My mom smiled brightly when she saw me. "Oh god, Iris! I was so worried!" I ran into her arms and hugged her carefully.
"I'm sorry, Mom," I cried.
"Don't ever run off like that again," she breathed out. "Promise me, Iris. You had me so worried."
"I won't. I'm sorry," I said and pulled away from our hug. I glanced at Chris nervously then back at my mom. "I'm staying at Mikey's for now. I tried coming yesterday, but somebody wouldn't let me."
"If this somebody is Mikey then he did the right thing," my mom stated sternly. "You had no business to be here during that mess when you were going on with you own issues."
"I told you so," Mikey said, bumping his hip with mine. I glanced back and stuck my tongue out at him. He smiled and did the same.
"When are they letting you go?" I asked, turning my attention back to my mom instead of Mikey's hazel eyes.
"Sometime today. Which, in my opinion, is overboard," Mom said in an annoyed tone.
"Isn't this the hospital you work in?" Tony asked. She nodded at him.
"And to make things worse, they are putting me on a forced vacation for three weeks," she added and rolled her eyes.
"Mom, you had a freaking heart attack," I exasperated, just barely catching myself from swearing. "It' a good thing they are giving you time off. You've been working too hard and stressing a lot ever since we moved here."
"And whose fault is that?" Tony asked rudely and glared at me. I decided to ignore him.
"My point is, before some irrelevant person decided to interrupt me, you deserve this. Not being in a hospital, getting the three weeks off. You need it." She sighed and shook her head.
"I need to get out of here before I go insane," she sighed. She glanced at Chris coldly. "I don't see why you are still here. I already told you my answer. Nothing is going to change that." Mikey shot me a confused look. I shrugged, not knowing what was going on either.
"Jennifer, they are my kids as well. I lost ten years of being with them. All I'm asking for is just one day to catch up and be a family again." My heart raced. Mikey laced his fingers with mine. My mom shook her head.
"You lost custody of them. There's no way around it."
"They don't have to be with me alone; you can come with us."
"Doctors told me not to stress out and you are causing me stress. I have to follow the doctor's orders." Yeah, I get my sassiness from my mom. It's a gift we both share.
"I can see where Iris gets her bitchy attitude from," Chris snarled.
"And I can see where Tony gets his temper issues from," I growled and crossed my arms. I was feeling very confident despite not wearing makeup. The black eyeliner and dark lipstick always gave me a boost of confidence.
"Oh, please," Tony sneered. "You're one to start talking." I narrowed my eyes at him. "The only reason we moved from New York City was because you got kicked out from every school district in our area. So don't start with me about anger issues."
"I would go through every fucking file and prove to you that I didn't start a single fight. It's self-defense, you fucking moron," I said and balled my hands into fists. "And your bitch ass doesn't exactly help me want to stop fighting."
"You always try to turn things around so it seems like you are the victim. On everything! Even now when Mom is in the hospital because of you!"
