- 6.
They didn’t rush Ashley to the emergency
<
Instead, they started banging on my door.
I calmly opened it and stared at my mom, who
was about to explode. “Maybe you should
take Ashley to the hospital.”
“She’s working really hard at it.”
I didn’t think I’d said anything wrong, but my
mom turned red. “Autumn, your dad and I are
already giving you both the same treatment.
What more do you want?”
Honestly, I had no clue what she was on
about. “I used to ask for equal treatment. You
always said no.”
“Now you’re buying the same fruit, which
wasn’t even my idea, and you’re yelling at me.
Why?”
く
My dad came over, looking tired. He sighed.
“Autumn, apologize to your mom. Ashley got
sick because of you.”
I wasn’t in the mood to argue. I bowed to my
mom. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come back
to this house. It’s all my fault. Take your
precious daughter to the hospital.”
“Any later, and she might actually get better.”
I closed the door before my mom could say
anything.
I could hear them arguing in the living room.
I didn’t try to listen, but I caught a few
phrases: “Autumn’s getting out of hand. She’s
trying to make us give in.”
“We’ve already given her what she wanted.
Now she’s just acting up.”
I stared at that for a moment. Then it hit me.
They thought I was acting different. They
thought I was trying to make them feel bad.
I didn’t get it.
When I did argue, they told me to stop.
Now that I wasn’t arguing, they were telling
me to start.
I put in my earbuds and kept reading. By the
time I was tired, it was dark.
The living room was empty.
I was hungry. When I went downstairs to grab
takeout, I ran into my dad.
He frowned at the food in my hand. “Autumn,
don’t eat that. Your mom’s coming back to
make you dinner.”
He tried to grab my food.
I took a step back. “It’s okay. The last time
you said that, I waited all day and ended up
with low blood sugar. No one came back.”
Dad sighed. “Autumn, I know your mom and I
haven’t been paying as much attention to you
lately. You’re upset.”
“But you know Ashley’s not well. We’re doing
this for you.”
<
He looked at me.
I nodded. “Yeah, I know. I’m going back
upstairs.”
My dad stopped me. “We left in a hurry. We
didn’t bring Ashley’s medical records. Could
you get them for me?”
I smiled. “Sure.”
After eating, I opened my laptop and reviewed
the classes.
I was having fun, and time went by fast. When
I shut down, my mom was sitting on the
couch.
I stared at her. “What are you doing back?”
<
Mom pointed to the takeout container on the
table. “I thought I said I was going to make
you dinner. What is this?”
I didn’t know what to say.
After a few seconds, I started cleaning up.
“It’s nothing. I was hungry.”
Mom watched me. She seemed like she
wanted to say something, but she didn’t.
They used to tell me to eat something quick
because they had to take care of Ashley.
Now I was doing what they wanted, and she
was still mad.
I threw out the trash and went back to my
く
The next day, Mom and Dad came back with
Ashley.
I didn’t expect that.
Her illness was related to how my parents
focused on me.
If they were nice to me, she would be sick for
a day or two.
If they said that I was great, she would be
sick for a few days.
I thought she would stay in the hospital for a
week.
It was okay, because I was going to leave
soon.
