FOCUS- CHAPTER 2
"Iz I think we need to talk about this" Carl says while spreading the blue thin curtains apart, letting air in to declutter his brain from what just happened. "Iz?" he slowly opens the washroom door, his hazel eyes shyly peeks through the space that the door creates.
"It's okay you can come in, what's wrong?" izzie quickly drags the phone away from her ear and looks at him. He steps in the room holding the door wide open "we need to talk" he looks at her for a brief second and turns then leaves the washroom.
She waits for him to disappear from her sight and turns to the mirror. "Get your thoughts together, it's not that hard" she bows her head and takes a long deep breath. She walks out of the washroom and slumps herself next to Carl that is laying on the bed.
"You said I was crying in my sleep?" he looks up at the ceiling aimlessly awaiting an answer. "Yeah, it's almost every day, you don't say anything or even make noises, tears just flow". He turns to look at her with his hand propping his head up," I haven't told you about this fully, but I've been having very realistic dreams these past days" he pauses for two seconds and sits up at the edge of the bed
Izzie crawls up from behind and hugs him "Did you tell Aaron about it?", he remains quiet for some time. She gets off the bed and kneels in front of him. "Are you ok?, you don't have to answer now if you don't want to". "I'm going to sound crazy but i don't think Aaron is real" he looks at her with desperate eyes begging her to believe him.
With a reassuring smile she nods which tells him that he can continue. "I've been going to therapy for two years now, and it just doesn't feel right you know" he stands up walks to the window and looks out. Izzie gets off the floor and follows him.
"It's like he's in my head instead of being in front of me, I..." a soft voice lingers in his ear "Dave". He turns towards izzie who is looking fondly at him, "what did you just call me?" she looks around the room and back at him" I didn't say anything love". He stares deeply into her eyes "IZ you just called me Dave, who is that?."
Her eyes widen with fear as she steps back, "did you take your pills yet? I think you should" she turns to go get his bottle of olanzapine, he stops her by grabbing hold of her hands "It's okay I took them, I just thought you said Dave that's all". She looks at him with worry, then grips his body tightly into a hug, "don't scare me like that".
----------------------------------------------------------------
Lana is on the swing going back and forth at the park, her long brown hair is flowing gracefully in the wind as her soft giggles echo into the atmosphere. Tia is walking towards her with a bag of popcorn in her hand.
"I brought something for you hunny" she smiles brightly as she approaches Lana on the swing. Lana slows down and gets off, she looks at the popcorn with disgust "mom did you forget? We can't eat those things". Tia holds her hand and carries her to the bench, "we can, we just aren't accustom to it yet, that's all".
She holds one popcorn in her hand and looks at Lana, "just try it, for me". Lana stares at it for some seconds and picks it up, "what if something happens to me?" she looks up at Tia and inches it towards her mouth. Tia holds it and shoves it in, she begins chewing it quickly her eyes lights up in amusement. "See nothing happened, eating normal food isn't that bad after all".
Lana snatches the bag of popcorn and runs towards the swing putting a handful of popcorn in her mouth. "Be careful, it's a dry food so choking is possible!" Tia shouts making sure Lana hears her.
...
Carl walks out of the bathroom with a towel rapped around his waist, his hair is sticking to his face and water is racing its way from his hair to the floor. He opens the drawer to get his jogging clothes and walks back into the bathroom.
He opens the front door and locks it behind him, his elderly neighbor sees him and motions for him to come over. "I saw her early this morning with the little girl, they maybe still out there" she says softly while looking around. He walks even closer to her "I don't know those people personally, she keeps bothering me every time she sees me".
The elderly lady stops to think for a moment then "ah! I know what to do, just trust me on this" she says with a cunning smile. He looks around making sure nobody heard, "are you sure that I can trust you with this?." She folds her arms and looks directly into his eyes "just leave it to me, now go before she sees us"
He jogs off as if the conversation never happened, out of breath he stops by the nearby neighborhood park. He lays down on the bright green grass and looks directly at the sun and smiles to himself.
"Dad?" Lana looks down but does not get a response, she stoops down to get closer to him, "Dad, are you ok?" she taps his forehead to snap him out of it. "I'm ok sweetie, where is your mother?" he says while getting off the floor.
Lana also stands up and turns towards the swing she was on. "I'm not sure, she was here a minute ago." her eyes wonder around the park in search of her mother. Carl starts searching for her as well but quickly gives up, he takes hold of Lana' hand and leads the way.
"Where are we going?" she hurries along behind him trying to keep up. He ignores her question and continues to lead her to his house, his neighbor sees them and her jaw drops in shock. They disappear into the house with the door slamming behind them, still in disbelief she sprints down the street in the direction they came from.
Izzie is walking down the hallway but immediately stops when she hears Carl' voice. "Babe?" she continues to walk the hallway until she gets a glimpse of him talking to someone, but the person is out of her sight.
"CARL!" she walks straight up to him grapping his hoodie, Lana screams out of fear as she witnesses her father being attacked. Carl stands up almost towering over her, he snatches her hands from his hoodie and forcefully pushes her to the floor.
"I'd like to see you try that again, how pathetic can you be speaking to me like that in front of my daughter" he glares at her takes Lana' hand and walks her to the bedroom. "Wh.what?" Izzie is frozen on the floor starring at the couch and holding her chest.
"Who is that?" Lana asks while swinging her feet back and forth on the bed, "she's not someone for you to worry about" he pulls clothes out of his wardrobe and throws them on the bed. She picks them up one by one and quickly folds them neatly.
-------------------------------------------
Izzie gets up off the floor and slowly walks towards their bedroom, the door is slightly open leaving room to see a glimpse of the room. Her eyes begin to water as she sees Carl emptying his clothes on the bed.
Slowly opening the door she makes her way inside the room, "what's going on?" Carl turns towards her then looks at Lana. "Sweedie can you wait outside for me please", she slides off the bed and quickly walks pass Izzie.
"What do you want from me?, I've told you time and time again that there is nothing between us, yet still you continue to harass me". He flings his suitcase on the floor and aggressively throws his clothes into it. Tears begin to roll down her face as she searches for words to respond, "what are you talking about?, are you ok?" before he could answer a loud knocking booms through the house.
"What does she want now" he rolls his eyes and quickly walks towards the front door and opens it. On the other side of the door is their elderly neighbor with a terrified look on her face, she's sweating and out of breath. "Ms. Gobin are you ok?" izzie says while moving Carl aside, ms. gobin watches Carl and then at Lana who is at the back of izzie "You need to leave, right now" she says to Carl as she continues to stare at Lana.
She then nods her head to izzie then turns and heads towards her house. With great confusion Carl turns around but struggles to see izzie and Lana, he rubs his eyes with one hand and feels something in his left hand. He looks down at it and sees a syringe stuck in his hand, he then looks up and sees Lana waving at him before he blacks out.