Bitter sweet affair

Chapter 80 - The call...

She glanced at the wall nearest to her, thinking of nothing in particular. The door to her room opened and a small figure walked in, approaching her. She sat up and saw her daughter staring at her.
"Mommy, I'm sorry; Aunt told me I get to see Daddy and that I hurt you" she innocently said as Amelia stared at her with tears welling up in her eyes. She'd waited so long for her daughter to come back to her. She pulled the little girl into a protective hug.

"Did I hurt you, mommy?" She asked again seeing Amelia in tears. She proceeded to wipe the tears away.
"No honey" she sniffed and kissed her forehead.
"I'm just so happy, and yes you'll get to see Daddy during the weekend"

They stayed like that for a while and Annie stood by the door smiling.
"I hate to break this little reunion but someone has to go to school," Annie said walking in.
"I'll get breakfast ready," Amelia smiled.
Annie carried Jasmine out of the room to get her freshened up.

She made Jasmine's favorite breakfast and dished it out, before proceeding to prepare the little girl's lunch.
"Thank you, mummy," she said after eating.
"You're welcome sweetheart," she said kissing her forehead.
"Let's go. We'll drop Jasmine off and then head to the hospital to get your cast removed" Annie said.

After dropping Jasmine off they headed straight to the hospital to get Amelia's cast off and do the necessary checkups.
"Your health has improved, Miss Amelia. You recovered perfectly without any hiccups" the doctor examining her said.
"Thank you, doctor"

On her way home she got a text from Andre. She opened it to see images and text proofing he was going to therapy. She left him on read and looked out the window. If it was up to her, she'd never let him back into her life. She'd been doing just fine without him. So she didn't need him now.
"When are Zach and Archie coming back? I miss my nephew" Amelia said in an attempt to distract herself.

"I miss my babies too. They'll be back by tomorrow" Annie answered.
Archie had taken Zach for a one-week vacation to see his grandparents.
The ride home was silent and calming. Amelia could feel all her anger dissolving as the fresh breeze blew on her.

Meanwhile, Andre was still finding it difficult to open up to his therapist and he still found it hard to believe that his therapist was chill with it and not pressuring him into opening up. Yes, there was stuff hidden deep down that he hadn't said to anyone but he couldn't open up about them. He was willing to carry on the burden, the hurtful memories, the trauma, and the emptiness he felt.

He ended the day off by heading down to his basement. Where he met the only unboxed crate, just as he'd left it. He crouched beside it and lifted the lid, to see the pile of letters still intact. He grabbed one and read its content. He cried midway through reading, he struggled to read it to the end with teary eyes. Those letters held a special but sad memory for him.

The next day...
Amelia was about to leave the house to get groceries when she got an unexpected phone call. She glanced at the caller ID and it was a private number. Normally she wouldn't answer random numbers but she had the urge to pick it up, who knows- it could be important.

After hesitating for a while, she finally answered the call.
"Hello?" she said, curiously. Her mind wandered as to who it might be. At first, she thought it could be Andre trying to pull a prank on her or get her attention.
She was shocked when she heard a feminine voice. She unknowingly heaved a sigh and paid attention to what the caller had to say.

The look on her face changed to a devastated look. She accidentally dropped her phone on the floor. Her eyes welled up with tears and she broke down into soft sobs. She couldn't believe what she'd heard, she didn't want to. The call had put her in a terrible emotional state.

"Amelia?" Annie said walking in to find Amelia in tears. She wondered what could have gone wrong to make her cry this hard and bitterly.
"A-Annie..." she struggled to get her words across as she felt a lump in her throat.
Annie crouched beside her and wrapped her arms around her in a side hug.

"I'm here. You can tell me what's wrong" she said in a whisper while gently stroking Amelia's hair.

"I-I..." she paused, sniffing in tears.
"M-mom... Annie" she cried more.
"Did Mom call you? Did she say something mean to you? Did she put you in this mood?" Annie said getting angry at the thought that her mom had been shameless enough to call Amelia to say horrible things to her.

Amelia shook her head vigorously.
"N-no... She didn't. I got a call from... A hospital" she managed to conclude.

To Be Continued...