~~~The Next Morning~~~
Karen
This morning when my alarm went off I just turned it off completely and rolled back over to go to sleep. I didn't have to get the girls up for school like I normally do so I took the opportunity to sleep in a little later since I didn't go to sleep until almost midnight.
Right as I had gotten back comfortable and was about to fall asleep again my phone began to ring causing me to groan. I rolled over and looked at my caller id seeing it was an unsaved number; I stared at the phone for a moment trying to see if I recognized the number but I didn't so I just silenced my phone and put it on do not disturb for the rest of the morning before going back to sleep as I planned.
It was around 9:15 when I finally got up and got a start on my day. I woke up to Drew's side of the bed being empty so that meant he probably headed out for the day already so I was home by myself. I still persevered and got myself dressed and ready before grabbing my phone and heading downstairs.
I ventured into the kitchen and made myself a cup of coffee whilst looking at my missed notifications from while I was asleep. I had a few from my sisters informing me on some upcoming events we had, a good morning message from Kierra and several missed calls and texts from Vicky that made me slightly nervous. I first checked her messages but all they said were to call her back immediately so I did just that.
I clicked her contact and hit the facetime button before watching the phone ring. I tapped my nails against the countertop as I waited for her to pick up but she didn't which made me worry a little. I decided to ditch my coffee and just head out to the hospital to see what was going on myself. I grabbed my purse and keys and rushed towards the door but as I opened it I saw Vicky with her keys in her hand looking defeated.
I could tell by her demeanor something was wrong so I pulled her in the house and into a hug and it was as if my hug was the straw that broke the camel's back because she immediately clung to me and started crying.
"Sweetheart what happened? I just called you back is everything okay?" I asked as I gently led her into the living room while taking her bags and keys from her. She took a second to collect herself before explaining to me what had transpired overnight.
"She coded at like 3am so they rushed her back into surgery to make sure she wasn't having another brain bleed but she was. They were able to stop it but it caused a lot of damage and now she's on life support." She started but soon got choked up. She took another moment to collect herself as she pulled away from me and wiped her eyes.
"And on all her paperwork she made me her emergency contact and basically left me in charge of everything so the doctors are expecting me to make the decision. Like she's not even dead y'all aren't even giving her the chance to get better!" She vented with heavy emotions. She got up and started pacing around the room as she talked but I just stayed seated and let her get everything she needed to out.
"Like it's been a day, she needs more than a day to recover from a hangover so of course she's gonna need more than a day to recover from something like this! Like okay she might not be the same afterwards but she'll be here! She'll be here with me and I could help her and take care of her. And no one at the cps office is even doing anything to get justice for her its like the swept it under the rug already. Nobody has come to the hospital to check on her since I been there, not even the police or her social worker like why does no one care that they purposely put her through this pain!" She cried in frustration as she started to pull at her hair. I quickly got up and walked over to her gently but quickly removing her hands from her hair while also giving her some words of encouragement.
"Hey, no hair pulling. I need you to take a deep breath okay, I know you're frustrated and you want to get everything out but no hurting yourself ever. You have every right to feel like this, your feelings are valid. They should definitely wait a little longer to see how she heals before giving you a huge responsibility like that but you don't have to make it alone sweetheart. I am right here to help and to comfort you okay. You're not alone anymore and neither is Enmy, you have a family to lean on and to come to in your time of need and trust me we will help you no matter what okay?" I said calmly as I held her hands to keep them from going to her hair again. I made sure to keep my focus on her to let her know that I was being serious and I also made sure to keep my voice even and calm so I wouldn't stress her out more than she already was.
She continued to take deep breaths to calm herself down before nodding at everything I said. I let her hands go and pulled her back into a well needed hug as I silently prayed for Emrys's safety as well as her health. Lord knows we can't take anymore losses.
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word count: 980
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