Plum Blossom | Completed

Chapter Twelve

Note: The words in Bold+Italics represent text messages.

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Tiptoeing into the apartment, Mellisa listened for any signs of Alex. She was over two hours late, and that was usually enough to set Alex off, no matter what her reason for being late. It didn't matter to him that she was a nurse. In his mind, she was working just another nine to five job.

Alex was still passed out on the couch. He seemed drunk or high, she couldn't tell. Leaving him be, Mellisa crept into the bedroom to see what her daughter was up to. Amanda was quietly playing with her dolls, her half-eaten breakfast still sitting on her play table.

"Mommy, you're back," Amanda beamed, looking at the mother.

"Hi baby," Mellisa whispered, careful not to disrupt Alex. If he hadn't realized that Mellisa had come home late, she wasn't about to alert him. "You haven't finished breakfast," Mellisa frowned.

"You were late. I didn't know when you were coming back, so I saved some food for lunch," Amanda told her, innocently. But her words pierced Mellisa's heart.

"Amanda?" Her daughter hummed in acknowledgement.

"This isn't the first time you haven't finished eating your food. Do you worry often that I won't come back?"

"Alex seems to think so, mommy. He's always mumbling about how you're never coming back, until he falls asleep," Amanda shrugged.

"Well, I am always going to come back for you. Never forget that, okay? Just eat your food. If it helps, I will leave you more food so that you don't have to stay hungry. Is that okay?" Amanda nodded.

Mellisa found herself boiling in anger. She was seriously contemplating hurting Alex, but she shoved the thought out of her mind, choosing to focus on her daughter instead. For the rest of the morning, they had a mother-daughter day. Mellisa even let Amanda dictate everything they did, on the condition that she wouldn't complain about her afternoon nap.

When Amanda was finally down for her nap, Mellisa found herself engulfed in silence. At some point, Alex had left, without a word to either of them. Right now, in the silence, Mellisa found her brain filling with questions:

Why was Kyle in the hospital?

Was Mrs. Adams her grandmother? Did she recognize Mellisa?

Who was the girl Jackson had his head on?

What happened at the barbecue?

Asking questions at the hospital would raise suspicion. It was more than a nurse needed to know to take care of her patients. Maybe the rumor mill at the hospital would give her some intel.

Mellisa made a mental note to keep a ear out for any information when she went back for her shift that night. The advantage of keeping her head down at work was that Mellisa was often a wallflower. People didn't realize she was around when they ran their mouths. Mellisa wasn't a threat to anyone, so she heard more than people realized.

Deciding that there was no point thinking about it anymore, Mellisa walked around the house, cleaning the mess. There was a whole pile of bills waiting for her on the table. As much as she wanted to ignore the pile for later, she knew she would have to figure out a way to find the money to pay them. Alex wouldn't take too kindly to having the power or water being shut off.

Her other motive for rummaging through the mail was so see if she could find out anything about Alex and the money. She had been trying for months to uncover something, but to no avail. Mellisa was tired of working hard without being able to enjoy the fruits of her labour. She needed to catch a break.