Page 4 of Revive

“Oh, I am, am I?”

“Yes. Dad, tell him he needs to sleep.” I turn to Jagger, and we both laugh at Dakota’s bossy nature.

“I’m going to take him home after we drop you off at school. I’ll even tuck him in and kiss him on the forehead.”

She rolls her eyes. “Whatever. Just make sure you have all your photos ready, so I can see whether you listened to any photo taking tips I gave you.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I salute her. “I’ll be ready and waiting.”

* * *

I rollover in my bed, waking up to voices outside in the living room. The lack of light outside reveals I’ve been asleep for a lot longer than I intended. My muscles feel heavy, my mind fighting against my eyes wanting to stay awake. The time change, and the comfort of sleeping in my own bed is enough to feel like I’ve been anesthetized.

Throwing off the blankets, I swing my legs off to the side and lean my elbows on my thighs, my head in my hands. I need a shower.

A light knock sounds at the door, and the creak of it opening, has me watching to see who will come in.

“Hey man, did I wake you?” Jagger asks.

“Unless I sleep sitting up, no, you didn’t.” I rub my eyes with the heels of my hands, adjusting to the intrusion of light from the outside. “I was about to get up and have a shower, is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I’m just saving you from Dakota. She’s about three minutes off beating the door down, and turning the smoke alarm on to wake you up.”

“Patience isn’t her thing, huh?”

“Not today.”

“I missed her too.” I tilt my head toward the en-suite. “Give me ten, I’ll be out soon.”

“Drix,” he stalls.

“Yeah?”

“Dakota’s not the only one who missed you.”

“Aw, tell Em I missed her too.”

He shakes his head and smiles. “Fuck you.”

Turning on all the lights, I head for the bathroom and let the steam from the hot water fill up the small space before standing under the heavy spray. I roll my neck and let the heat relieve the tension from my head, shoulders, and all the way down to my back. I get lost in the small luxury of having endless amounts of hot water at my disposal, sponging and scrubbing every inch of my skin, more than once.

Pressing the stainless steel handle down, the spray stops and I yank the hanging towel off the top of the glass door. Drying myself off, I step into the room and rummage through the small pile of clean clothes and find a random pair of lounge pants and a t-shirt and quickly throw them on.

“Surprise.” Three familiar yet off key voices fill the room, followed by the bang of party poppers and multi-coloured streamers launched in my direction.

“What’s this?” I ask, knowingly.

“It’s your welcome home party.” Dakota’s innocent smile lights up every corner of the room. “We’ve got some food from every place you visited, and you can tell us a story and show us pictures when we stop at each country.”

My eyes flicker between Jagger and Em who, like everyone else who meets her, are completely caught up in Dakota’s enthusiasm. “Let’s get this party started then shall we, I’m starving.”

* * *

“Wow, these places are beautiful.”Dakota taps her fingers on the keys of my laptop, flicking through all the photos I took while I was away. As breathtaking as the scenery was, there’s something oddly satisfying in being here and hearing the sliver of envy in everyone’s voices as I relay stories and show off souvenirs. It’s a constant reminder of how I took the plunge and did something so out of character.

It feels years too late, but I try not to focus on that. My hands have been tied for so long, and I did what I had to with the cards I was dealt. There’s no rush now, I just have to promise myself, at least for a while, I am a priority.

Wide eyed, Dakota stares up at the three of us, in some sort of trance. “I can’t wait to go to all these places.” Looking down at her hands, she counts silently with her fingers.

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