's eighteen for heavens sake." He mumbled.

"He didn't know." I tried to explain. "It wasn't his fault."

"Don't worry about that right now honey. Are you okay?"

"I just tried to do what Dad taught me. I'm fine." I told her, looking up at him. He smiled but it didn't reach his eyes.

"Let's go inside." He scooped me up from the ground and carried me inside. Although I wasn't cold and was barely shivering anymore, the electric fireplace was turned on and I was instructed to sit by it, so that I wouldn't get sick. I had to admit, the warmth was extremely soothing. Abi curled up next to me and mum and dad disappeared upstairs.

I was worried about Ryan. He wasn't to blame at all. I should have said to him that I couldn't actually swim.

I lay there, patting Abi. Although I'd been afraid of dogs before I got here, Abi was docile and calm. She rarely barked and never jumped, just gently went about her day. I was really beginning to trust her.

"Hey Ash." I heard Ryan. I sat up. "I'm so sorry." He hugged me. "I shouldn't have thrown you into the pool, even if I had known you couldn't swim."

"It's okay." I hugged him back.

"I'll make it up to you, I promise."

"You don't need to, it's fine." I smiled.

"I nearly let my sister drown. I think I need to make it up to her." He rolled his eyes, chuckling. I could tell he was actually apologetic. "Can you put some clothes on now though? I'm not really liking the whole bikini thing."

"I thought I looked pretty."

"You do. Always. But you're also freezing and have no fat on you to keep you warm, unlike me."

"You're not fat!" I rolled my eyes, giggling at him.

"That's right. Pure muscle baby." He smirked, flexing his bicep. "But seriously, clothes?"

"Alright, alright!"

I went and got changed, slipping on a hoodie and shorts.

"Much better. Now I don't feel like you're just wearing your underwear." Ryan chuckled.

"Excuse me?" Mum raised an eyebrow at him. "She can wear whatever she wants, and it most certainly isn't your place to tell her."

"I just mean I don't want people looking." He said sheepishly.

"Who's people?" She stood there, hands on her hips. I hadn't seen this side of her before.

"There are people. We have friends you know."

"I can't see any of them."

"They're not here right now but...you get what I mean!" He huffed. She laughed and walked away.

"Oh, Ash?" She came back.

"Yeah?" I looked up.

"You have another appointment with Ella tomorrow."

"What, why?" I asked. I just had one.

"It's not a consultation with you. She wants to talk to me, you and Dad so we're going tomorrow because Dad has work during the week." I had no idea what consultation meant but I didn't mind. What could she want to talk about though? Surely not their argument.

Ryan said he was going to do some homework, so that he didn't have to do it over the weekend, so I got my book again and relaxed on the couch. I was told that I wasn't allowed to go back to sleep since we were having dinner soon, so I had to keep busy. Mum was very keen on keeping me with a daily routine. She said it would help when I went back to school, so not sleeping during the day was part of that. I'd gotten better, but I still didn't have enough energy every day.

"Ash?" Dad asked, coming into the lounge room. "Don't hold the book so close to your face, kiddo, it'll strain your eyes."

"I can't see it then." I told him, putting it at my lap. He came over and held the book at different distances, asking if I could read the words. Unless it was really close, I couldn't see anything. The lines were just blurry and too hard to read.

"Looks like you'll be visiting me at my big office this week." He sighed, smiling softly. "Glasses are what you need."