Fate

After The Accident

Melody had managed to locate the room Gracie's mother was in. She had to convince a few doctors to give her the information but she had always been good at sweet talking and fast thinking. It was a skill that she was glad she had developed over the years. The only time it didn't really help was Japan but that had a lot to do with the fact she had been running from security and not talking to them.
She lightly knocked on the door as she entered. This room was cold like Gracie's but it wasn't as bright. The lights had been dimmed as if the staff were getting ready for a vigil by this woman's bedside. Melody sat down in a very similar chair that she had been using in Gracie's room and examined the woman. Same golden blonde hair as Gracie, same facial structure.
'Gracie is a carbon copy of her mother,' she thought as she scooted the chair closer. She saw the woman stir slightly and turn her head towards Melody as she slowly opened her eyes.
"Are you the one they talk about?" She asked Melody, her voice slightly scratchy.
"I'm sorry?"
"The doctors. Are you the one they talk about? The one that hasn't left her side since you got here?"
Melody glanced down at her hands. For some reason she felt embarrassed that she knew about that. She didn't know why exactly. It wasn't like she was doing anything wrong.
"How is she?"
She looked up at Gracie's mom and replied, "Gracie needs surgery."
"And you need me to give that permission?"
The way she was speaking to Melody it was as if she knew all along this conversation was going to happen.
"Well yes Sable. Can I call you Sable?"
The woman nodded but didn't look directly at her so Melody continued.
"I already have the money. I just need you to sign this form and get a doctor to hear you say out loud that-"
"No," Sable interjected.
"Sable, Gracie could die if you-"
"Gracie is my daughter but I am not her mother. I'm sure you heard that her father was in a mining accident. The roof and walls caved in on him and 14 other workers. He was crushed to death and after I found out I felt like the same thing happened to me. I drank a lot more than I should. I began hating looking at her. She has her father's eyes and I just couldn't do it anymore. What mother hates looking at their own daughter?! So I left. I knew I couldn't be a good mother to her. I was too crushed. Do you know what that's like? Having the one you love just walk away one day and never return?"
Melody did know what that was like all too well. Her parents went out one night to get gifts for her birthday and never returned. They were hit by a semi that didn't see the light go red and she never heard or saw them again. She didn't even go to the funeral. She couldn't. She didn't belong there anymore. Not without them.
"I don't want her to die. I love her," Melody managed to choke out in between sobs as she remembered her parents death.
"Let me ask you this. Does she belong with you?"
"What?"
"Do you think Gracie came into your life because she belonged in it?"
"Of course I do!"
"Well then, you love her more than I do."
Melody was getting angry with Sable. She didn't understand how she could just write Gracie off like yesterday's news.
'I was written off. I was orphaned. Does that mean that my mother didn't love me either?' She quickly pushed the thoughts of her past aside. She needed to focus on Gracie.
Sable pushed the button on the side of the bed so she could sit up slightly.
"You need her don't you?" She asked, staring at Melody directly in the eyes for the first time since the conversation began.
"Yes. Yes, I do."
"But who needs you?" Melody almost immediately blurted out Avi's name and she felt guilty that she thought of him before Gracie.
"As long as you promise that you will love her as much as you love him, I will make you a deal."
Melody began wondering if she had said his name out loud and put her fingers to her lips.
"You don't need to say his name. You have that look. The same look I had when I met Gracie's father."
"I will love Gracie more than anyone else."
"Well then, let's make a deal."