Lost Nor Found

Chapter 8

"It's okay, Laelynn," Kayden murmured, catching her and pulling her against him as her knees gave in. And the fact that her heart didn't give the slightest flutter said a lot about the numbness she was feeling.

"Don't panic. I'm sure she's still around here. We'll figure out what's going on. We still haven't checked upstairs, so don't panic. You with me?" he asked, his voice laced with honey. His words calmed her down a bit, and she shook her head. Clearing it of all thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm okay," she promised. He nodded.

"Alright, let's go check upstairs. Come on, Elena." Kayden said, and they ran up the stairs. But the journey seemed to last for eternities as fears crashed into her mind.

She knew her mom had a lot of depressive episodes, but she couldn't have ever really wanted to...

She sucked in a deep breath. She had to stay calm.

Besides, it didn't make sense. Her mom was acting really, abnormally happy, and that meant she was probably having a hypomanic episode. Those usually lasted for at least 4 days. It hadn't been four days. Maybe it was just an accident.

They reached the top of the stairs and Laelynn opened her mouth to call out to her mom again when she heard something. She gestured for Kayden and Elena to wait as she slowly opened the door to her mom's room.

Her mom was sitting on the ground, carefully going through a drawer. Her hands were all bloody, cuts streaking across her palms.

"Mom? Are you okay?" Laelynn asked, rushing over and collapsing to the ground. Her mom winced, hissing in pain as Laelynn gently cradled her hurt hand in hers.

"What happened?" Laelynn asked, scanning her mom for any injuries. Thankfully, there were none. She started to calm down a bit.

She helped her mom to her feet as she took her to the washroom, passing Kayden and Elena on the way. Elena gasped softly, throwing her hand to cover her mouth. Kayden's eyes fixed on Laelynn's, determined.

"What can I do?" He asked, Elena's eyes swirling with the same question.

"In my mom's room, there should be a chest of drawers. In the third drawer, there should be a bunch of medical supplies. Grab the antiseptic and bandage roll, and bring it to me, okay?" She said, quickly ushering her mom into the small bathroom. They nodded and headed off.

"Sorry, but this is going to hurt," Laelynn admitted as she spotted a shard of a ceramic plate jutting from her mom's hand. It wasn't too big, so it shouldn't hurt too much, she thought. As gently as she could she finally removed the piece.

Her mom had to grit her teeth from the pain, but she relaxed a bit once it was removed. Laelynn chucked it into the garbage and held her mom's hands under the water, making sure that no other pieces were stuck in her hands before. As the blood washed away, Laelynn was hit with a strong sense of déjà vu. She remembered being in her mom's place, a few years ago. But now was really not the time to be relieving those kinds of memories, so she grasped onto reality as the water ran through her fingers.

Kayden and Elena knocked on the door and opened it up. Elena had also thought to grab a small towel, holding it carefully between her fingers.

Laelynn gave them a thankful look as she took the towel, trying her mom's hands. They were starting to bleed again, so she had to work quickly.

She warned her mom again as she quickly and lightly cleaned her wounds with the smallest bit of antiseptic cleanser. Her mom hissed from the pain but didn't say anything as Laelynn finished, quickly wrapping the bandage around one hand, then the next.