Chapter 2

-First day in the hospital-

A knock came at the door of the recovery room the staff had put her mother in. Leah looked up from her paperback book and said softly, “Come in.”

The door opened slowly to show the nurse who had restrained her yesterday.

“Yes? What is it?” Leah asked, feeling a little childishly irritated at her.

“The doctor’s coming in a bit, but I’m going to have to check her vitals first.”

“Um, okay, go ahead.”

Bustling about, the nurse mumbled to herself as she did various things on every one of the life support machines, all the while scribbling on her clipboard. Finally, she made a frustrated sound and said, “Not looking good, miss.”

Her stomach turned to ice at her words, “Why? What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing’s wrong, but nothing’s better if you know what I mean.”

“…I see.” But surely, she would…soon…right? Get better, that is.

The nurse continued with a shrug, “Well, your mother’s a fighter, that’s for sure.” After sending Leah a reassuring smile, she left the room.

Five minutes later, the doctor walked in and checked the clipboard with the newly updated readings on her mother. He, again, came to the same conclusion as the nurse did, “We had hoped, with the support she has right now, that she would start to show some signs of recovery by now. But her vitals seem to be the same as when she was first hooked up.” He shook his head slightly with a frown, “Hopefully, that will change by tonight. If not…well…we’ll see.”

Yeah…we’ll see. “She will get better.” Leah said, determination saturating every word. “I just know it.”

“Uh huh. Let’s all pray for her.” With that, he left.

-That night-

Leah was dozing lightly in her chair, exhausted from the day’s events. Even though she was loathe to leave her mother’s side lest something happened, she was forced to leave the room in search of food when she started feeling faint from hunger. Accepting her wrapped sandwich with a smile, she made her way to the elevator that would take her back up to her mother’s recovery room. On the way back, a thought came to her. What if she doesn’t make it? Mother has always been a fighter. She was always optimistic; she had always been able to achieve whatever she set her mind to. But what if…there are some things that…you just can’t control? Leah bit her bottom lip uncertainly, what would she do if…her mother really couldn’t make it through the night? What would the doctors do if her vitals didn’t look better in the next few hours?

Sinking back down in her chair next to her mother, Leah slowly sipped at the lukewarm cup of coffee in her hand, staring blindly at the bandaged figure between the sheets that was her mother.

“Leah, honey…come on, it’s okay. Mommy’s not sad, see?” Her mother’s warm, soothing voice wrapped itself around her, filling the coldness in her soul, bathing it in affectionate peace.

“But Mommy, you can’t do what you love anymore…”

“But that’s okay, baby, I still have you. I still have a family that loves me. And I’m very grateful for that. I already have what I’ve always wanted. There’s nothing for me to be sad about.”

Leah looked up with tear-filled eyes, her small chin wobbling as her seven-year-old brain struggled to understand her mother’s “grown-up” logic.

Her mother smiled tenderly and lovingly scooped her up into her arms, cradling her close, “I’m not sad, sweetie…don’t be sad for Mommy, okay?”

Leah sniffed, burying her face in her mother’s shirt, “Okay…”

Her mother smiled, “Good girl.”

A beeping from outside the room brought Leah out of her reverie. That day, her mother had lost her job as an illustrator for the most prestigious magazine in London. Her mother had been an artist for as long as she could remember. The first thing her mother had done after picking up her first pencil was to draw a tree. Art was the passion in her life. After she had lost her job, Leah was devastated, knowing her mother had lost her only pathway to expressing herself and letting her thoughts be known. She didn’t understand then, but now…she truly understood how a family could keep a person afloat, no matter what hardships one encountered. Family should never be taken for granted. That was the most important mistake Leah had made. Taking her family for granted.

The door to the room burst open and about six people came rushing in, yelling at each other. Leah stood up and backed away, confusion overwhelming her. What was going on?

“Heart rate falling fast!”

“Prepare the defrib!”

“Ready!”

“One…two…three!” her mother convulsed on the bed.

Leah gasped, her brain following slowly along with the events that seemed to happen so incredibly fast. “What’s going on? She’s fine!” She cried out, hoping she had simply misinterpreted the entire situation.

“Miss, your mother is dying. She’s Code Blue. Please stand back and let us do our work.” A nurse shot out, hands busy on the monitors.

“What?!” She can’t be dying. She was fine just a minute ago!

The rest became a haze as she watched helplessly as the nurses and doctors struggled to bring her mother back to the land of the living. Finally, after what seemed like a thousand lifetimes, the doctor present let out a sigh, and announced, “Time of death, oh-400 hours, June 20th 2005.”

Her mind was blank. Mother…gone?

“Miss, watch out!”

“Someone catch her!”

Her ears were ringing, everything was blurry. Why was the floor rising up towards her head so fast? Blackness.

-A few days later-

Her wrist was still wrapped up in a blasted cast, but at least it no longer hurt. Who knew the fall would break her wrist? Must have been one violent fall. Sighing, she sat up in bed stared at her left arm, the white cement-like material a heavy rock weighing her down. Her mind strayed to her mother once again. Surprisingly, she felt a kind of relief after her mother had passed away. Her mother no longer had to suffer the slow minutes where every second was a struggle for survival. She was at peace now; nothing could ever touch her again. Smiling a little sadly, she looked up as a nurse came in.

“Well, you should be up and about in no time! Your legs aren’t broken, it’s just your arm, and I’m sure you don’t walk with your arms.” The nurse gave her a bright grin, continuing, “I’m sure you must be dying for some exercise.” She laughed as she set a vase filled with flowers by her bedside.

Leah’s eyes widened, “What are those?”

The nurse looked at her, humor in her eyes, “They’re flowers, my dear.”

“I know,” Leah replied, feeling a little exasperated, “But from who?”

“Oh,” the nurse laughed, “The doctors. They think you’ve been through hell and this is a token of their appreciation.”

Leah blinked, feeling surprisingly touched, “Wow…thank them for me, will you?”

“Sure will, honey.” The nurse left.

Leah stayed in bed, staring at the flowers. There were carnations, bright sunflowers, and beautiful blooming roses. A slow smile spread across her face, there was always hope. There was always the promise that the sun would rise the next day. No matter what, these things were constant. And these flowers, they were a promise of a better future. People would still care, they still had the capacity for kindness.

The door opened, “Miss Wilde?”

She looked up, pulled away from her thoughts, “Yes?”

The nurse held up a phone as she walked towards the bed, “There’s a phone call for you.”

Who would be calling her now? “Oh, thanks.” She took the phone and smiled at the nurse as she backed out of the room to give her privacy.

“Hello?” she spoke into the phone.

“Hey, Leah…baby…”

“Mike?!” She couldn’t formulate a single complete sentence, completely thrown off her feet.

“Yeah...it’s me…Listen, I just want to say something…” his voice held regret, even fear. What could he possibly be afraid of? He had his boss to take care of him. She thought as she gripped the phone.

“What do you want, Mike?”

He took a breath and everything spilled out, “I just want to say that I’m really, really sorry about your dad…and your mom…I never knew that it would come to this. The Big Man said it wouldn’t harm your family. We were just going to take some money and leave it at that. But I swear to God, Leah, we never intended to hurt anyone. Please, please believe me. And…that night, I guess I was in shock, I’m sorry I just stood there and watched you leave. I know how bad that must have looked. But I swear; I had nothing to do with it!” His voice turned desperate now, “Please, Leah…I love you. I really do…and I promise that I’ll never do anything like this again. I’ll…I’ll leave them, okay? Please, just give me a chance.”

Leah listened in silence, anger growing steadily in her chest. When he finally rambled himself to a clumsy stop, she said quietly, “Isn’t this coming a little late, Mike?”

He sighed and started again, “I know, I know, I just…needed a little time to straighten everything out. I couldn’t find you, where did you go anyway?”

“The mental asylum. But of course, you know that. You put me there.”

“What? No! That wasn’t me! I swear it, Leah! How could you think that?”

“Information on databases at places like that never lie.”

Mike had nothing to say to that. Instead, he pleaded, “Please, Leah…Give me another chance. I swear I won’t screw it up again. Please…”

At his words, she suddenly realized the true intent of his call, “I’m sorry Mike, but I’m still going to turn you in.”

“No! Please don’t. I swear on my life that I’ll change. I’ll never do anything like this again! I know you don’t believe me, but please just give me another chance!”

“I’m sorry…but people don’t change.” She shook her head, her heart and voice firm, “It was my life you were playing with and…I can’t forgive that. I’m sorry. Goodbye, Michael.”

She hung up on his desperate protests and set the phone back on the bedside table, a heavy weight lifting off her chest. She felt…strangely lighter. Turning her head, she looked back at the flowers and smiled.

A new future. A new beginning. That’s what they were.

AN: Okay, so the intro to this is done ) Not comes the real meat of the story. Hahaha, hang in there, guys!