Mother ➳ Ally Brooke

eighteen

ALLY'S POV

We followed the man into the hallway and outside of a closed wooden door. His facial expression didn't change once.

He sighed out, "Im gonna be honest with you all. She doesn't look too good right now. She just got her stomach pumped but when we did that, we noticed something."
"Noticed what?" I asked feeling extremely worked up.
He looked down at his clipboard and then back up to me, "Your daughter has not been very healthy, Mrs. Hernandez. Did you know that she's bulimic?"
My voice was caught, "Bulimic? As in the eating disorder?" He nodded dlightly. "There's no way, sir."
He flipped through the pages on the clipboard and pushed his glasses up, "Her nutrients level was extremely low. This is most common in bulimic people, ma'am."
I almost fell back and passed out again. I'm glad Lauren is standing behind me. "Can I see her, please?"
He nodded slightly, "I suppose I can explain the rest while you see her."

He pulled the handle and pushed the door open. I almost sprinted to the bed in the corner that was sheltered off by a curtain. When I passed the blockade I couldn't believe my eyes. My hand went over my mouth as I looked over my little girl.

She was extremely pale. Almost as if the life was quickly running out of her. There were tons of bruises all over the exposed skin peeking out of the hospital gown. There's no telling what I can't see.

Then her right arm was bandaged and put in a cast to be held up in the air by a arm rest. There was a tube stuck down her throat which caused my stomach to cringe.

I walked over to the non-bandaged arm and put my hand on top of hers. Her flesh was almost icy. There was no warmth on her body. I could feel my tears start as something in my stomach flipped.

The doctor cleared his throat, "She's very pale so we have her heavily sedated at the moment so we can give her the nutrients she needs for now. That should bring some of the color back into her skin. It's just a slow and temporary feeding tube that will last around 4 hours. The sedation rate is about 7 hours, though." He got closer to one of the machines to look over the numbers, "Now, she broke this arm and fractured her leg quite harshly. Also, she has a concussion but it's not as bad as it should've been. To be honest, it's a miracle she's lived. Many people jump off that bridge and they don't make it. You have a strong kid, Mrs. Hernandez."
I smiled a little feeling the support but my emotions weren't happy, "Thank you, sir. Can I have a moment alone with my daughter and family?"
He agreed noticing that this should be a family moment and quickly departed.

I looked over to see Lauren with tears streaming down her face as Camila tried her best not to look.

I looked over my baby once more and couldn't help but become emotional as I spoke out, "Oh baby girl, what have you done?"
I softly caressed her hand trying to comfort myself, but I couldn't. She's hurt, badly.

My phone started to go off, but at the moment, I was so trapped in my thoughts that I didn't notice it. Lauren walked over to grab my phone from my pocket. She quickly answered it to let me keep my attention towards Y/N.

"Hello?" Lauren trembled trying to avert her eyes from the kid on the bed. There was a bunch of garbling from the person on the other side but it didn't matter to me what they were saying.
Lauren tapped my shoulder, "Alls, Will said we gotta get back to the venue for the performance."
I waved her off, "I'm not leaving my daughter. You can be 4th Harmony tonight."
Lauren sighed and understood, "Will, she's not coming. Just tell the girls to be ready to do a quick run through for the 4 piece performance." I couldn't hear what he was saying but he sounded a little upset. It wouldn't matter, though. I'm doing what I think is best. If I couldnt be there for my daughter before, I'll be there now.

--

Hours passed, but I didn't leave. Not even to go to
the bathroom. I sat in the chair beside her bed and just stared.

The doctor came in with a few nurses to remove her feeding tube, then to bandage up a few wounds that were hidden under her hospital gown. When I peeked at her body I was almost broken worse than I ever thought I could be before. The bruises covered the can canvas of her body. The fall really was hard on her.

I was sitting there with my knees pressed up against my chest when the hospital room door opened.

I looked over to see my 4 friends walking in with handfuls of items. Teddy bears, balloons, cards, candy, knick knacks, etc. When they saw Y/N, their mouths dropped once again. This time it was Dinah and Normani who were surprised, and not in a good way.

They sat the items down and I walked over to the girls. They all bundled me up in a emotional group hug. The comfort of those girls is one of the best things I could ever experience in my life. They are a real family to me and I don't know what I'd do without them.

--

The girls and I were sitting around Y/N's bed talking.

"So, how was the performance?" I asked pulling my hair back into a sloppy bun.
Normani looked down at her fingers and frowned, "We were all kinda off, but the crowd was good anyways."
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let any of this happen, you guys." I stated thinking about how this all is my fault from the beginning.
"Allycat, it's not about you. This happened because Y/N was having a mental breakdown obviously. You can't help that." Lauren replied looking over at the almost-lifeless girl.
I frowned, "I know. I just wish she would've tried to talk to me. I feel so useless. I just want to make it better for her."
"You're a mother, of course you want that for her." Dinah replied putting her phone back into her hoodie pocket. "But do you really wanna know what she needs, Mama?" I looked up to give her my attention. "She needs help."
"She's right, Ally." Camila broke into the conversation. "She not only tried to kill herself, but she's on pills, and she's bulimic. We were all blind to the last part. There's no telling what other things she's done."
"Alright, alright. I'll get her some help." I replied trying to stop this depressing topic.

"Who needs help?" Troy said as he opened the hospital room door.
I got up to see him before he passed the white curtain. I gave him a hug and kiss and looked up at him with sad eyes, "Troy, just be prepared." That's all I could say.
He walked passed me and the curtain to see his daughter. He stopped cold in his tracks and slowly looked back at me. All I could do was nod because I knew the exact feeling he was having.

I felt someone tap on my shoulder. I looked back to see my tall, handsome son. "Jase, I missed you, mijo." I said to the brunette.
He gave me a small smile, "I missed you too, mama." He placed a light kiss on my cheek and frowned, "How is she?"
"She won't wake up for another hour or so, but she's alive." I said trying to smile but my bottom lip was quivering.
Jason pulled me into a hug and I buried my face into his chest while wrapping my arms around him. Usually, parents are supposed to comfort the kids, but this time we all needed a little comfort.