I've Been Here All Along

The car ride was filled with him talking about my artistry and talent. It was weird. Only my mother has seen my art and, even though she praised me for each drawing she never could have an actual conversation about it. Frank seemed to get it.

"I don't know." I said referring to him asking to publish them somewhere.

"I mean think of it this way- you could make prints and stuff and sell them. I'm pretty sure people would enjoy them. You could make a lot of money off of that stuff." Frank said turning down the winding roads leading into the city.

"I think Tumblr enjoys the enough." I said laughing. I could never let my mom see the drawings that I did. Let's just say I would lose all my privileges for the rest of my life.

"So, they seem pretty well drawn. Have experience?" He asked in a mocking tone.

"What?" I asked back, drawing my eyebrows to the middle of my forehead in confusion. He let go of the wheel and grabbed my sketchbook flipping through it. "Frank the wheel!" I exclaimed even though the car was still going straight.

"It's fine. Anyways, like this one you got the anatomy completely right. And, the position and everything. It's crazy good. You have to have experience to get that kind of stuff right." Frank said putting the book back on the dash, leaving the page open. His hands returned to the wheel as he awaited my answer.

"Nope, I've never done anything with another person." I said putting my hands up in defence. When it came to the drawings that he was talking about references came in handy. Like a lot.

"Okay. Well you're not lying but you've done something. I can feel it." Frank said passing a sign that basically said we were entering the city. The skyline was nice in the mornings from my house but it was so polluted and the drug problem here was huge. It was far enough away from my house that we didn't have to worry.

"I'm not telling you all my secrets." I said folding my arms over my chest.

"All you have to do is think about it and I'll know." He said pointing to his own head. I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

"I'd appreciate if you didn't read my mind. I'd like some of my thoughts to stay private," I said fiddling with the end of my dress. He gave me a look that said: "Are you serious?" I nodded. i wanted all my thoughts to stay private to him because they were mostly about him. "Please?" I added putting on a big smile, turning towards him.

"Okay fine! But your head's so interesting. It's like all over the place sometimes." Frank said moving one of his hands off the wheel to tap my head. I playfully smacked his hand away and laughed.

"Yeah yeah. Whatever." I said chuckling as he tried to put his hands all his my face. His warm inked fingers ran through my hair and messed it up.

"Alright! But when I think something's wrong I'm looking in." He said putting his hands on the wheel. The hospital wasn't far from where we are now and I began to feel my nerves set in.

"Frank?" I asked beginning to feel like she wouldn't want to see me.

"Yes, Love?" He asked keeping his eyes on the road.

"Do you think she will want to see me?" I asked ignoring the cute pet name for now. Frank looked at me for a second but then put his eyes back on the road.

"Of course she wants to see you! Are you crazy!?" He asked taking both hands off the wheel.

"The wheel." I reminded and he nodded.

"Even though you said that she doesn't like you to see her after it happened you're her sister. She loves you no matter what. I know it." He said looking for a parking spot in the hospital parking lot.

We sat in the car for a while just sitting there, looking at the hospital. It had a bad feel about it. Thinking that people died everyday here didn't make me feel any less bad about it.

"We can go home you know?" Frank said after a while.

"No, I want to to this." I said getting out of the car, Frank following shortly behind me. I stared at the hospital just standing there, looking at it. Frank slowly intertwined his fingers with mine, weirdly relieving some of the tension that was inside my body.

"You've got this," Frank said giving my hand a gentle squeeze. "Whenever you're ready." He said looking at me with a caring gaze. I took a step and Frank followed encouraging me to go forward. He was here and for some reason I felt safer with him than I felt with myself.

Notes