Waking up was a relief. I realized that I was still in the hospital, but my mom was gone. Where did she go?
I slowly move, my body still hurting. I step towards the door before stepping into the hall. When I got to the end of the hall and looked around the corner, I found my mom talking to the same guy who I saw yesterday. The same one who was my mom's coworker. I realized that they were communicating, so I stood in the corner where they couldn't see me.
"I just want to meet her officially," The man says.
"I already told you," Mom says. "Why can't you just leave?" She asks.
"Whenever I try to see her, you always look the other way. She's mine, I don't know why you're keeping me from her," He says.
"It doesn't matter, just leave it alone," She tells him before turning around. I was confused by the conversation but returned to the room as quickly as possible. Soon after I returned, my mother came back into the room. After she realized I was awake, her eyes popped open a little in surprise, but then immediately recovered. "Hey baby," She says. "How are you doing?" She asks.
I wasn't sure how to answer that, but I ended up ignoring the temptation of bringing up the part of the conversation that I heard.
"I'm doing better, but I still hurt," I tell her. "I do have a question though," I tell her. I want to ask her what's going on with her and the man, but I don't know if I should.
"What is it?" She asks. As soon as I was about to ask her, a different sentence ended up coming out of my mouth.
"When do I get to leave?" I ask.
"Actually," She begins. "The doctor told me that you can leave today, but he has to take one more checkup on you and then we'll be free," She tells me. I just nod in understanding. Soon, the doctor comes back into the room.
"I just have to do a few more things and then you should be ready to go," He says. "Just let me check your vitals fast," He begins as he starts to do the whole checkup.
"Is she ready to go, doc?" My mom asked the doctor a few minutes later.
"Yes, she is," He tells her. "She is going to have to take these antibiotics once every day to help with the pain," He hands her a bottle of meds. "And of course, she will still have bruises on her skin for a while, but she is ready to go back to school tomorrow, just make sure she takes it easy for a minute," He tells her.
"Sounds good, doc," She tells him. "Thank you," She finishes.
"Of course, and I will see you tomorrow," He tells her before walking away.
"Does that mean you're going back to work tomorrow?" I ask her.
"Yes," she says. "But you'll be fine, I promise," She finishes before gathering our things and helping me stand up.
"If you say so," I tell her, kind of disappointed, but used to it. I mean I know that I should be used to it, and I mostly am. But, it still hurts when I hardly ever see my mother, even after I just had a major accident.
On our way home, I noticed a few families walking on the sidewalk. I also noticed children walking with what looked like their friends. The trees blew in the wind, the leaves falling gracefully off the trees.
Looking outside and taking a break from thinking of my life, I noticed many beautiful things that seemed so innocent, yet they also made me feel a sense of calm.
One thing caught my eye: eyes watching me. Those eyes seemed so familiar, yet I couldn't identify them. Maybe if I could see the entire body, I'd know who it was. It was a little creepy, but those beautiful hazel-blue eyes made me feel a sense of calm somehow. I decided to look back at the road and forget about those mesmerizing eyes.
"What are you thinking about, darling?" My mom asks. For a minute, I went back and forth on telling her the real reason but decided otherwise.
"Nothing, just happy to get back home," I lie.
"Oh, all right," She says, happily. "You know, I'm so ecstatic that you got your voice," She tells me. "It's a miracle," She says. I quietly listen as she hums to the songs on the radio, thinking about everything.