Ain't No Mountain High Enough

"Ordinary World"

As soon as I got off the phone with the agency, I burst out of my room. Arjun was walking back towards the living room, but he turned to me instead.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," he said as he looked me over. "What happened?"

It took a moment for me to finally say, "They found her! They found my mom!"

Arjun's eyebrows raised. "Where is she?"

I explained everything the agency had told me. My mother was actually a grand total of three hours away. She was so close all this time and I never knew it! As I told Arjun everything, that fact made heat rise to my face from anger. What if she always knew where I was?

"I could take you up there if you wanted," Arjun said. "Tomorrow, of course."

My stomach churned. I hadn't seen my mother in three years, and I wasn't sure if I was ready. But maybe I would never be ready. I raked my fingers through my hair, sighing like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. Honestly, it felt like it was. "I guess..." As long as Arjun was with me, maybe it wouldn't be so bad?

We agreed on a time to leave and informed Ms. Harlow of the trip, then we all tried to get some sleep. I only succeeded in staring at the ceiling for most of the night, but what sleep I did get was ruined by nightmares about the car accident and my parents. By the time morning came, I was worn out and really didn't feel like driving three hours to see someone who was supposed to be my mother.

"Good luck, Randall," Ms. Harlow said before I got into the car. According to her, I looked as pale as a ghost. My hands were shaking, but I didn't let her see that. I could tell she was nervous, too, but she didn't admit it. "Don't ever forget that you have a family here, no matter what." She bent down to kiss my forehead.

I smiled, a little bashful. "Thank you," I said. I bit my lip as I glanced up at her. She was right...if my mother didn't want to see me, then maybe my real mom was right here. Not my biological mother, but the mother I should have had.

Arjun helped me get in the car, then loaded my wheelchair in the back. I swear, Arjun's done this so many times I was going to have to start paying him for it. I wished I could tell him how grateful I was for his help with everything, but words just weren't going to cut it.

"What's the address?" Arjun asked once he was in the car. As I put it in on my phone's GPS, I caught Arjun blowing his mother a kiss. I made it seem as if I hadn't just watched that happen, since I was sure he would punch me in the face or something.

"Here it is," I said as I tried to keep the smirk off of my face. I placed my phone in one of the cup holders so he could see the map.

"Please don't make it talk," Arjun said as he pulled out of the driveway.

Now I couldn't help but let him see my smirk. "Talk? You mean Siri?"

"Yes. I don't want her help."

I laughed, then picked up my phone to turn Siri's directions off. "There. But if you get lost, don't blame it on me."

Arjun rolled his eyes, and then we were on our way.

The next three hours went by dirt slow. I tried to pass the time by playing games on my phone, staring out the window, or trying to sleep. Nothing made the time go by faster. I tried to start a few conversations with Arjun, but my heart wasn't in it. My mind was focused on the panic that was growing in my chest. I knew part of it was from riding in the car. I thought that the longer I went, the more I'd settle down, but every time a car got too close, I would flinch.

A few times, we stopped at a red light in a four way stop. These made my heart pound. It wasn't raining, but I could just picture the scene in my head. My breaths came faster and made me feel like I would hyperventilate, but I did what I could to keep Arjun from noticing. But knowing him, he probably did, and just wasn't pointing it out.

By the time we pulled up to the apartment complex my mother supposedly lived in, I was trembling and agitated from the drive. Why was this getting worse? It had been a few months since the accident now, and I had ridden in the car plenty of times. I wish I could just make things go back to normal.

The street had a bunch of old-time looking shops for candy, clothes, and other such stores, and I could see an old church down the street. The apartment building looked just as old. The red bricks were clean, but they didn't look all that stable. A large iron gate circled the building and gave the place a nearly ominous look. The only thing it lacked was a gray sky backdrop. Today was a gorgeous day. I wished I could be enjoying it a little more.

"All right," Arjun said once I was back in my wheelchair. He was breathing hard from trying to help me, and looked tired from the drive. "Ready?"

"No, but we came all this way, so..." I shrugged. I wheeled myself up a ramp, and Arjun opened the door to the building and let me in.

"Can I help you?" a little old man at a counter asked. His white hair was frazzled and his clothes were wrinkled. The place smelled like pine trees, but I caught the underlying scent of whiskey. It made me sick, because I began to think that my mother might live here because a bunch of other drunks do.

"Yeah, can you tell me if Maddison Riggs lives here?" I asked in a shaky voice.

The old man turned to a large book on the counter behind him and began flipping through it. "Hm...not Maddison Riggs, but there is a Maddison Gage who lives here."

My heart skipped a beat. "That's her...what room?"

"One-o-seven, down the hall there," the man said as he gestured around the corner.

"Thanks," I said quickly, then I wheeled myself out of the dimly lit entryway and into a hall.

Arjun followed quietly until we came to the room the old man had directed us towards, then he took a deep breath. "I can go outside, if you want."

I shook my head. "No," I said, almost whispering. "Unless...you want to, of course." It would probably be awkward for him to simply stand there, but I didn't want to do this alone. To my relief, he leaned back against the wall a few feet away and stuffed his hands into his pockets to watch.

I swallowed hard, then knocked on the door. Half of me prayed she wouldn't be home, but I soon heard the sound of muffled footsteps. A moment later, the door opened. My eyes widened when I saw her. It was my mother all right.

I could just barely recognize her.

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Thank you so much for reading!

Listen to Duran Duran's "Ordinary World"!

Peace✌️~ A.J.