face

t w e n t y - n i n e

——— ママ ———

The check up went smoothly and Megan spent the next few hours waiting for her mother to show up as promised over their phone call earlier on.

Megan thought of what to say to her mother. She tried to imagine what her mother would look like after for God knows how long she's been in that damn hospital.

It felt just weird to finally see her mother,  let alone talk to her mother.

In the midst of her thoughts, the doors to her ward swung wide open and there her mother stood.

Megan was right about one thing - her mother's looks. Her mother looked like a literal walking pale twig with hair ruffled like that of a bird's nest and shirt that wasn't ironed along with some tight jeans and pumps.

"Mom?" Megan raised an eyebrow as she watched her mother quietly made her way towards her before sitting down on the chair besides Megan's bed.

Megan's mother bit her lips before whispering softly, tiredness clinging onto he voice; clear like crystal her tiredness was as she spoke.

"Megan."

A dead silence ensued and their breathings were the only thing that Megan could hear. Megan wanted it to stay that way.

For some reason, all she wants to do is be at peace with her mother and hug her.

Megan's hand trailed over towards where her mother's hand sat on her lap and grabbed it pulling it close to her heart.

"I'm sorry mom." Megan muttered, breaking the silence that was devouring the room.

"When can you be discharged?" her mother asked, changing the topic as fast as Taylor Swift changes her boyfriends.

"Not sure." Megan muttered, closing her eyes before stroking her mother's hand slowly.

"I want you to stay here if I'm being honest. Here's better than the hell hole we have at home." Her mother mumbled under her breath, causing Megan to open her eyes and glance at her mother.

"What? It's true." her mother shrugged her shoulders and her hand slipped from Megan's grasp.

Megan knew her mother was ultimately right. She had Carly, a random doctor whom she forgot the name of and Duncan.

Duncan.

The name played in a head as she recalled everything Carly told her like a broken recorder; haunting her.

"I want to stay here too. With you. And him." Megan blurted out without any hesitation.

"Him?" her mother questioned whilst raising her eyebrows; puzzlement and curiosity written on her face.

"A boy I met."

"Oh."  Megan's mother replied.

Megan had expected a different answer but instead all she got was a subtle 'Oh'. It was quite interesting since her mother would usually interrogate her about any boy she met.

"That's all?" Megan asked as she furrowed her eyebrows and pursed her lips, taking one hard look at her mother to ensure her mother wasn't joking.

"I mean yeah. I don't really know anymore Megan. I feel like crap right now and I just..."  Megan's mother heaved a sigh of frustration.

"Don't we all feel the same way?" Megan jokingly muttered, trying to rid the the feeling of sadness that she knew would conquer both of them.

"That's my girl." Megan's mother turned to face her with a huge smile plastered on her face.

A sense of accomplishment built up in her heart because at least, she could paint a smile on somebody's face.

Because if it's one thing she knew for sure is that she could probably never paint a smile of her own for demons clawed at her, leaving her no chance to smile.

It sucks but that's just the way of life for her.

——— サイドノート ———

I know this story is progressing at a slow pace but I want to develop the friendship between Duncan and Megan because it's very essential for the story.

I wrote this chapter because we can't just forget about Amber a.k.a Megan's mother. I don't want these chapters to revolve only just around Duncan and Megan.

So yup, hope you enjoyed and I'll see you guys in the next chapter.

Goodbye :)