A new day. I hope it's not like yesterday. I made my way out of my bed and down the stairs to the kitchen. Dad was standing against the counter brewing coffee.
"Feeling any better?" He asked.
"Yes actually. May I leave the house today father?" I asked.
"I suppose, but you're staying with me" he said. "I know you'll do something stupid at school"
"Dad, when am I not doing something stupid?" I laughed.
"Alright no need to put yourself down" dad got serious making me laugh again.
"I'm joking dad" I said as I walked over to the table. I slowly sat down, making dad frown again.
"You're still in pain, aren't you?" He asked.
"Just a little. I'll be fine" I mumbled. Dad shook his head.
"Rest another day" he said. I sighed and put my head in my hands. Today was not going to be fun.

Dad handed me a cup of coffee before heading to his office to prepare a few things. I stared at my cup, not feeling like doing anything. Suddenly, my vision started going white and I felt dizzy. I clutched onto the table, afraid of  falling out of my chair. As soon as the spell came, it left. Dad walked back into the room with a folder in his hands.
"You okay?" He asked. I nodded and took some deep breaths, causing more pain in my side.
"I'm fine" I said weakly. Dad gave me a worried look again and sat next to me.
"Maybe I should stay home with you. I can do some writing in the office" he said.
"No dad, go to work. I'll be fine" I said.
"You sure?" He asked as he put his arm on my shoulder. I nodded so he stood up. "Alright, call me if you need anything"
"Will do" I said. Dad smiled slightly and walked out of the house with his folder in one hand and his keys in the other.

That dizzy spell scared me. Now I really didn't want to do anything. I felt bad not telling dad what happened, but i was scared. I was not going back to the hospital. I laid down on the couch and stared at the ceiling. The silence creeped me out, but I had no energy to get up and turn something on for noise.  Tears formed in my eyes as I got lost in my thoughts. I worried about graduating, about my health, about my summer, and about my future. It all felt like too much.

My mind was pulled back into reality by my phone ringing. I took my time sitting up and wiped away my tears. My phone sat on the coffee table so I carefully leaned forward to check it. Dad was calling. I sighed and picked up.
"Hello?"
"Hey Parker" that wasn't dad's voice.
"Eric?" I asked.
"Yup. How are you feeling?"
"Alright" I was not going to tell him how about shitty I really felt. "I miss you"
"I miss you too. We all do. Your dad said you had a rough morning"
"I'm fine"
"Just wanted to check in and see how things were"
"Thanks"
"Hopefully we see you soon. Talk later"
Eric hung up before I could say goodbye. That was weird. Maybe dad just wanted to check up on me without it being obvious. Why else would Eric call on his phone. I tossed my phone back onto the table and laid back down.

I closed my eyes and got lost in thought again. I couldn't help but think about how much I fucked up these last few weeks. I just hope it's not too late. I hope I didn't ruin my summer job before it even started. I did my best to relax and eventually fell asleep.

I woke up to the sound of footsteps. When my eyes opened I was startled to see dad standing in front of me.
"Have a good nap?" He asked. I rubbed my eyes as I sat up.
"What time is it?" I mumbled.
"Only 3. We finished early today" dad said. He took a seat on the arm chair facing the couch. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm okay" I looked down at my hands as I played with my fingers.
"You're not hiding anything, are you?" Dad asked. I shook my head no, making him sigh. I looked up to see his head in his hands.
"I'm fine dad, really" I said softly. Dad looked up at me and smiled.
"Okay bud. I believe you. Just please talk to me if you need to" he said. He then got up and walked upstairs.

I sat on the couch, wanting to cry. Crazy thing was I didn't know why, I guess I was just feeling so many things at once I was overwhelmed. I finally worked up the courage to stand up and go talk to dad. I made my way up to his office slowly, worried another dizzy spell would hit as I climbed the stairs.

I found dad sitting at his desk writing. He looked up at me and smiled.
"Hey bud, what's up?" He asked.
"Can I sit in here with you?" I asked.
"Of course, take a seat" he pointed to the small sofa against the wall. I sat down and silently watched dad get back to wiring. "You sure you're okay?" He asked, his head still down in his notes.
"I don't know dad. I feel really down today" I finally admitted, holding back my tears. Dad looked up at me.
"That's okay buddy. I'd imagine being stuck home all day in pain is depressing. It's normal. Thank you for telling me" he said in a gentle voice.
"I just want to be better" I mumbled.
"You'll get better soon. Once you're feeling good enough to go out you'll start to happier again. Until then, I'm here for you. I always will be bud" he smiled at me and I smiled back.
"Thanks dad"

I sat with dad in his office until it got late. We didn't do much talking after that so dad could work, but I did feel better knowing he was right there.
"I'm going to try and get some sleep" I said as I stood up.
"Okay" dad didn't look up from his work. "Goodnight"
"Goodnight dad. Don't stay up too late" I joked. I walked out of his office and I into my bedroom. I crawled into bed and got lost in my thoughts again, putting me right back into a bad mood. I couldn't sleep, I was too stressed. I tossed and turned half the night until exhaustion kicked in, putting me right to sleep. Well, tomorrow was a new day, right?