Masked (now an EBOOK on Amazon)

Chapter #6

                                                               CHAPTER #6

I woke up with a jerk as I heard voices. I switched on the lamp next to me and looked at the clock. It was 4 am. I threw my sheets away and got down from my bed. I tiptoed to the door and peeked. The lights in mom's room were on. I heard voices from in there. I went to her room; slowly pushed the door open and watched.

"I don't want the medicines!" mom said.

"Ma'am, you need your medication to-"

"I don't care. I'm perfectly okay. Don't treat me like I'm mental."

"Sorry ma'am, that wasn't my intention. The doctor has prescribed that you take your medicines every 4 hours. You have been taking them every day, what's wrong today? Do you feel sick ma'am? Do you need me to call your daughter?"

"Oh no! Don't you dare! I don't want Alayzia to think that something is wrong with me. If she finds out that I need to be medicated so often, she definitely won't think I'm normal and will probably not come near me. I don't want her to see all these injections and all these medical supplies. What if she never talks to me because she thinks I'm crazy? What if-"

That's it. I pushed the door open and burst in.

"Mom!"

"Alayzia? What are you doing here? You should be sleeping."

When she realized that I wasn't going to budge, she gave in and told me to close the door and sit down. I understood why she didn't want me to come in; the room looked like a wreck. Medicines of every size, shape and colour I could ever imagine there to be were strewn all over the place. There were some bowls half filled with food and bottles of water lay on the floor. I was going to ask the nurse why the hell she had left all this junk unattended to.

"Alayzia, I know you're probably wondering why room's like this. It's not her fault. I haven't been in a good mood today."

Okay. I had to fix this.

"But you saw Noah. I thought you were ecstatic to see him!"

"Oh. We did see him, didn't we? Oh yes. I remember. He ate a lot, didn't he? Poor dear was famished," she looked at me.

"Yeah, he's always hungry. Just like me." She then smiled. The nurse looked at me pointedly as if to say 'tell her to eat'.

"Mom, you need to eat and you need to take your medication."

"Alayzia dear, I'm fine. I don't need any med-"

"Yes, you do. Don't you want to get better? If you want to get rid of your medication, you better take them now. In a few years, you won't need medicines, you won't need anyone to depend on, you can be your normal self again."

I couldn't read the expression on mom's face. Was it anger? Was it sadness? What was it?

"Well, that's one way to put it, I guess- normal self. I will never be my old self again. After your father left us, things have never been the same and never will be. But I don't care now. Okay, I'll take my medicines now. Just for you," she said.

"No mom, not for me. Do it for you."

She looked at the nurse and said,

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lashed at you like that. I promise you, it won't happen again."

"That's okay ma'am. You don't have to apologize. So what will you have? Soup? Main course? Dessert?"

Mom laughed and said, "I'll have soup please. Alayzia, go to sleep. It's late. You'll need your energy for tomorrow."