CAKE

Fifty-Nine

No One

Russet eyes landed on her mother sadly. Things had been rough on the family since Lillie had the stroke. Cassandra tried her hardest to stay strong because her mother needed her most. She'd never expected to see her mother so weak and fragile. 

Sighing, she exits her mother's bedroom and made her way into the living room, and turned her attention to her phone, glancing at her call log.

For 2 long months, she's been trying to get in touch with her sister with no success. She was beginning to hate Casey for not answering. Lillie could be dead for all she knew and still, Casey wouldn't answer any of her calls.

Cassandra knew Casey was probably annoyed because of how many times a day she would call but this was information Casey needed to know. Sighing, she placed her phone down on the tabletop. Her attention was immediately forced to the sound of the front door opening. Russet eyes met chestnut brown eyes.

Kathryn offered a small smile to her friend as she entered the house, making sure to close the door behind her. "Hey, how's mom?" she questioned, setting her purse and jacket onto the couch as she made her way over to Cassandra.

The brown-skinned woman sighed. "She's better than she was 2 months ago but she's definitely not her usual self," she spat as tears burned her eyes. Kathryn frowned, knowing exactly how the woman felt. She sat beside her and pulled her into a hug. 

"She'll get better, she's a fighter."

Cassandra nods her head and stares down at her phone. "Any luck getting in touch with Casey?" Kathryn questioned, the name of her ex-fiance leaving behind an acidic taste on her tongue. She'd also been trying to reach out to Casey about the situation but hadn't received a call either.

She didn't know if Casey was simply not answering her phone because of their past relationship or if Casey changed her number and wasn't getting any of the calls despite the number still having service. Kathryn pondered on the thought but nothing seemed to make sense to her.

Shaking her head, Cassandra rolls her eyes. "I don't know what I was expecting, honestly. She clearly didn't give two shits when she left... what makes either of us think this is important to her," she spat in annoyance.

Running her hands through her brown tresses, Kathryn let out a small breath. "We don't know her reason for not answering, maybe she changed her number or..." she trailed, not sure how she could save her ex's ass. She wanted to believe Casey still cared, if not about her, then definitely about her mother, sister, and niece. 

It just didn't make sense to her. Casey just wasn't the person to not care. 

"You know just as I do that she didn't change her number, Kathryn. Her number is still in service! We still go to voicemail. She's just..." she spat and stopped to stop herself from saying anything bad about her sister. 

"I can forgive her for leaving. I can forgive her for not wanting to talk to us or see us while she heals. But I won't forgive her if she never comes back and my mom never recovers from this. I won't forgive her if our mom dies and she's nowhere to be seen," Cassandra cried, hoping that outcome would never happen.

Kathryn watched the woman, feeling bad for her. Cassandra was clearly going through things that she'd never wanted to experience. Kathryn knew if Casey was here, maybe Cass wouldn't feel like she has the weight of the whole world on her shoulders.

"All we can do is pray and hope things go well. I pray every day that Lillie will recover and I pray that Casey will come back. Lillie needs you both so much," she mutters, rubbing the woman's back.