Slipping Away

Chapter 6

I must have slept for quite a while, because when I awoke, my mum was there, sobbing and holding my hand. She visited me every day, but she always seemed to visit at the time when I was sleeping. She was always so busy, as was my dad, so I never saw much of them. I knew they must love me, but they never really showed it. I spent more time with Liam than I did with them. They were more career people, not children people. That was why they only had me, no other children. They weren't the best parents ever. I much preferred Liam's parents. His mum is medium height, with long, dark brown hair and the same deep blue eyes as Liam. She is really kind and friendly, the kind of mum who lets you do whatever you want, whenever you want, the type of mum who gives you a cuddle when you feel down, the kind of mum who hides little packages of homemade chocolate fudge in your bag for you to find later. I wish she was my mum, but if she was, Liam wouldn't be my boyfriend, he'd be my brother. That would be weird! But I do wish my mum was like Liam's. It's not much fun having a mum who never really asks you how your life is, who seems to care more about her job than she does about her own daughter. A mum who yells at you when you don't do what she wants. That's one of the reasons why I spent so much time with Liam. She didn't know that he's my boyfriend. She just thought he was my friend. I knew what she would have thought if she knew we were together. She would have blown her fuse. Liam was my refuge, my rock. I went to him if I had a problem because I knew he would listen to me and respect me. I went to him if I was feeling down because I knew he would reassure me and make me feel loved. I went to him when I was feeling happy because I knew he would be happy with me. He was all you could hope for in a boy: kind, loving, respecting, listening. The kind of person who you would always want to be with. I always wanted to be with him. In those dark days, those days when I thought I was near the end, the days when I thought I was slowly slipping away from the world, he was there, he was reassuring me, he was comforting me. My heart ached to see him just once, to know that he was ok, to know that he could cope.