Chapter 72

Today is the day of April's wedding and unfortunately I have to miss it, since I'm still in the hospital recovering from my surgery. It's been six days since my operation, but I have to remain in the hospital for a couple of more days before I can go home, since my body is more susceptible to post-op infection since I don't have a spleen. My pain has been pretty bearable since the operation, but I was extra sore today since I've been walking around getting physical therapy, because Bailey wants to make sure I'm physically ready to go home in a couple of days. I feel kind of bad for not being able to go to April's wedding, since she was so helpful in me and Jackson's wedding, but she completely understood.

"And you're sure that you don't need me to stay." Jackson asks me. He's about to leave for the wedding, but he doesn't want to leave me at the hospital, even though I told him it's okay.

"Avery, go. I'm going to be fine. I'm going to lay here and get some rest and you're going to go watch your best friend get married. Stop worrying." I smile.

"Okay, but just call me if you need me to come back to the hospital." He says as he leans over to kiss me.

"Okay, now go and make sure to check on April as soon as you get to the wedding. She's probably freaking out and Meredith, Cristina, and Arizona are not the people to give her a pep talk considering all the drama they have going on right now." I say. Even though Arizona and Callie are giving things another chance, they're still very distant and Meredith and Cristina are still feuding, so they all have a bunch of drama going on right now.

"Okay, I will. I'll see you when I get back." He smiles.

"Okay, bye. I love you." I say.

"I love you too." He says kissing me before he leaves. Once Jackson is gone I decide to turn the T.V. on and try to find something to watch. One thing I hate about recovering from surgery is that it means spending way more time than I would like being confined to a bed, not able to do anything productive. I see that there's a NBA game on so I decide to watch that. I'm not really a super big sports fan, but Jackson loves sports, so I've grown to tolerate them.

"Um, hey. Do you mind if I come in?" My brother says as he stands at the door. We still haven't spoken, because I didn't think I was ready. I'm recovering from donating part of my liver to my dead beat dad, I think I have an excuse not to want to be emotionally overwhelmed by new people in my life. The only reason that I even knew that he was my brother is because I caught a glimpse of him when he was speaking to my father before the surgery, plus they really resemble.

"Um, no it's fine. Come in." I say. Even though I didn't really want to speak, I didn't want to be rude. I mean it's not his fault that our dad's a deadbeat.

"Well, before I begin I want to introduce myself. I mean I figured I should start off by introducing myself since we've never met before...and I'm rambling. Sorry, I do that when I get nervous, but I'm Sean." He smiles.

"It's nice to meet you Sean, I'm Liliana." I smile.

"I wanted to come by and tell you how much I appreciate what you did for dad. I know he's never been there for you, but you still decided to save his life when you didn't have to and I just wanted to say thank you."

"You're welcome." I say.

"Do you mind if I sit?" He asks me.

"No, it's fine." I say as he takes a seat in the chair beside me.

"This is kind of weird you know. Just meeting you. I mean I always knew I had a sister out there, but I never thought we'd get the chance to meet." He says.

"You knew about me?" I ask. I was kind of surprised that he even had any idea I existed. I just always assumed my father never mentioned me to anyone.

"Yeah. When my parents were married, I used to hear them argue a lot about you when they thought I couldn't hear them. They would argue for a while until dad would just storm out when he didn't want to hear anymore. My mom never thought that it was right that our dad wasn't there for you and it bothered her a lot." He sighs.

"That's actually not to surprising. Phillips always been one to walk away when it was time to talk about me." I shrug.

"Yeah, he doesn't have the best track record as a father. Believe me he wasn't a walk in the park to deal with it growing up."

"Really?" I ask. I was always curious about what type of dad Phillip was to his son, since he was never a father to me.

"Yeah I love dad to death, but there is a lot he could've done differently. I mean he was an alcoholic for pretty much as long as I can remember. Almost every night that he came home, he would start arguments with my mom and go around the house yelling and breaking stuff for no reason. And he wasn't any better when he was sober, actually he was worse. He was a control freak. He wanted to control every decision I made, from the clothes I wore, the sports I played, and the girls I dated. I had no say over my life. He never considered what I wanted, all that mattered was what he wanted. I wasn't able to make any of my own decisions in my life until my mom divorced him 6 years ago and he moved out of the house, but to this day he still tries to be in control of me whenever he can." He explains.

"So why do you allow him to still be a part of your life? He sounds like he's a toxic person." I say.

"Because he hasn't been all bad, he has good traits also. He can be supportive and caring when he wants to be. And even though he can be harsh at times, he always stuck up for me whenever I was in trouble, even if it was my fault most of the time. You know I never really thought about the good things about him, until I found out he had liver failure. When I found that out I was ready to drop everything to help him out, but I couldn't because I wasn't a match. When dad told me that he was going to ask you to be his liver donor I thought there was no way in hell, you would do it after how he abandoned you. If you don't mind me asking, why did you do it?" He asks.

"Yeah, that's the same thing everyone keeps asks me."I laugh "I did it because my mom died when I was a teenager from cancer and to this day that's one of the hardest things I've ever went through. It was painful to watch the woman who raised me die slowly and I knew that if I didn't save Phillip, you would go through that and I didn't want that."

"Wow, I'm...I'm sorry about your mom."

"Thanks."

"After how dads treated you? Do you think you could ever forgive him and allow him to be a part of your life?" He asks.

"Honestly, I can forgive him for not being a part of my life, but I don't think I can ever forgive him for walking away from my mom when she needed him or for how much stuff I've had to go through alone because he wasn't around." I say honestly. My mom always taught me to forgive people even when they don't deserve it, but I can't imagine forgiving the man who turned his back on her and left her to raise a child alone. She didn't deserve that. I continued to talk to my brother until he left to check on my father. I actually enjoyed talking to Sean. He seems like a good person, despite being raised by my selfish father. I decided to get some rest, since I was still really tired. By the time I woke up, Jackson was already back and sitting in the chair beside my bed.

"Hey, pretty boy. When did you get back?" I smile.

"An hour ago, sleepyhead." He jokes kissing me on the forehead as he gets in bed with me.

"How was the wedding?" I ask.

"It was nice. April was nervous at first like you said she would be, but once she calmed down everything went smoothly." He says.

"That's good." I sigh.

"So, what did you do while I was gone?" He asks.

"Nothing much. I talked to Sean for a little for a while, then I slept for the rest of the time." I shrug.

"You talked to your brother?" He smiles. Ever since Sean has arrived at the hospital, Jackson has been encouraging me to speak to him. He thinks it would be a good thing for Sean and I to build a brother, sister bond, but I personally think it's to late for that.

"Yeah, we actually had a nice conversation." I say.

"What did you two talk about?" He asks.

"We mostly just talked about Phillip." I say.

"Speaking of Phillip, you know he's been asking to see you." He says. For the past couple of days my dad has been requesting to see me, but I made sure that everyone knew I was not open to seeing him, therefore he hasn't been allowed in my room. He's expected to be released tomorrow, so hopefully once he leaves I won't ever have to see him again.

"I know, but I don't want to see him or talk to him. There's nothing for us to discuss. I gave him what he needed, now he can go back to pretending I don't exist and I can go back to pretending he doesn't exist."

"Are you sure that you want things to go back to how they were before? I know you're father doesn't deserve a chance to be in your life, but are you sure you don't want a relationship with him?" He asks.

"Honestly, yes. Phillips not the kind of guy I want in my life. I know, they say people change, but honestly I don't think he has. I think he's still the same selfish guy he's always been and even if by some chance he has actually changed I still wouldn't want him in my life after how he abandoned my mother and after how much stuff I've had to go through alone when I should've had him by my side. I mean he left my mom to raise me by herself and she couldn't even go to her grave in peace, because the only thing she could think about when she was dying was that after she was gone I would be alone, because I didn't have a father around to take care of me. You know when my mom died, I had to plan every detail of the funeral. It was hard enough grieving without a support system, but to have to wake up every morning the first week she died and pick out flowers and a casket for her made it even harder. My father should've been there so I didn't have to go through that alone, but he wasn't so unless he can turn back time and make up for everything he did to my mother and everything he missed, I never want anything to do with that man again." I say honestly.

"Okay, I can understand that sweetheart and I support your decision. I just want to make sure you make the decision that makes you happy. You're happiness and well being is all that matters to me." He says as he gives me a kiss.

"Well I'm perfectly happy with a life without my father in it. You already give me all the happiness I need, Avery," I smile as I snuggle up to him. "I appreciate you so much for sticking around with me and helping me through everything I've been through these last couple of years. I'm so lucky to have you." I say.

"Well thank you, but I'm the lucky one. Everyday that I spend by your side, you never fail to amaze me. I don't think you realize just how perfect and amazing you are, I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Well you're never going to have to find out." I smile. Even though life isn't perfect I know I can make it through everything with Jackson by my side.