Breaking the Chains

Chapter Forty

Matt was crying. Riley tried to calm him down as much as she could but it was as if nothing was working, which hurt her. She was panicking and her heart was beating heavily. When people cried for any reason, she would freak out and try to calm them down. She couldn't handle people crying around her. "It's okay, Matt," Riley said quietly as she rubbed her little brother's back. She knew it was hard for him since it was hard for her too, but she also knew that nothing she would say would penetrate him enough to calm him down.

"She's going to die," Matt struggled out as he cried. Riley clenched her jaw and closed her eyes tightly before she got down on her knees in front of him as he sat on his chair. She grabbed both of his hands and looked straight at his face as she tried not to wince from the pain her knees brought. There were bruises and cuts all over her legs, and unfortunately for her, her knees were one of the worse places.

"She's going to be okay," Riley said softly as she gently rested her hand on the side of his cheek and rubbed it with her thumb. The pain in her knees were slowly dulling down but whenever she moved, it would inflame in all over again. "Our family has went through worse. She can survive." Riley wasn't buying her own words, though. She wanted to believe what she was saying but something in her told her not to hold onto all of it. After years of being stuck in a cell, she got used to the lack of hope. But she didn't want to say goodbye to her own mother quite yet. She had just gotten back. This wasn't how it was supposed to go.

"I saw her," Matt whimpered out as tears soaked his thinned face. Riley frowned at him as she studied his face. In the four years, he had grown up so much. He was around her height and he had lost his baby fat. His face was thinner and more toned, which shocked Riley. She gulped as she focused back on his words. He saw her?

"What do you mean, Matt?" Riley asked as she kept her gaze on his face. 

"I went into her room," he murmured quietly as he looked around the waiting room. A few strangers were sitting on the opposite side of the room. Two of them had tears in their eyes while the third bounced their leg. Riley didn't move her gaze away from her brother, though. "I wanted to see her so bad." Riley gulped as she clenched her jaw. Fear sparked in her as she continued to listen. "I walked into her room and I saw her." He looked back to Riley and she could see his Adams apple quiver before he continued. "There were tubes all over her. And she was really pale." She frowned as she watched her brother try his best to hold back his tears. "Dad didn't look the way she does."

Riley opened her mouth to try to say a response, but not even a peep escaped her lips. She closed her mouth quickly and frowned at her brother before she looked down to his knees. "Those tubes are going to make her feel better, Matt." Riley wasn't convinced at all at that point. There was hardly any hope for the situation.

"No," he whimpered. "Someone found me in the room and he had to drag me out so that I would get out." Matt looked down to his lap and played with his hands. "Did I tell you that she was tempted to have a divorce with dad?" Riley's breath hitched as she slowly looked up his face, which was facing down. She could tell he was struggling to find more words, and to do anything in general. His fingers fidgeted on his lap before his voice finally broke free once more. "They kept fighting," his voice cracked near the end and it was almost as if he threw a hammer into her heart. She tried to move to comfort him or to speak some sort of reply, but nothing happened. "They blamed each other for you leaving."

"But it wasn't their fault," Riley struggled out, but Matt ignored her.

"It happened every night and I got so sick of it." Matt sucked on his bottom lip for a second before he finally wiped the tears away from his cheeks and eyes. "I'm scared she won't be with us anymore." Riley nodded, agreeing with him. She had nothing to say. What could she saw?

"I brought some sandwiches," Eli said quietly and handed one to Matt and Riley before he sat down next to the boy. "I thought you'd be hungry," he murmured. Riley smiled at him before she sat on the ground in front of both of their seats.

"Thank you," Riley whispered quietly with her weak smile. "Nona is still sleeping, isn't she?"

Eli nodded and curled his lips just in the slightest before Matt spoke. "I'm not hungry." Eli looked over and frowned at the boy.

"You haven't eaten in a while, bud," Eli said with a smile, but Riley could see worry mixed in his face. "You said you weren't hungry yesterday."

Matt gulped before he handed the sandwich back to Eli. "That's because I haven't been hungry." Riley looked over to her brother and jumped into the situation. 

"Matt, you need to eat. It's been almost two days."

"I'm not hungry, Riley," Matt said a little louder as he snapped his head toward his sister. "So just take it." He handed the sandwich to Eli, who still didn't grab it from him. Matt looked up toward him and gave him a weak glare before he ripped open the package and took a big bite. "There," he said with a full mouth, "happy now?"

Riley gave him a sad smile before she heard the doctor's footsteps come back once more. The news was about to come to them.

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