UNWANTED REMINDER
"Thank you to everyone in our community for electing me to serve you as your state representative during this challenging time. I am deeply humbled by your support, and I want to assure you that I am going to work day and night to make sure that your concerns are heard and addressed. When we work together, not as Democrats, Republicans, or Independents, but as members of one community, I know that …"
Janet stared blankly at the screen before her as the new speaker of the House of Representatives gave his speech, barely processing the things that were being said.
"That should have been Dad," she thought to herself with a frown.
She could hear the periodical beep of the heart monitor behind her as she stared into space. She had been like this since she woke up on the hospital bed, after being in a coma for a month, numb and unresponsive.
The doctors had said she was in shock from the trauma, but it was going to wear off soon.
Truthfully, Janet did not want the shock to wear off. She did not want to remember the details of that night. She still had hope that her mother would suddenly walk through the door and plant a kiss on her forehead as she always did.
Her attention was diverted by the sound of the door creaking open, she watched as the doctor walked into the room with a grim expression.
"Ms Forger, I can see you're awake…and watching the vote of thanks."
Janet gave him a dull stare, remaining mute.
"I'm here to share your test result… you're one month pregnant." The doctor added with a sympathetic smile.
The room was consumed with silence once again.
"A nurse will be here to check up on you shortly." Janet heard the doctor announce before he noiselessly exited the tense atmosphere.
"Pregnant?"
That was when the dam finally broke, her frail form shook as she let out wails of anguish. Janet cried for her dead parents; she cried for her stolen innocence, cried for the unwanted reminder that now lived within her. She wept until she couldn't anymore.
The next day, Janet was discharged from the hospital.
"Have a nice day ma'am!" She ignored the surprisingly nice driver as she stepped out of the cab.
She glanced at a stack of envelopes that had been placed at the entrance and mechanically picked it up. With bated breath, she pushed the door open, slowly stepping into her family's house.
Janet abruptly stopped at the threshold of the living room, which was oddly clean for a crime scene. She forced her gaze to the cursed couch as her chest heaved.
Unable to bear the sight any longer, she ran up to her room, breaking down at the foot of the bed.
She opened the stack of envelopes, scanning them one after the other. However, her eyes stopped on one in particular,
"NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT JPMorgan Chase & Co, the seizure authority, for failure to repay the loan, has seized properties of the following description…" She shook her head in disbelief; all her father's properties, except the house, had been seized by the bank.
Janet sagged against the wooden frame, she felt as though the whole world was against her and the walls were closing in on her. She sat there, helpless and miserable.
In her moment of weakness, her mind raced with thoughts and she languidly made her way to the bathroom, rifling through the medicine cabinet.
She was unable to bear the weight of all her emotions and grabbed the half-filled pill bottle. In a swift motion, she twisted the cap and poured the contents of the bottle into her mouth, ready to end it all.
"Coward." The voice at the back of her mind said.
In another second, she rushed to the other side of the room, shoving her hands down her throat and retching, spewing the pills into the toilet with tears streaming down her face.
She repeated the action a few times until there was nothing left and dragged herself to the shower, fully clothed.
"I am not going to give up so easily; I must avenge my parent's death and my stolen innocence!" She thought with a determined glint in her eye.
Twelve months later…
Janet had been haunted by the memories of that night till this day, the parts that she could remember though. Even more so, as she stared down at the wrapped bundle in her arms nine months later.
"Sonia Grace Harrison." She had told the nurse who was attending to her after labor.
As much as she tried to resist, Janet was instantly filled with love for the child.
"You will never have to see the horrors of this world," she had promised her sleeping daughter with a determined tone.
But now as she stood at her friend's doorstep four months later, she could not help but feel like she had broken her promise at the first opportunity.
She received a fully funded scholarship to her dream college, Baron Ash University, a few weeks ago.
Janet was excited to get the news, seeing it as a beacon of light and the first step to getting her revenge, but he could not take the infant with her. She could not deal with the responsibility of tending to a baby along with her cumbersome studies.
Thus, she was left with only one choice.
"I feel like a bad mother. Ruth, should I really be doing this?" She confided in her friend as she glanced at the babbling child in her carrier.
"Janet, we both know why you're doing this. You know you have to, and I will support you all the way. Following your dreams does not make you a bad mother." Ruth answered calmly, looking her in the eyes.
"Then why do I feel like I'm abandoning my own child? I don't want her to grow up thinking that her mother abandoned her." She cried, tightening her grip.
"And she won't; you're not abandoning her, and I will make sure she is aware of that. I will shower her with all the love and affection you are unable to and we'll make it work, regular calls and FaceTime." Her friend explained in a reassuring tone.
Janet let out a sigh before making her way to the infant, who raised her arms at the sight of her. She held her tears back, crouching down to her level.
"I love you very much, my sweet girl." She whispered and softly placed a kiss on her forehead.
The child gave her a toothless grin, obliviously chewing on her fingers.
Janet rose to her feet, wrapping her arms around Ruth in a tight hug.
"Thank you for this, I don't know how I could ever repay you." She gratefully said as tears leaked out of the corner of her eyes.
"I'm always here for you, no matter the circumstances." She answered, waving off her words.
They tearfully exchanged goodbyes before Janet left her friend's home, getting into the taxi that was already awaiting her.
"Where to?" The driver asked politely.
"The airport."
Janet watched the scenery as they drove into the ever-present traffic. She held back the tears that threatened to fall.
"I have shed enough tears," she thought with a frown, keeping a strong conviction in her heart.
"I am going to get my revenge, even if it is the last thing that I do…"