"Dad," I whisper, coming to his bedside. His eyes are closed. I shiver at the cuts along his arms and neck.
A long bandage runs along the side of his face. The left eye is ringed with a dark black circle. His bottom lip is cracked and swollen. Two of his fingers are clamped in a splint. Broken I'm guessing.
"Aria." His eyes open and he smiles at me. "How are you feeling?"
I choke back a sob. He's asking how I'm feeling? But that's Dad, always putting me first. If it wasn't for him believing in me, he'd never have let me work for him at MaxLife.
"Why would anyone do this to you?" I ask as Mom settles down on the other side of the bed. "Mom says someone came into the house and ransacked it."
Dad licks his dried lips and tries to sit up. Mom pushes him back down telling him to take it easy. There's something unsettling about seeing my dad, once so strong and capable, lying there on the hospital bed, bruised and broken. The only other time I saw him look unraveled was when we first discovered my grams' sickness. Being here now at the hospital brings back all of those awful memories.
It had been my twelfth birthday. The piles of presents were stacked up on the table and I had snuck inside and been secretly pulling back the tape of each package, getting an early peek.
Everyone else was outside, cheering over the magician Mom had hired. But Grams had wandered into the living room and caught me in the act.
"Oh!" I exclaimed, clamping the wrapping paper back into place, tucking my hands behind my back. "I was um ... just checking out the presents."
"Who are you?" Grams frowned at me. "You're not supposed to be in here."
I giggled, used to her teasing over the years. "I know." I sighed. "I'll head back outside with the others."
Dad strolled in then, reminding me I was missing the action. But that's when Grams grabbed Dad and pointed at me.
"This girl was trying to open Aria's presents," she said.
"But that is Aria." Dad's smile faltered. "You remember Aria, don't you?"
But she didn't. At least not for the rest of the day. And that's when the downhill cycle began. Grams had Alzheimer's disease. Birthdays were never the same.
So now, sitting here at Dad's side, smelling the sterile hospital smells, and seeing him tucked beneath crisp, white sheets, it's like I'm losing him just like I have piece by piece been losing my grams.
"I'm not as bad as I look." Dad tries to smile, but his facial muscles can't seem to pull it off.
"Why would anyone do this?" Mom wrings her hands. "The police say the intruders took nothing, but it seemed like they were looking for something."
"I could be wrong," Dad says. "But I think they were looking for the technology for the Dreamscape. The lab is too secure for them to enter so maybe they had been hoping I would keep some of the files at home."
"Oh, honey." Mom grips Dad's hand, her face shockingly pale. "First thing tomorrow, I'll call our security company and upgrade the system. And I don't want you to go back to MaxLife until we know everything is safe there, too."
Dad nods, but his eyes are distant, clouded. "I'm going to keep you safe. I will do everything in my power."
I finger the edge of the sheet, thinking how empty his words sound. People who can break into our house, destroy it, beat up my dad, what's a little security system going to do? How does he think he can keep us safe when he's lying there in a hospital bed?
With no severe injuries and after being watched overnight, Dad was discharged the next afternoon. But when we return home, I gasp as I stare at the disaster that greets us. Every drawer in the house is ripped open and tossed on the ground. Papers are strewn across the floor. The cushions and pillows are slashed, stuffing drifting about the house.
I press my hand over my mouth to hold back the sob.
"I can't handle this," Mom says weakly, stumbling through the mess.
Dad settles onto a kitchen chair, one of the very few that's still intact.
"You okay missing school today?" Dad asks. "Second day in a row?"
"Of course. I can't deal with school right now. How about you? I can't think of a time you missed work."
"Can't say I can either. But then there's a first for everything isn't there, sweetie?"
A sobbing sound breaks the silence. I rush to the source to find Mom by her plants, trying desperately to scoop up the dirt into piles and salvage the tattered stems and leaves. The clay pots lie shattered across the tiled floor with dirt spilled about. I sink down at her side and wrap my arms around her. The smell of dirt fills the air mixed with the sweet scent of fresh herbs.
Mom's tears spill down her cheeks as she mutters, "Why? Why would someone do this?"
"I don't know." I gather up the shards. "The important thing is we are safe and together."
"Yes." Mom presses her hands against my cheeks. "Yes, I don't think I could handle it if anything happened to you or your dad."
A knocking at the front door sends both Mom and me springing to our feet. Dad motions for us to stay where we are and creeps to peer out of the peephole. I clutch Mom's arm for support as she pulls out her phone, probably planning on calling 911. But Dad only chuckles and begins unlocking the door.
"It's the MaxLife team." Dad flings open the door. "Well, hello, there."
"How did they know?" Mom mumbles as the crew barrels inside laden with boxes of food and buckets of cleaning supplies.
"I might have texted the team to let them know what was going on," I admit to Mom.
"We're here to help." Sun holds up a box of garbage bags.
"Mission Hale is operational," Javier announces, waving a broom.
"Brought some food 'cause I knew you'd be disappointed if I hadn't." Tony hoists up a stack of pizza boxes. The smell of it actually makes my stomach grumble. I can't remember the last time I ate. Granola bars with Jake yesterday?
"He only ate most of it," Javier adds. "But he saved two of the five boxes for the rest of us."
Everyone laughs and I find myself almost joining in as I meet my team by the door. Sun hugs me while Javier gives me a kiss on the forehead saying, "¡Hermanita! We were all so worried when we heard the news."
Tony teeters the pizza tower across the room and settles the stack on the kitchen counter. He blows out a long drawn-out whistle as he studies the disaster of our home.
"They ruined you good, didn't they?" Tony says.
"Tony!" Sun clucks her tongue. "Give them space. They might not be ready to talk about it yet." Then to me, "I'm going to make us girls a cup of tea, won't that be nice? I brought some green tea from Hong Kong that I think you'll like. It's soothing on the nerves."
She starts rummaging through the mess on the floor until she finds our teapot, thankfully still intact.
"Good luck finding an unbroken cup," I mumble.
"We've got your back, Aria." Javier is already sweeping up the broken glass on the floor. "We might not be family by blood, but we are family in spirit."
I nod, not trusting my voice to speak. I've always known them to be good friends, but this takes it to a new level.
Tony marches out of the kitchen, chopping on a piece of pizza. In his other hand, he holds a paper plate with a giant pepperoni piece on it. He passes it to me and I take it gratefully.
"I'm in charge of food, entertainment, and making sure Javier puts his share of work in." Tony winks. "Any special music requests?"
"Chopin," Sun yells from the other side of the room.
Tony screws up his face as if someone layered his pizza with anchovies. "Please," he says. "Something from this century."
The two continue to tease each other as I take a bite of the pizza, savoring the warmth and flavor. I know I should help with the cleaning, but all I can do right now is step outside. My feet lead me to Mom's greenhouse. Amazingly, it's been untouched. Inside the smells of fresh herbs and flowers hit me, dousing me with memories of summers potting plants, recording growth in Mom's journals, and clothes covered with dirt at the end of the day.
I crawl under one of the counters, not caring about the dirt-ridden floor, and munch on the corner of my pizza crust. It's good to be in a place that feels safe and untouched. I just need a few moments to pull myself together before I rejoin the others. Still, I can't help but think how ironic that in the Dreamscape, I'm the one leaping out of helicopters and jumping across pits, but here in the real world, I'm a shivering mess, huddled under the counter.
Suddenly, I'm not hungry anymore. I toss my crust in the bin across from me and crawl back out from under the counter, squaring my shoulders and taking a long, deep breath.
"You can do this, Aria," I tell myself.
My phone beeps.
Jake: I'm holding your car for ransom. 1.2 million for its release.
Attached is a selfie. Jake's sitting on the hood of my car, holding a water gun and attempting a don't-mess-with-me expression.
I laugh and nibble on my pinkie. How is it that a guy I hardly know can make me laugh? My stomach flutters. It's fluttering because of the pizza, I tell myself. I've got a career to focus on and the goal to graduate at the top of my class. This whole break-in is messing with my head and drive. The last thing I need is a guy to add to the chaos. It's probably the effects of the whole rescuer/hero thing. Nothing more.
I dig through my pocket and pull out the quotes I printed off this morning. I'd been too upset to tape them to my wall so I'd jammed them into my pocket hoping they would give me the extra reassurance I needed.
Focus only on your goal. Don't waver from forward motion.
Learn from your failures.
Slowly I shuffle out of the dirt-caked corner and face my house. I take in a long, deep breath. I can do this. I'm strong. I'm the Air Girl. The one who leaps from helicopters and as I dive across fragmented memories.
I swing open the greenhouse door and ease out into the afternoon sun. But before I step inside and join the others, I pause and stare back at my phone, debating. Before I can stop myself, I shoot off a text.
Me: You got yourself a deal.