I made the biggest mistake of my life pushing him away.
If he was still mine, he would have been here. Not at his house, but holding me close regardless of my inclinations to push him away.
“Hadley. I want you to know right now,” Mama says as her eyes flutter in search of sleep. “It’s not going to be easy. In fact, it’s going to be quite difficult. But I want to be better. I’m going to be better. I’m done with drugs and alcohol. I’m going to be the mother you—” her voice drifts off as her eyes shut. I’m not naive enough to believe her, but the words still stir a little hope. Maybe this did get her attention after all.
“It’s the medicine I gave her,” the nurse says beside me. “She needs to sleep while the drug continues to flush out of her system so that her heart rate doesn’t destabilize again.”
“Should you have given her that?” I question. Mama does have a past when it comes to narcotic addictions.
“It’s a low dose and is non-addictive. She won’t have any when she leaves here.”
I nod and look around for Lorelai and Lucy. I find them in the hallway talking to Brandi.
“One of you take me home, please,” I tell Lorelai and Lucy.
I’m so tired.
“Hadley,we’rehere.”Lucy’svoice stirs me awake. My eyes groggily open and I somehow make it out of the car and into the twins’ home.
“Why are we at your house? I said to take me home.”
“You need some rest, and we live closer to the hospital,” Lucy replies. Lorelei’s coming behind us.
“But my bed…” I yawn.
“You can use mine for now.” I’m too tired to continue to argue. Lucy ushers me into her room and points to her bed. “Lay down. Rest.”
I don’t fight it.
The next time I open my eyes, it’s to Lorelei gently shaking my shoulders while whispering for me to wake up.
“Come one, Hads. We need to get you ready.”
Groaning in protest, I swat her away.
“Hadley Anne. Get up.” She hits my shoulder, and I flinch away. The covers shuffle around me as I push myself into a sitting position and then rub the sleep from my eyes. What time is it?
“Alright, alright. I’m up. What am I getting ready for? And what time is it?”
“It’s evening. Time for you to get up and make yourself decent. I’m taking you home shortly.”
I groan again, falling back onto the bed and burying my face in a pillow. “Can’t I sleep over here tonight?”
Lorelei clicks her tongue while hauling me to my feet. “For a petite woman, you are heavy in dead weight mode.” I don’t bother to be of assistance by holding my own weight.
“That’s because I don’t want to leave this bed.”
“Too bad. You need to go home. Lucy and I have company tomorrow and I need to make sure this place is tidy.”
I roll my eyes at her. “Since when do you kick me out for company? What’s going on?”
Lorelei sighs, pulling me into the bathroom. She begins combing through my hair, and I close my eyes, enjoying the tingling feeling it gives me.
“I’ve just got to get you home, okay? Everything’s fine. Jake is apparently coming over to talk things out with Lucy.” She puts that last part in air quotes. “And I have quite a bit of work to do. So I want to go ahead and make sure you get home safely.”
“Hmm, okay,” I say. “But why do I have to get decent? Trust me, I’m going straight to bed when I get home.”
The corner of Lorelei’s lips twitch upward. “I bet you will. You’ve had a long day.”
