Second Chances: An Unexpected Angel

Chapter 62

At the hospital, while the doctors treated me, Hayley came back into the waiting room, where Sméagol was hunched forward with his head in his hands. "They're pumping her stomach now," she said.

Sméagol didn't respond.

"They said that she was brought in just in time. If we'd waited much longer..."

"She would be dead," added Sméagol.

"Yeah."

Sméagol hid his face in his hands, exhaling forcefully.

"Hey," Hayley said sweetly as she sat next to Sméagol. "Come here, Sweetie." She wrapped her arms around him. "It's okay. She's gonna be okay."

"Sméagol should've been there sooner," he wept. "He would've stopped her."

"Awww, Honey..."

"Sméagol should've been there."

"No, Sméagol, don't put that on yourself."

"She's my baby. I should've gone to bed with her, not leave her all alone."

"Sméagol, Sweetheart, listen to me. You didn't know she was gonna do this. She seemed fine when she went to bed. That's what depression can do to you sometimes, sneak up on you suddenly." Hayley sighed heavily. "This is what I've had to see so many times, watching her get hurt by people she cares about, one person after another turning their backs on her." She began to cry. "And, knowing there's nothing I can do about it, nothing I can do to stop it from happening. Today, I had to watch my sweet little baby sister get hurt again, and I couldn't do anything to stop it." Her crying escalated into heavy sobbing. "When is it gonna end, Sméagol? When is someone gonna come into her life, not see her as a burden or too much to handle... and just fucking stay? People always say they won't hurt her, until they do. They promise they won't leave, but when things get tough, they leave... just because she has a few extra challenges."

"I won't leave her," Sméagol sobbed. "I knows how she feels. People leaves me, too. My whole family leaves me. Sméagol never leave Cheyenne. Sméagol needs her, too. Cannot survive without my baby. My true Precious she is, my love."

"I'm so grateful for you, Sméagol. She's my baby, too... and if it wasn't for you, she wouldn't be here anymore. You saved her life, Sméagol... more than once."

"I couldn't let my baby die, no. I prays she lives."

"Was that what you were doing when I came out here? Were you praying for her?"

"Yes, Sméagol prays to God for Precious Cheyenne."

"Well, your prayers worked, Sméagol. God heard you, and she's gonna be okay."