angel baby (heavy editing)

17

     Lia couldn't believe it. This moment wasn't real. The throbbing in her hand caused from the punch she landed on the nose of the man told her it was very real. She watched her past lover nurse his bruised nose. She was sure it wasn't broken. She didn't have that much strength in her body but at that moment, she wished she did.
She turned to go. She couldn't deal with this now.
"Lia, Lia, wait", she felt his hand grip her wrist. She quickly pulled away as if burned fighting the urge to punch him. When he disappeared nineteen years ago, she felt burned.
"Lia, I know you're upset and you have every right to be but please let me explain"
"Fuck you, Andrew. You and your explanation can go bury yourselves from whatever hole you crawled out of"
"Lia"
"Stop saying my name, you fucking idiot"
What Lia swore, she was pissed and meant business. Andrew knew it. He better did or she would find a table and break it on his head.
"I'm sorry"
Lia turned to face him, so much anger and hatred in her eyes.
"You're sorry? You're sorry?"
"I can explain. Give me a chance to"
"You're unbelievable"
She started to walk away again but he hurriedly moved to stand before her.
"Please, I beg you. Let me explain"
"I thought you were my friend", She whispered, her voice croaked. "You were all I had"
"I'm sorry"
"Mom" Lia heard the voice of her son. She pushed Andrew away and saw her son who stood a few feet away. She walked towards him.
"Are you alright? What's going on?"
"The doctor came out a few minutes ago. He was looking for you"
Fear but also hope gripped her. The surgery was over, she hoped. She just had to speak to the doctor.
"Come"
She pulled him along.
"Lia?" She heard him call her name but refused to turn. Chris didn't need this right now. Kathy was their topmost priority. Gripping Chris tighter, they walked away.

          "The surgery was successful. Kathy is still unconscious but we believe she'll recover real nice in no time. We'll have to keep her in for the next few weeks to monitor her"
          Hearing the doctor speak, Lia felt she could breathe again.
"Thank you doctor, when can we see her?"
"Once she regains consciousness, you'll be able to. The nurses will alert you once that happens"
"Thank you, thank you so much"
The doctor nodded and left.
"Did you hear that, Chris? Kathy will be alright"
Chris nodded and smiled. Lia almost cried at that. He hadn't smiled in a while. It was a big relief.
He came to her front and hugged her. She immediately hugged him back. She felt his sniffs and droplets of tears on her top. He was shaken up so bad.
Thank God Kathy was okay.
She knew she had to confront the two big problems on ground but they could wait another day, just one more day.

    Oliver sat with his family at the dining table as his mother giggled with his grandmother. He wanted to hit something. They've never liked each other and he was certain they couldn't have started to now.
"Oliver, stop playing with your meal and eat"
Oliver looked up at his father's sudden command. He had been up in his business lately and Oliver was sick of it.
"I'm just not hungry", he decided to say. He didn't want to argue.
"Oliver, you have to be careful next time. Imagine my shock when your father called me you had gotten into a car accident. It took everything in me not to drop that precious Italian man and come here"
"Lisa! There's a child at the table." Oliver heard the amusement in his mother's voice.
I'm going to be sick.
What was this freak show?
"Oh come on, Emilia is no longer a child, right granddaughter?"
Emilia giggled and nodded. Oliver almost, almost, rolled his eyes.
"So anything new around here"
"Nothing at all, mom", his father answered a little quickly. And just like he had guessed, his parents hadn't said anything to his grandmother but sure she was the first to know when he came out to them. She remembered the shit she put him through saying his bisexuality was a phase and an act of rebellion but something as big as this, she was left in the dark.
He truly wanted to tell the truth, all be damned, and live up to his rebellious reputation.
"Oliver I heard mid terms are coming really soon. Remember the tests are just as important as the exams. I think you should be out in a better school-"
He felt an argument brewing but then his mother surprised him by keeping quiet. What was happening?
"But I think it's great that you have so many watching you at your mother's school. You have to grow up now. In a few short years, you're going to take over the family business and get a good wife who can give you strong and healthy sons"
He was just about to explode. 
"Or a nice husband. He's bisexual. We shouldn't invalidate that"
He was thankful for his mother's support. He was still at mad at her though.
"Yes, yes. Your 18th birthday is soon, you're going to be an adult. Speaking of his birthday, I was thinking-"
Oliver tuned her voice out. He couldn't care less what she had to say.
He couldn't wait till Monday when he had to track his biological mother. He had gotten three things from the file, four things even. Her name, the fact that she was a single mother, an old passport photograph of when she was younger and her home address. That would do, for now.

   Lia sat on Kathy's bed, who had awoken a few hours earlier, feeding her some soup the nurse brought in earlier. She wouldn't be eating solid food for a while. The look on Kathy's showed she hated the taste but the twinkle in her eyes showed she was happy to be alive. Chris sat on the sofa behind them, still playing video games. The room Kathy was transferred to after she left the ICU was grand if Lia did say so herself, all thanks to Chris. The money Chris made for one of his painting was more than anything she could have imagined. Enrolling him at Pearlview hadn't been a mistake, she concluded.
"How's your head? How are you feeling?"
"Mom, I'm fine, I promise"
Lia tried to give her another spoon but she shook her head.
"Come on Kathy, you need to have more. You need to regain your strength"
"Maybe later, I'm just really sleepy.  You should go home and sleep too"
Lia frowned.
"I can't just leave you"
"I'm fine now. You've done so much for me already. You need to take care of yourself and Chris too. When last has he slept on a decent bed?"
She was right but it still terrified Lia to leave her.
"According to Chris's schedule, he has an early mid terms in Geography and he has to study. His life, your life shouldn't stop on my account" Lia was relieved she remembered that. She was glad nothing was wrong or missing due to the surgery. It sounded shady but that was how she felt.
"Kathy"
"I'm serious, mom. Go home. If I need anything, I'll tell one of the nurses to call you"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, please, it would make me so happy"
Lia stared at her for a few more seconds. She stood up and placed a lingering kiss on Kathy's cheek.
"We'll come back in a few hours"
Kathy wanted to disagree but she felt really tired to.
"Come, let's leave her to rest" She told her son who stood up and grabbed the hand she stretched out.
There was still so much to do, so much to say but Kathy was right, she needed to sleep for a very long time.