Suicide Notes

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

Caleb-

"Caleb? Caleb?" Danica's voice wakened me from a dead sleep and I quickly sat up in the recliner where I had been dozing.

"Mom?" I hurried to stand beside the bed, grasping her thin hand in mine. "How are you feeling?"

She glanced around the room, taking in her surroundings. "Where am I?" I could feel her weak body trembling.

"You're in the hospital," I replied in a soft tone, trying to ease her into the idea. "You had some trouble yesterday and we had to bring you here."

"What happened?" she asked, her eyes wide.

"Well, you kind of had a nervous breakdown. I came home to check on you and found things in a pretty bad state. It looks like you've been having a rough time for a few days."

"Oh no," she wailed, yanking her hand away and grabbing for her bed covers, tossing them off her legs. "I've got to get home. Hank will be furious that I'm not there."

"No, no. You're fine," I lied, figuring it was better than letting her get all worked up. "I called him and made sure everything was okay. He's even going to clean the house for you while you're gone. He just wants you to get better."

"Don't lie to me, Caleb," she pleaded. "I know Hank hates me. He hates everything."

"It doesn't matter," I responded, happy she seemed so lucid this morning. Maybe this was something that could be easily fixed. "I love you and I'll make sure you're taken care of."

She smiled and patted my arm. "You've always been such a good kid."

"That's because you raised me well."

Her face dimmed once more. "I don't want to see Hank anymore. He's mean. He tried to hurt me."

"What happened?" I asked, determined to get to the bottom of this. So help me, if he'd laid one finger on her, I was calling the cops and having his ass dragged back to prison.

"He kept telling me Jessi is dead." My heart sank at her words. She wasn't better at all. "Why would he do that?"

Tears welled in my eyes and I carefully stroked her messy hair away from her face. "I don't know, Mama. I don't know."

"Where is Jessi? Is she here too?" Danica glanced around, again.

"No. She's resting. I'm the only one here right now." I had a hard time forcing the words past the knot in my throat, but she didn't appear to notice.

"I'm so tired, Caleb. I want to rest too."

"Then do it, Mom. You deserve it."

She closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep. I was unsure how long I stood there stroking her hair and wondering whether or not it was to comfort her, or me. After a while, I eased back to the recliner, dozing off and on until someone touched me on the shoulder, causing me to jump from drowsy to wide awake.

"It's me," Melanie whispered, and I saw Anna standing beside her. "How are things looking this morning? Any change?"

Dismally, I shook my head. "No. She still doesn't recognize that Jessi's dead. I'm afraid I lied to her and told her Jessi was resting."

"That's what she needs apparently," Melanie said. "It's obvious her mind can't handle the truth yet."

"I don't know what to do," I said, dragging both my hands through my hair and bunching it with my fists.