Chapter 2

             A tear fell from her eye, “I'm sorry mom. I love you,” she whispered.

            “I came to see Jade, where is her room.” A female voice said.

            “Right there.”

            Jade looked over to the door, it slowly opened.

            “Dani!” Jade got excited. She wanted to get out of bed, but the medicine started to make her a little dizzy.

            “Jade, are you okay. Oh my God, I thought you died!” Dani sat down on the bed. “I heard about your mom, so sorry. What happened?”

            “Na my, my mom died and I am mad at myself, all we did was fight in the car. I wish I could have said something else, but of course, I suck.” She frowned

            “Jade it wasn’t your fault your mom died. It just happened. Car accidents usually kill someone, I mean if you look at a day of accidents like 15% has someone dead.” Dani said trying to make her feel better, but it just made her feel worse.

            The nurse came back in with a syringe, she pushed it into the IV drip. “I am sorry I wasn’t here sooner, we had an emergency downstairs, I rushed back up hereafter.” She half-smiled at Dani and Jade. “This is going to make you sleepy.” She spoke. “I wouldn't visit too long.”

            “Okay,” Dani said. She looked at Jade. “When are you going to be released?”

            “Um, I'm not sure. I think they have to find a relative or something.” Jade said shifting her weight, she already felt the medicine working. “I hope soon.”

            “Oh, can’t you come to stay with me?” Dani whined. “I am sure my parents wouldn’t mind too much. I mean they understand you’re my best friend. They are the ones that told me about the accident.”

            “I don't know, I've never been in this situation before.” Jade shrugged. She didn’t want to think about it right now. She wanted to sleep.

            “Do you think they are going to find your Dad?” Dani knew her father was a deadbeat, never around.

            She shrugged. “Probably I just hope he takes me in. I don’t even know if he knows about me.” She wanted to cry. “I wish I had parents likes yours.”

            “Okay ladies, Jade needs her rest.” Doctor Michael said coming into the room.

            “Oh, your cute!” Dani said.

            “It’s time for you to go, Miss.” He said looking at Dani. “She needs to get her rest; she has a few tests that need to get done today as well.” He said looking at Jade.

            “Yeah, yeah, yeah I'm going.” She spoke. “Call me later girl!” she said walking to the door. She didn’t want to leave; Jade shouldn’t be alone right now.

            “I will.” Jade waved to her.

            After Doctor Michael left the room, Jade closed her eyes and fell into a dreamless sleep.

            A little while later, “So, Doc when can I take her home?” A familiar voice said.

            “Probably tomorrow, she’s suffered a concussion and loss of blood. If I do release her tomorrow you have to watch her carefully.” Doctor Michael said.

            Jade slowly opened her eyes, her Aunt Darla stood at the end of her bed. She hadn’t seen her in years. This wasn’t what Jade was expecting, but at least Darla made an appearance in her life. Jade wanted to know her father, but Darla never spoke about him.

            “Darla?” She whispered.

            “Ah, your awake I was beginning to think you'll sleep forever.” Doctor Michael joked.

            She smiled, “You wish.” Jade sat up, her body didn’t feel bad, the medicine was still working.

            “How are you feeling now Jade?” Michael asked.

            “Good. Can you release me today?” She spoke. “I mean my Aunt Darla would make sure I am okay.”

            “Are you really feeling that good?” Doctor Michael asked.

            “Yeah, I will rather be at home anyways.” Jade half-smiled. She knew her home was no longer at the house she knew and grew to love. “I mean at my Aunts house.” She stumbled on her words.

            “Okay, but if you start hurting you need to return okay?” Doctor Michael said. “I will get her paperwork together; it will be a little while.” He said looking at Darla.

            “Okay. Jade half-smiled.

            “Alright, Ms. Hewsen if you would please follow me.” He spoke. “Jade the nurse will come to take the IV out and get your clothes for you.” He said as they walked out the door.

            “Okay.” Jade wasn’t feeling great, but she wanted to be away from this place. The memory of her mother and her fighting plagued her a lot. She wanted a fresh start, she wanted to forget everything. Maybe moving to a new city will help her with her schooling.

            The nurse came in with a smile. She slowly pulled the needle out of Jade's hand. “Hold this here sweety.” She said looking at Jade.     

            “Okay.” She said holding the cotton swab on her arm.

            The nurse finished up with Jade, smiled, and then left the room. Jade stood up, she got a little light-headed, so she sat back down. She took a deep breath and tried standing again. She changed into a t-shirt and jeans, she decided to put her hair up in a ponytail. She looked at herself in the mirror, the cuts on her face made her feel ugly, she frowned.

            “Jade, you ready?” Darla asked coming back into the room. “Your Doctor is cute.” She said giggling like a schoolgirl.

            Jade turned around to face Darla, she nodded and slowly walked to her. “Dani thought the same thing, I guess he is.” She said shrugging her shoulders.

            “How's your head?” She asked.

            “Well, it could be better, but it feels lonely in here.” She said walking slowly to Darla. “At least I can walk. I feel dizzy, but it’s from my headache.”

            “I know sweety, it’s about a five-hour drive from here to my house. You can sleep in the back seat if you'd like?” Darla said. “It’ll probably take a week or so for your headache to go away.”

            Jade smiled, “Sure, it might help me.”

            Jade climbed into the backseat and laid down. She closed her eyes, Darla put the car into drive. Jade thought about her mother, and that brought on the accident replaying over in her head again, she opened her eyes in frustration.

            “What’s the matter, Jade?” Darla asked concerned.

            “Oh nothing, just thinking about mom,” Jade said without getting up. “It sucks, we were fighting when the accident happened. I wasn’t doing too well in school. And Mom was mad at me for that.”

            “Ah. You want to talk about it?”

            Jade shifted in the back seat so she was sitting up. “Na it's cool.” She said looking out the window, they were already out of her city. She was hoping a fresh start would be good for her. She promised herself she would do better in school, she had to make her Mom proud.

            “Okay.”

            Jade watched the mountains; the trees and the other cars pass by. The car ride was smooth, and it seemed quick.

She slowly got out. She feeling a little lightheaded put her hand on the car door to balance herself. She took a deep breath and managed to walk up the three stairs to the yellow-painted house. The aroma of a pie baking in the oven teased her stomach.

            “Mmm..” She spoke.

            “What?” Darla asked.

            “Oh, the pie smells delicious!” Jade said. “I haven’t had a piece in a long time. Mom took a pay cut, so we weren’t able to splurge.”

            “Oh yeah, Mike is the best cook in town. Everyone wants him to bake them things. He’s thinking about opening up a bakery.” She joked. “You will get your fair share of pie here.”

            Jade smiled, she looked around the house a bit more closely. Pictures over the fireplace caught her attention, she walked over. The pictures were Mike and her, and Rachel. There was a baby picture, but Jade didn't recognize it.

            She pointed to the baby picture, “Who's this?” She asked.

            Darla frowned, “That was my daughter. She died when she was six in a terrible car accident.”

            “Oh, sorry to hear that.” Jade could see the pain in Darla’s eyes. Losing a baby would be hard on anyone.

            “Did you want to check out your room?” Darla asked changing the subject.

            “Sure?” Jade half smiled at her. She was glad Darla changed the subject, it meant she didn’t want to talk about her daughter.

            “Follow me, I'll give you a little tour of the house. Darla and Jade walked through the living room, to the kitchen, and the stairs. They slowly made their way up to the second floor, Darla pointed out the bathroom and her room. Finally, she stopped in front of a pink door, she smiled and then opened the door.

            “This is your room; I hope you don't mind pink?” Darla said opening the door. “It was my Daughters after she died. I cleaned out the room but never had the heart to paint it. While I was with you, Mike got some stuff here so you had a bed.” She said pointing to the nicely made bed.

            “Na pink is okay,” She lied. “I like it, it’s so homey.” She walked further into the room, she was scared of the future but knew she didn’t have a choice.

            “Good, well go ahead and get comfortable, I'll be downstairs if you need me,” Darla said before closing the door.

            “Okay.” Jade watched the door close. She dropped her bags on the bed. She scanned the room, a computer desk sat in the corner. She went to the window and looked out; her window faced the backyard. She felt out of place here, she rubbed her arms and turned around to look at the rest of the room.

            “Jade can you come down here for a moment,” Darla called from the stairs.

            Jade opened the door and walked down the hall. Darla met her at the stairs she was smiling.

            “What?” Jade said stopping short of Darla.

            “Oh, I just want to introduce you to my husband Mike.” She said motioning towards the kitchen. He had to run to work, but he’s home now.

            “Oh okay.” Jade half-smiled.

            Darla and Jade walked down the stairs and meant Mike in the kitchen, he was drinking coffee and reading the paper.

            “Honey this is Jade.” Darla moved out of the way so Mike could see her.

            Mike lowered the paper, and smiled, “Nice to meet you, Jade.” He spoke. “Honey where’s dinner?” he said laughing knowing he was messing with her.

            “Coming right up. Jade, you mind getting some plates so we can sit and eat together?” Darla asked. “You are a brat, Mike.” She said swatting his arm.

            “Sure,” Jade said.

            Jade walked over to the cabinets, she grabbed three plates and sat them on the table. Mike moved his hand when Jade placed his plate in front of him.

            “Can I have some milk?” Jade asked.

            “Yes, it’s in the fridge,” Darla said bringing the stuff to the table so she could serve them.

            “Thanks,” Jade said. Jade grabbed her a glass of milk and sat down next to Darla. She smiled and dug into her garlic chicken, potatoes, and green beans. Her first bite teased her stomach, after she was finished her stomach was satisfied. Jade got up to leave the table.

            “Oh, Jade tomorrow I want to take you into town with me. Just so you know where everything is. You okay with that?” Darla said noticing Jade was trying to escape without anyone noticing.

            “Sure, what time do you want me up?” Jade said turning to face Darla.

            “9,” Darla said with her mouth full. “Don’t worry we will take it easy.”

            “Okay, I'll be in my room if you need me. I'm going to try and sleep. I'm totally exhausted.”

            “Okay night sweety.”

            “Night,” Jade said walking up the stairs. She climbed into her bed; she took some medicine that the Doctor sent home with her. She fell asleep after that.