Hidden Support

Chapter Three

I came home finding my aunt's car parking in front of my house. I parked my car in the garage. The strange thing was that my dad's car was already in there. How come is dad home so much earlier today? Is mom home?! I thought. I got out of my car, my backpack on my back, a smile on my face.

"Dad! Mom's home??" I said quite loud as I opened the front door. I was sure that I said it loud enough for him to hear.

I didn't get any answer.

I entered the kitchen. My smile faded. The lights were out, but I could see my dad at our huge circular shaped dining table, leaning on his elbows, his hands covering his ears, staring at the table. I walked close to him, his tear dropped, and that shocked me.

"I truly hope this has nothing to do with mom. Oh Lord, please tell me that mom is totally fine." written down in the book of my mind.

"Dad, what's wrong? Dad, why are you crying?" I asked him.

He didn't say a word. All I heard was his heavy breath and the sound of footsteps from my backyard.

I had never seen dad like this before, and I never thought I would. He was a funny person, that's why I never expected him crying alone in the dark like this at all.

"Dad, tell me!" I raised my voice with worry. "TELL ME, WHAT HAPPENED?!"

My aunt came in from the back door. She walked so fast towards me, and called my name in a very cold tone of voice―which I'd never heard before.

"Aunt Claire, what happened?" I asked her, nearly burst into tears. "Aunt Claire, is mom okay???"

I was sure she just stopped crying because her face was so red, she has no makeup on, and I could tell she tried as hard as she possibly could to keep calm. She was trying to tell me what happened, but I knew she couldn't find a word.

"Aunt Claire, please tell me!" I said as tears rushing down my face. That was the moment I knew something fucking terrible happened to mom.

"Ashley, I am sorry. I really am sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she said sadly in tears. She hugged me tight, as if she would never let go. "She got shot by a guy at the airport. It was an accident. An accident," she said after a while. That made me cry even harder.

"Mom is still alive, right?" asked I. "RIGHT?! TELL ME SHE IS SAFE AND SHE'S IN THE HOSPITAL AND SHE'S GONNA BE OKAY!"

She shook her head and cried even harder. "I'm really sorry, my love, I'm so s-"

"NO!!" I cut her off. "MOM IS NOT DEAD! MOM'S NOT DEAD!!" I screamed.

I was totally dead. The feeling was unexplainably harsh. If somebody asked me to rate the pain on a scale from one to ten, I would scream "ONE HUNDRED" at their face and tell them to fuck off. It hurt too bad. Unbearable pain inside my heart.

She let go of me, and I fell on my knees. I wanted to scream my throat off and cry my heart out. I thought it would help reducing the pain, but I was wrong. It hurt more and more every time I breathed in and out.

Aunt Claire got down to hug me again. She probably thought it was what I needed, and I really needed a hug―but not from her, I needed it from MOM.

A bunch of words written in my mind within seconds. The last sentence written down was "I love you, mom, please don't leave."