Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 1 - Chapitre 9

"This breathalyzer of yours is really useless. My husband drank a whole bottle of beer, and you couldn't even detect it."When I heard my mom, Rosanna Stewart, say this, I was convulsing in pain. I sprayed a mouthful of blood onto the car seat and looked at her in disbelief.The traffic officer's expression immediately darkened. "Sir, please step out of the car. We're going to need you to take a blood test."My dad, Tyrone Blanchard, looked at Mom, his eyes so bloodshot that they seemed about to bleed."Are you out of your mind? You know perfectly well I'm allergic to alcohol! Stop joking around—Helena's dying."My older brother, Irwin Blanchard, threw himself at Mom's side, grabbing her arm and shaking it desperately."Mom, please stop joking around!" he begged, his voice trembling uncontrollably. "Helena has pesticide poisoning. If we delay any longer, she's not going to make it!"Yet, Mom insisted that Dad had been drinking. Even though the breathalyzer had cleared him, the t

I had just been lifted onto the operating table when the door to the trauma bay was violently shoved open.Mom charged in and tried to yank the IV line out of my hand."Your money-grubbing hospital just wants to rob people! What a scam! She just drank a little bit of diluted pesticide, and you have the nerve to demand ten thousand dollars for the surgery fee?"Irwin was frantic, his eyes red-rimmed. He was still in school and couldn't possibly come up with that much money. All he could do was desperately pin down Mom's hand, weeping and begging her to stop causing trouble and just let the doctor save my life first.Mom shoved him away violently. "How could I possibly hurt my own daughter? I only put in a tiny bit of pesticide—it's nowhere near enough to kill her."This hospital's just jacking up the price because they see we're desperate. Helena's not getting treated here. We'll take her to another hospital!"As she said this, she tried to drag me away. The nurses had to use ever

From that day on, Mom went completely insane.She stayed by my body every second, refusing to leave. If anyone came near me, she'd fight them off, as if her life depended on it.When a nurse brought a white sheet to cover me, Mom grabbed a pillow and hurled it at her."Don't you dare cover her! She's still alive! Are you trying to smother her?" she shrieked, her voice so shrill it was terrifying.The nurse stumbled back two steps from the impact, then looked helplessly at the doctor.The doctor sighed and waved his hand. Then, he led the nurse out of the hospital room.The moment the door closed, Mom turned around. The ferocity on her face vanished instantly, replaced by a gentleness I had never seen before.She brought over a basin of warm water and a clean towel. Sitting down by the bed, she gently took my hand and said, "Helena, be good now. Let me clean you up. Once you're all clean, you'll wake up."With her head bowed, she meticulously wiped my fingers one by one, not eve

After returning from the cemetery, Dad slammed a set of divorce papers down onto the coffee table."Sign it. You've already destroyed this family," he said, biting out each word. "I will not live under the same roof as the person who killed Helena."Mom's face went white in an instant. She threw herself forward and clung desperately to the hem of Dad's pants.Tears burst forth as she screamed, "No, I won't sign it! Tyrone, I was wrong. I really know I was wrong. I'll change, I swear! Can we start over? I'll never act crazy or cause trouble again!""It's too late." Dad shook off her hand coldly, just the way she used to. "Helena isn't coming back. Every single time I see your face, I'll remember the way she looked before she died."What did you do when she was trembling all over from pain, vomiting blood, and crying and begging you? I will never forgive you for the rest of my life."Just then, Irwin came out of his room as well. With his backpack slung over his shoulders and a sui

Mom opened her mouth, but not a single word came out. Her lips trembled violently, and tears smeared all over her face."Helena, I was wrong. I know that now."I cut her off. "You say that every time. When I was alive, you said you were wrong. After I died, you still said the same thing. But then what? What did you do after that?"You held my photo and cried. You wrote letters. You took pills. Did you do all that because you loved me or because you couldn't live with yourself?"Mom shuddered all over."You couldn't bear the guilt, the loneliness, and the fact that Dad and Irwin both left you. So, you took your own life. You thought you were coming to keep me company, but really, you were running away."I looked straight into her eyes, speaking each word deliberately. "Mom, you have never truly faced me. Not when I was alive, and not now that I'm dead."Mom's lips parted. She wanted to argue, to say it wasn't like that, and to tell me she truly loved me.But the words wouldn't c