Tysheirrah Warren
English Comp I
Section: 096
September 07th, 2013 his love for water
It was July 10th, 2012, the summer of my junior year in high school. My father and I had driven to Norfolk, Virginia to see my father’s step-son from his first marriage. His name was Andrew. When we were younger we were very close but when he moved to Atlanta my freshman year, we fell off. Andrew was in the navy stationed at Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk Virginia. My father didn’t want me to know but I knew we were going to see Andrew because he had a traumatic incident the week before. He had fallen out of a plane into Chesapeake Bay and was now in critical condition. When we arrived to the hospital he had a helmet on his head and his body was motionless. I didn’t cry because I had not been emotionally attached to my step-brother for years. My father broke down into tears and stormed out of the cold dull room. Hospitals always smelled like coffee to me. Strong and intense. The doctor came in and told my ex step-mother and I that Andrew suffered from a traumatic brain injury and almost drowned before the rescue team could reach him. She didn’t say a word and I was day dreaming about what this all might mean. I must have been looking at the mint green clock for about an hour before Aleesha, my ex step-mother, asked me what I wanted to eat. “A turkey sandwich” I said. Then my father walked back into the room. Silence had returned. My father’s eyes were bloodshot red and his face was buried into his lap. My stomach growled so loud that I was embarrassed to make eye contact with anyone in the room. So I looked around at the grey walls and lavender floor tiles. I was so dizzy that I laid down in the empty bed on the other side of the curtain from Andrews bed. Another doctor came in and told us that he had water in his lungs and was being transported to intensive care. Then a pastor walked in the door and began to pray over Andrew. Everything at this moment seemed so real and uncomfortable. I wished now more than ever that there was such a thing as a genie. If it were real then I would wish for his speedy recovery, I didn’t want to spend my summer in a hospital or on a naval base. Aleesha came back with the food and we began to talk. She asked me about my plans after high school and why I didn’t keep in touch. I thought her whole conversation was phony and a waste. She and I both know she never liked me or my relationship I had with Andrew. Honestly she might have been the reason we fell off. After his move to Atlanta I called a lot and it seems as so she never delayed my messages because he never returned my calls. Sometimes I would call from a private number hoping to get an answer but it never happened. Days passed by and Andrew finally woke up. He never returned to his usual self. He had a twitch and his words were discombobulated. The doctors said he would get better but things only got worse. After a while he stopped talking and he started having seizures. I was beginning to second think God and the whole religion thing. Andrew was a Christian and believed in God all of his life, so why was he suffering? Why did God not cure him of any illness since Andrew was his obedient son? I had so many questions and not so many answers and now I was beginning to get frustrated. Every time Andrew opened his eyes I made sure I made movement so that he could see me. But his face expressions never changed and he never made any movement that said he was surprised or shocked! Does he know who I am? I wondered. My father had been with his mother since I was two until my eighth grade year. It’s crazy how this unfortunate situation had to bring us back together. I was now starting to realize that this was a serious matter and it would get crazier as time moved on. Who knew how water can destroy your life? I always thought of water as essential or something a living thing couldn’t go through life without, and here was Andrew,