Endings Are New Beginnings (Book 1) (Completed)

Epilogue

"No!"

"Then what?" I snap.

"Your boyfriend came to visit me the other day," she says.

"What?" I ask shocked at the sudden change in topic. "I don-"

"Oh god Bambi, don't tell me that all the different men you've been sleeping with has addled your brain. You've done well with him. Tall. Brown hair. Green eyes. Quarterback at your school..." My mouth goes dry. Tanner.

"W-What did he say?"

"He told me his concerns about you cheating on him, even showed me a photo of you in your underwear with three guys." I balk at her. Clearly she could tell that it was from cameras which were put in our apartment, but she didn't seem fazed. He probably had an excuse ready for her.

"What did you say?" I ask, fearful of the answer.

"Well, I told him a bit more about you, and that I wouldn't be surprised, especially with your past." I sit as still as a statue as her words hit me. I can feel tears creeping up, but they never surface. I want to defend myself or tell her that she wasn't talking to my boyfriend, and that she might have made Tanner's pursuit of me worse, but the words never form.

The door opens and I look that way, to see a woman in walk in. She takes her glasses off, letting them hang around her neck on the chain, and gives my mum a levelling gaze.

"Amanda, how are we feeling today?"

"Like a prisoner," she grumbles. I press my lips together, my statue resolve crumpling, and I know I am going to burst into tears if I stay here one moment longer. I don't want my mum to see how she's affected me. I snatch my bag up, striding towards the door and to go pass the doctor.

"You must be her daughter..."

"I'm sorry, I have to go," I mumble, my throat closing up. "Bye mum," I force out as I push past the doctor.

"Are you up for talk-" the doctor starts before the door closes. I rush down the corridor, wiping away the tears that are starting to leak out. I thought she would have been on my side, and defended me, but to hear in her own words what she's thinking of me and not trying to hide it from me anymore, is like a slap in the face. I have always known, and when she first was admitted to hospital with her addiction problem it came to the surface to some extent, but it was more suggested.

I rush out of the lift, and bump into someone on the way out. My bag falls to the floor, and I mumble an apology as I bend down to pick it and the contents up.

"Bambi?"

"Oh, Gerard, hi," I say as I begin to stuff things back in my bag.

"What are you doing here? Were you visiting Levi?" he asks.

"Levi?"

"Yes, he was transferred here yesterday. I'm just going to see him now, do you want to come with-"

"Look, Gerard, I'm sorry but I'm not in the mood right now," I tell him, shoving my bag onto my shoulder. He studies my face.

"What's happened?" he asks.

"Nothing, I was just visiting my mum."

"Ah," he says. "I may not be a doctor in the traditional sense, but I know that your mom is going through a tough time right now, especially as she has been relying on alcohol for years. She is bound to be having withdrawals, and that can make people grouchy, and they will say things they don't necessarily mean." I let out a mirthless chuckle.

"My mum meant it." I spin and start toward the exit, only to be stopped by Gerard calling my name.

"What?" I ask, somewhat harshly.