Cookies And Cream (The Hollens Books 3)

26

NB: this point of view would be told from Susan Blackman - the mother of Zenia and Jasmine.

Susan Blackman's POV

I wanted to yell at him for constantly telling me to do the right thing. I know what the right thing was, I didn't need him to tell me. All the girls knew was that he wasn't there for them as a father should be.

I used the hand scanner to unlock the penthouse suite; Martin followed right behind me.

"I shouldn't have brought you here. Zenia still hasn't warmed up to you, and I don't want to upset her more than she already is."

"Susan, I think it's best that you tell her the truth right now. You're the reason why I wasn't there for the girls."

"I'm the reason Martin? Oh, of course you would say that because that's all you were always good at, putting the blame on me."

He stepped back through the door. "You know what, when Jasmine gets back from her honeymoon, I'm going to tell her the truth. I don't care how she'll feel about you afterwards, but they deserve to know!"

He walked out the door and I rushed after him. "Martin! Martin don't you dare!"

He walked into the elevator and I was left with tears welling up in my eyes. I don't know why he had to come back into my life to spoil everything that was going good for me.

I walked back into the penthouse, slumped and drained. As I walked passed Zenia's room, I recalled her telling me that she wasn't going into her boutique today, and she seemed so sad and distant. I blamed myself. I used to be so close to both my daughters, but ever since Martin came back, I feared that I would lose my girls to the truth.

I knocked on Zenia's bedroom door before entering.

"Zenia? Are you in here? Zenia?"

It was awfully quiet. I made my way inside her bedroom and came face-to-face with a horrible image. My daughter's body was lying motionless on the bed and her wrist was rapidly bleeding. The floor was already covered in a pool of blood.

"ZENIA! ZENIA! OH GOD! OH, DEAR GOD! ZENIA, WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

I noticed the razor she used to cut herself, and I quickly tossed it off the bed before checking her pulse for any signs of life. Nothing.

I retrieved my phone from my pocket and called the emergency number. I relayed to the dispatcher my daughter's critical condition.

"Ma'am, an ambulance is on its way right now."

"Please hurry. She's not breathing. She's not moving. There's blood everywhere. Please, hurry!" Hot tears rolled down my eyes and I began feeling like I was dying as well. "Zenia! Zenia! What did you do?!" I cried as I looked at her. 

After the longest ten minutes of my life, I heard the sirens outside the entrance of the building. I ran to the entrance of the elevator and met a team of paramedics.

"This way! In here!" I ushered them through the suite and into Zenia's bedroom.

There was a short pause from them as they took in the awful sight.

"Check for pulse," one said and they began speaking in terms and language I couldn't comprehend. I was too distraught to even bother to try to pick up on anything.

Zenia's hand was tightly wrapped and she was carried away on the gurney. I rushed after them and found a spot in the back of the ambulance.

"Heart rate is low. Pulse fading. No other signs of vitals," a female paramedic said as she inspected Zenia and hooked her up to the heart rate monitor in the ambulance.