“Oh, my god. Yes, I’m on my way right now!” I grab my stuff as quickly as possible and run out the door, not giving a shit about the fact that I have classes in a few hours. My mom comes first.
When I get to the hospital, I immediately ask for her room number and make my way upstairs. My heart is racing, and sweat is running down my back as I hurry through the hallways to my mom’s room. When I finally find her, she’s lying in bed with her eyes closed, and I fear the worst.
“Mom!” With tears in my eyes, I run to her bedside and hug her tight, but she’s not responding.
“Hi, I see you’ve arrived.” A nurse comes in.
“Hi,” I say, rubbing my hair out of my wet face. “Why isn’t she awake?”
“She’s still asleep from the anesthetics. She’s been given a lot of morphine to deal with the pain.
“Oh … What happened?” I ask as I sit down on the chair beside her.
The nurse hangs a new bag of antibiotics on her line and checks my mom’s stats. “Well, we don’t really know exactly, as she seemed to have been quite confused about it. She uttered some words to the paramedics about stairs. We think she may have fallen down. It’s amazing she even managed to call us.”
I look at the bruises on her face and say, “I don’t think those were caused by falling down the stairs.”
She raises her brows. “It’s possible. We don’t know. She didn’t say much other than to call you.”
“Okay.” I purse my lips. “What about my mom’s boyfriend?”
“Ahhh … Yes, we called him too. He hasn’t said a lot other than to say she fell down the stairs.”
“Right.” I frown.
“I think he’s getting some coffee. If you want some too, you can get it down the hall on the left.” She smiles.
“No thanks,” I say. “I just wanna stay with my mom for a second. If that’s okay.”
“Of course. I’ll leave you two to it. Oh, she might wake up soon. The morphine dosage has been reduced, so she won’t feel so drowsy all the time.”
“Thank you,” I say as she leaves the room.
I take a deep breath and then caress my mom’s cheek. “Oh, Mom … what did he do to you?”
Her mouth twitches and a soft moan leaves her throat. I smile, blinking away the tears. “Shh… don’t talk yet.”
“Oh, so you’re here too. Couldn’t get here sooner?”
The moment I hear his ugly voice, I turn around and growl, “This is all your fault.”
“What? You not being here?” He snorts. “That’s all on you, girl.”
“Don’t talk to me. You’ve said enough,” I say. “I don’t want you anywhere near my mom or me.”
“Well, tough luck, kid, because this is my woman.”
“She is not yours. She’s not an object you own. She’s a human being, and I know she didn’t just fall down the stairs either.”
He makes a face. “What? You’re not suggesting I did it? Bullshit.”
My mom suddenly squints her eyes, and I immediately focus on her again. “Mom!” I grab her hand and squeeze. “I’m here.”
“Hailey?” Her hand lifts and she wipes her forehead. “God, I’m glad you’re here.” She’s still slurring, but I can understand her just fine.
“And I’m not going anywhere either,” I say, squeezing her hand tighter.
“I had such a bad dream. And I feel so sleepy. Like I’ve been asleep for days.”
“That’s the drugs,” I say, chuckling a little.
“Yeah, and because she’s a lazy twat.”
“Shut up!” I say, turning around. “Just shut up.”
Infuriated, he slams his coffee cup down on the table and says, “How dare you speak to me like that?”
“Stop …” my mom mutters.
“No, you need to learn how to behave.”
“And you need to learn to keep your hands off my mom,” I growl.
“What did you say?” His brows are on six o’clock, and his fists are balled.
“You heard me; I know this was your doing.”
“If she weren't such a clumsy woman, she wouldn’t trip down the stairs all the time. Don’t you blame this on me, kid; you weren’t even there for her. You were too busy screwing other boys at that stupid college of yours where you’re not learning one damn thing.”
“Please … don’t fight …” my mom utters.
Tears well in my eyes. “You know nothing about me. Or my mom. I don’t give a damn what you say—I know you hit her. Those bruises on her face didn’t happen because she ‘fell down the stairs.’” I make quotation marks with my fingers.