What Lies Ahead

Chapter 38

"Have a good day at work," I smile, giving Ezra a kiss before he leaves.

"I hate Mondays," he groans. 

"At least I'll be here when you get home tonight," I smile. 

"I can't wait," he grins. 

I walk him out to his car and he kisses me one last time before leaving. I head upstairs and check on the twins, and they're both sound asleep. Ezra turned his office into their room, and I'm so thankful he was willing to. I make my way into the kitchen and make myself a cup of coffee before heading into the living room. I sit down on the couch and grab my laptop. I begin doing some of my online classwork and get as much done as I can before Leon and Chloe wake up. 

I get a lot done in around two hours, and then on cue, the twins wake up. I get them out of their cribs and begin to feed the both of them. There's a knock on the door, and I open it to find Jesse. He bursts inside and has a troubled look on his face.

"Jesse what's wrong?" I ask. 

"There's something wrong with mom. I heard her talking on the phone today, and she was talking about how she didn't want help for something, she had pills to help her, and she hung up on whoever was on the phone."

"You think she's addicted to pills?" I ask. 

"Possibly. Jo I'm worried," he says, rubbing his hand in his hair.

"I am too, but you know mom. If we fight her she'll fight back ten times harder," I sigh. 

"Is there anyway you can get her out of the house today? I know this isn't the right thing to do, but if we want answers I'm going to have to snoop through her things," he says.

"I can do that. Just keep your phone on you just in case," I say. 

"Call me if she leaves suddenly or something," he says.

I pick up my phone and call mom. She says she would love to meet me for lunch right now.

"Ok, I'm going to head out. Make your move, and I'll text when we're done."

I give Jesse and a hug and load the babies up. I don't feel right doing this, but I'm worried about my mom. 

"Thanks for coming out mom," I say, hugging her, and she feels even smaller.

"Of course honey," she kisses my cheek. 

I get in my car and call Jesse.

"Find anything?" I ask.

"Yeah, a bunch of papers from doctors appointments and a punch of prescription pills. This doesn't make any sense," he says.

"Well, her car just pulled off. You should probably put it all back," I say.

"When was it she became a manager for that band?" Jesse asks.

"During the beginning of my senior year," I say.

"She was never managing shit. She was at doctor's appointments hours away, but why is she lying?" he asks.

"Maybe she really is sick," I say. 

"Look, we're going to talk to her. Just let me figure this out," he says. 

We hang up and I drive home, still worrying about mom. 

"I think my mom is sick," I tell Ezra at dinner.

"Why would you say that?" he asks, looking worried. 

I tell him about what Jesse and I did today. 

"I know it's wrong, but we need answers. Is she sick, or does she have an addiction? She's getting smaller and smaller every time I see her," I say, starting to tear up a little.

"Jo, I need to tell you something-" Ezra starts, but gets cut off by my phone ringing. 

"It's Jesse. I have to answer," I say, picking up the phone.

"Jo, get to the hospital. Mom just fainted," he says, and my phone falls out of my hands.