For Rachel

6

It had been two weeks since Rachel last heard from Malaya, and she was starting to get worried.

She wouldn't have been so worried, but Malaya hadn't shown up to their session for the first time since she started coming to therapy.

Rachel had called Malaya's home phone multiple times in that last couple days since she started worrying, but no one was picking up. And it's not like Malaya was going on a mental health break, cause she would have mentioned it to Rachel.

So it was decided then. Rachel was going to Malaya's apartment.

After her last appointment of the day ended, she hopped in her car and as fast as she could drove to Malaya's apartment with her heart pounding in her ears.

She parked in front of the building and pressed the buzzer by the front door, but no one answered.

Rachel tried a couple of the other buzzers on her floor until finally, on the last one, someone answered.

"Hello?" Came the voice of an older woman.

"Hi my name is Rachel, and I'm a friend of Malaya's. Do you know if she's home?" she asked.

"Ohh your Rachel. Little Bella's been talking non-stop about you sweetheart! But to answer your question, Malaya stopped by my apartment about a week or two ago asking me if I could babysit her sweet little girl, and of course I said yes. All she said was that she had to go somewhere for a bit and take care of some things. But if you want, you can come up here, I'll buzz you in."

Rachel paused taking in the new information, "That would be great, thank you so much."

"Of course." Was the last thing she said before a loud buzz went off and the door unlocked.

Rachel rushed up the stairs to the second floor and headed towards where she knew Malaya's room was, not having to search for the older women's apartment since as soon as she got close, the door opened.

"Ohh look at you! You're prettier than Bella said you'd be. Come in come in!" She happily exclaimed while ushering Rachel into her apartment.

Rachel blushed as she walked inside, the smell of cinnamon hitting her nose instantly.

Not even ten seconds of being in her apartment and a small whir of curly brown hair was being launched at her.

"Rachel!"

Rachel cooed, picking up Bella, "I've missed you hun."

Bella nuzzled her head into Rachels shoulder and tightly rapped her arms around her.

"Oh how rude of me, haven't even introduced myself! My name's Dalia."

"It's lovely to meet you Dalia." Rachel shook her hand while still holding Bella.

"And I should also probably tell you that I was contacted earlier in the morning by miss Malaya. Almost forgot in the heat of things. Would you like something to drink?"

"Um, no thank you. What did she say?" Rachel asked eagerly.

"Well, she first thanked me for taking care of her kid and then she said that she'd be seeing us real soon. A little cryptic if you ask me."

The two of them talked until it started to get late. But thoughts of Malaya still hadn't left her head.

There was something nagging her, something she couldn't put her finger on.

"Do you happen to have a spare key to apartment? Something just feels off."

"Oh of course hun, it's in my kitchen drawer, lemme go get it."

Dalia hunched over her kitchen drawers as she searched for the key, "Aha! I found it."

She handed it over to Rachel.

Rachel stared at it for a moment, "I think it would be better for Bella to stay here, but if Malaya's in there I'll let you know."

Dalia nodded and hobbled over to the room Bella had run off to.

Rachel took a deep breath and walked out of Dalias apartment and over to Malaya's.

"Malaya are you in here?" She called out to the apartment when she walked in.

No answer.

She blew out a breath. This could be a good thing, maybe she's just stuck in traffic.

Her heart started pounding, getting louder as she peeked into the bathroom and Bellas room.

She walked up to the last room and knocked nervously, "Malaya?"

Maybe she's just asleep.

Rachel hesitantly opened the bedroom door, and she saw what looked like Malaya sleeping on the bed.

She blew out a breath and felt calmness wash over her as she walked up to Malaya's body.

"Hun I've been so worried about you I-"she cut herself off as she spotted the open bottle of pills that were knocked over on Malaya's nightstand.

Rachels eyes went wide as panic set back in, "Malaya..."

"Malaya!" Rachel said a little louder as she began shaking her unconscious body.

Rachels breaths became heavier once she realized that Malaya's chest wasn't moving. She wasn't breathing, she wasn't responding, she was sickly and discolored, and her body was cold.

"Oh my god, oh my god, this can't be happening." Rachel panicked in laborious breaths.

"Hey sweetheart you've been in there for a while. You alright?" Came Dalia voice from the front of the apartment.

"I- "She tried to respond.

She was faintly able to make out Dalias footsteps coming closer as she clumsily searched for her phone.

Her vision became blurry, and she didn't know if it was from tears or if she was about to black out.

"Is everything alright in- oh my god." Dalia said as she walked into the room, her voice sounding farther away to Rachel than it really was.

"I-I'll call 911." Dalia fumbled for her phone.

The rest went by in a blur. 

~~~~

whoops