Hearts Afar

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These past few months have been really hard on me. I still haven’t had any kind of contact with Clay and every time I closed my eyes, I would replay the last phone call from him. It was now October and it’s been nine months since I’ve physically seen him. Mikey and Hannah’s birthday’s have done come and gone and now I have a nine year old and a twelve year old on my hands. 

On top of falling into a mommy mode, I have also started college and pursuing a fast track degree in medical assisting. It really wasn’t something that I would have thought about going into but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to do it. Sure, it wouldn’t be like I was going to be a nurse or anything but if something happened to one of the kids, I would know the steps that I would need to take. I was also doing part time work at the pharmacy as a cashier. Going to school, helping the kids with their homework and taking on a part time job along with keeping the house up, was enough to drive any person crazy. I was very thankful that I didn’t try to turn away anymore help from Barbie and mom when it was offered.

While I still wait everyday for news on Clay and even Brent, I would not let the kids see me get down over things. I had to stay positive for them, especially Mikey. He hadn’t had any male company for a long time and now that he was reaching closer to thirteen, I really worried about the people he hung out with and how his grades were slowly dropping. He was such a great student last year and now it’s like his straight A’s have dropped to B’s and I knew he could do better, he just seemed like he didn’t care anymore.

There really was no change with Hannah, which I was kind of thankful for because I would be driving myself crazy with both of them acting up. Hannah really was a little gem to deal with and she became my helper around the house. She would do anything that I would ask with no questions asked and no delays. I wished that her brother would do the same because it would make life so much easier. I knew he was dealing with everything in his own way but he needed to talk to me more about his feelings. 

Today was the Halloween party at Hannah’s school and I remembered everything from this night the year before. How that night Clay and I had gotten into a little bit of a spat but by time I came back with Hannah, we talked and that was that. I needed that tonight, more than anything. I needed to know that no matter what, there was something worth staying positive for. 

As soon as I got to the school with Hannah, I went over to the bleachers and sat down. I just decided to play on my phone for some time while continuing to keep an eye on Hannah. Just after I looked back down at my phone, I saw an unknown number calling but it had the local area code so I answered it.

    “Hello?”

    “May I speak with Claire Henderson?” the man’s voice asked.

    “This is she?”

   “Hello Miss Henderson. My name is Doctor Carson from Memorial Hospital,” he said, causing my breath to catch.

    “Yes.”

   “Ma’am, there is a young man who has been transfered to our hospital and he’s asking for you to come,” he said. My heart started speeding up as I immediately thought that I was getting reunited with Clay. 

    “I’ll be there shortly,” I said, hanging up the phone. I told Hannah that I had some business to take care put to go on home with her friend Stacy and after okaying it with her mother, I rushed to the hospital.

When I pulled into the hospital parking lot, I had to stop to catch my breath. I was nervous about this because I wasn’t completely sure what I was going to walk into. After calming myself down, I climbed out of my car and took careful steps to the emergency room entrance. I told the receptionist the name of the doctor who called me and my name and was directed to go to the fourth floor.