Head in The Clouds

Finding Family

Vanessa age 14
"Vanessa, honey, can you come here?"
"Coming, Dani." Dani and Carla had just gotten home from the hair salon.
"Sweetheart, sit down."
My heart starts to pound. "What is going on? Are they sending me back?" I think to myself.
"Vanessa, don't stress, it is nothing bad. In fact, we hope it will be something good."
"What's going on?"
"Sweetheart, we heard from Camilla today, that Jake and Amy have officially given up their parental rights of you. So, we were wondering, how would you feel about Carla and I officially adopting you. I could be Mama, and Carla could be Mamí. Of course, you don't have to call us that, if you don't want, but we want to give you the option.""
"Really?"
"Yes sweetie. We love you, and would love to have you as our daughter forever."
"Can I think about it?"
"Of course honey."
Carlas keeps a smile on her face, but she almost looks disappointed. I feel bad for making her feel that way, but I'm not sure I am ready.
"Can I go finish my homework?"
"Yes, we are headed to eat in about an hour. I am too tired to cook tonight."
"Sounds good, I am almost done."
I go back to my room, but I can't focus on my work.  I feel bad. These ladies love me. They are so kind and caring, despite the fact that I have woken up, more times than I can count, screaming or crying in my sleep. "Why do I have to be so stupid and reject them?" I ask myself.

An hour later, we decided to take a cab to our favorite pizza place, twenty blocks away. We are about halfway there, when I hear the sound of breaking glass and crunching metal. Daniella let's our a scream and everything goes black.

I wake up minutes later, my arm aching. I hear a blaring horns, and things start to make since. I look over to Dani and Carla, and both are unconscious. Carla is bleeding from her head. There is also a truck right next to her. It must be the truck that hit us.
"Daniela! Carla! Wake up! Please, wake up!"
Dani moans in pain, but neither one wake up.
"Please! Please wake up!"
My arm hurts and I don't know what to do. I start to panic, looking around for help. I see someone outside my window.
"HELP! Please help them. My moms, they won't wake up!"
The lady opens the door.
"Don't worry, an ambulance is on the way. I am a doctor. My name is Melody. You seem injured, can I have you look at me?"
"Don't worry about me. I am fine. Please, help them."
Just as I am undoing my seatbelt, I hear Dani speak.
"Nessa, Carla?"
"Dani!"
"Vanessa, what happened?"
"We were hit by a truck."
"Are you alright?" She asks, looking at me, and taking my hand.
"My arm hurts, but I am okay. Carla still hasn't woken up." I cry, fear in my voice.  She looks panicked and looks over to Carla.
"Carla, Mi Vida, wake up!" Dani says, touching Carla's face.
Carla opens her eyes for a second, smiles, and closes her eyes again. Her raspy breaths stop.
"Carla! CARLA! Wake up!
"Ma'am, I am a doctor, is there anything I can do to help?" Melody asks.
"Please, help my wife. I don't think she is breathing!" I hear the panic in Daniela's voice. I scramble out of the car, tying to get out of the way. Melody reaches over to Carla and places her hand on Carla's neck.
"Can you move, I need to get to your wife. She has a pulse but isn't breathing ."
Dani quickly gets out of the car. She holds me close, as Melody starts CPR on Carla.
I feel myself shaking.
"It's okay honey. Carla will be okay."
Two minutes later, I hear sirens, just as Melody announces that Carla is breathing again.

Three hours later, I am sitting in a hospital bed, as a doctor casts my arm. I broke my radius and ulna. I have a cast that goes up to just below my shoulder. Daniela has gone to check on Carla. All I know is that she is in surgery.
Dani walks in the room, just as they finish.
"Hi sweetheart, how are you feeling?"
"Better, now that I have some pain meds. How is Carla. Please tell me she is okay!"
"She will be alright. She had some internal bleeding. She is out of surgery now, and the doctors say she should heal just fine."
"Can I go see her?"
"As soon as the doctor says you are finished."
"She is done."
"Thank you for taking care of my girl, doctor." Daniela says smiling. "She means the world to my wife and I."
"Of course. You are lucky to have such caring moms Vanessa."
I just nod, feeling shame.
We walk up to the surgical floor, and up to Carla's room. She is awake and smiles at me as we walk in. Dani walks up and kisses her. They have a moment, and embrace. After, she looks at me, standing nearing the door.
"Hi honey, how are you?" Carla asks.
"How am I! The question is, how are you? You are the one who just got out of surgery."
She takes my good hand in hers. "I am fine Vanessa. It is not your job to worry about me. It is mine to worry about you.
I finally take a deep breath.
She places her hand on my cheek. "I promise, I am okay."
"I am so sorry. This is all my fault."
"Why do you say that Vanessa?" Dani says, touching my shoulder. I look at her.
"I'm bad luck. Maybe if I had said yes to your question right away, we would have left sooner and would have never been in a wreck. We wouldn't have been in this wreck. You wouldn't be in this hospital. Better yet, maybe it would be better if you had never met me. I'm not worth your time."
"Vanessa, come up here," Carla says, patting the bed beside her. I hesitate and she smiles again. "It's okay Vanessa. You won't hurt me."
I nod and sit on the bed beside her. She pulls me into her, and I cling to her. I wrap my arm carefully around her, bury my face in her shoulder. I don't know why now, but when she wraps her arm around me, I feel an overwhelming wave of tears and sadness come over me. I cry for a long time. They stroke my hair and rub my back.
When I finally calm down, Carla speaks. "Vanessa, Mija, look at me." Carla says lifting my face. "You have nothing to be sorry for. None of this is your fault."
"You are the best thing to ever happen to us. We are so thankful you are our foster daughter and we still want you to be our forever daughter. There is nothing you could do, that would change our mind on wanting to adopt you."
"Really?"
"Yes. Really. We love you so much.
"I love you guys too."
After a moment I look at them.  "Please, please adopt me. I realized today I never want to lose you two. I was so scared when I woke up and the two of you were unconscious. I want you to be my Mama and Mamí."
Dani kisses me on the head and Carla hugs me tighter.
For the first time in a long time, I feel truly loved. Right here, in this hospital bed, I realize I have finally found my family. If only Usnavi was here to be family with me. Unfortunately, I have no idea what happened to him.