The Day Hope was Murdered

8. Homebound

I've been asked this question too many times to count this morning, by doctors, nurses, and food-bringers, but I answer once again, mustering up a smile. "Great! Now that I've eaten and such, I'm feeling really really great!"

She smiles in return. "That's lovely to hear, darling. I'm sure you know this already, but you will be going home today!" I see that her nameplate says Liv. "In fact, your parents should be here any moment to pick you up!"

I feel a rush of euphoria at the prospect of going home and quickly reply "Really? Thanks for letting me know!"

"Sure thing. I'll check if they're here." She turns around to leave but a thought enters my mind and I call out to her.

"Liv!"

She rushes over to my bed, looking me over. "Yes, darling? Everything okay?"

The guilt creeps up on me as I realize I scared her. "Yeah, I'm perfectly fine. Sorry for yelling, didn't mean to frighten you."

She lifts her lips into her warm smile again and says "Not a problem, missy. So what's on your mind?"

I realize now that she's called me three different names in the span of our two-minute conversation: honey, darling, and missy. Not that I mind. I ask her the question pressing on my mind. "You said my parents are coming to pick me up, right?" She nods. Afraid of the answer, I timidly ask "Does that mean my dad is coming?"

She looks at me for a second before replying. "I honestly don't know missy. I haven't seen your dad around here much lately in these three weeks you've been here. I'm guessing he's coming, because why wouldn't he come to bring his only daughter home?"

The way she said 'only daughter' gives me chills. "Yeah, you're right. Thank you."

I assume she can see the sadness in my eyes by the brief look of pity she gives me. "And hey, even if he can't make it, you've got a wonderful mother who sure will."

I force a smile to my face even though that last thing I agree with is her words. Another second passes and then she's gone.

I really hope my dad comes. I haven't seen him since I supposedly almost killed myself and I miss him so much. I have a feeling from my recollections of the conversations I heard while in my coma that not only will he not be coming to pick me up, but that he won't even be home when I get there.

The first half of my suspicion is confirmed when two minutes later, the nurse walks in with my mother in tow, a look of sympathy covering her face.

I knew it.

He's not here and he's not coming. Looking at my mother's masked face now, I realize that she's still mad at me over the events that occurred yesterday. I guess it slipped my mind that I told her I was taking antidepressants behind her back.

"C'mon, let's get you out of here." She says without looking me in the eyes, then grabs my bag I didn't even realize I had here.

As I get up and follow her out the door, I decide to keep up the charade; it's not like she cares about me anyways.

We're now in the elevator, going down . . . on the third floor, the second, the first, and lower we go.

The hidden part of me whispers that maybe concealing the truth will also keep her back off of me and Amanda when we conduct Operation Howard.

She steps out of the elevator and I follow her lead, no words have been spoken thus far, just thoughts running rampant through my head.

I've made my decision.

I'm just going to let her go on believing that her, in Liv's words, 'only daughter' was so depressed that she overdosed on antidepressants.

We're driving down the streets of Sunbank now.