Hey Idiot... I Love You

Chapter Ten

CHAPTER TEN

Emily: It’s about your dad.

I don’t even think about the consequences or the humiliation. I just stood up, ignoring the questioning stares of a hundred pair of eyes and storm out of the convention hall, my phone tightly clutched in my hand. The speaker even stopped his speech, but none of those are my concerns right now.

When I arrive at the lobby, I’m thankfully there aren’t much people. I quickly dial Emily’s number. Every ring feels like a whole minute.

While waiting for Emily to answer, I hear footsteps coming from the direction of the conference hall. Part of me is wishing it’s Blake, but who am I kidding?

“Are you okay?”

I give Calvin a forced smile. “Yep.”

He silently drapes an arm around my shoulders. It’s too close for comfort but complaining about it just sounds so rude.

“What happened to dad?” are the first words that come out of my mouth as Emily picks up her phone.

She must have sensed my panic, because she replies, “Haley, calm down, okay?”

I take a few deep breaths and force myself to slow down. “I am calm, Emily. Just please, tell me what happened?” Emily doesn’t say anything for awhile, and in those silent moments I can hear sobs in the background.

“Who’s that?”

“Haley,” Emily says slowly, as if she’s talking to a child, “Your mom is here in the apartment.”

“What?” I almost screech. Is it that serious?

“She wants to talk to you. And calm down,” she reminds me again.

“I am calm, Emily, now let me talk to her,” I snap. I instantly regret it, but I don’t get the chance to apologize.

“Here,” I hear Emily tell someone in the background. The sobs suddenly get clearer and louder.

“Hello?” a voice says shakily. There’s no mistaking it. It is mom.

“Mom?” I say, more calmly this time. “I’m confused. What’s going on?” I don’t know how many times I’ve said that already.

“Haley, I haven’t really been telling you everything, and I want you to know that I’m really sorry.” The way she says it makes me think there’s someone dying or something. But I’m sure it’s nothing, right?

“I’ll be straightforward with you. Your dad,” she sobs, “He has a mental illness.”

“He has a mental illness,” I repeat. I can hear mom sobbing harder. This is insane. “Ok, I can cope with that. We can go to the hospital and run tests. He can take pills. It’s going to be okay, right?” I hear myself say.

Calvin tightens his grip around me.

I take a deep breath. “Mom, why didn’t you tell me? Dad has a mental illness? Oh my God.” Another deep breath. “It’s ok. It’s expected. I mean, dad is getting old, right?”

I try to remember the diseases of the old that I studied when I was in grade school. “Alzheimer’s? What disease, mom? Parkinson’s?”

“He has Psychosis,” she says, still sobbing. “He’s been having too much stress, Haley. When you were in comma he was so worried and he never slept and barely ate. He even resorted to taking drugs. He worked all day and all night to pay all the hospital bills. Haley, he even got a stroke.”