The Potdoll

Chapter 24

**Emma's pov**

When the hearse pulled up she knew the past few weeks hadn't been a nightmare; they had been a daze which had faded and suddenly snapped her into reality. A reality she didn't want a part of. As soon as she saw the mahogany coffin with the white lilies that spelt 'mum' she burst into tears ; this was real and it was happening right here, right now. Liz was on her right, going through the same heart wrenching moment. They held each other close as they tried to stop crying, tried to stop breaking, but they couldn't; it just hurt too much.

**Adrian's pov**

He couldn't bear to see how much these two girls were hurting, but he couldn't fix it, he just had to wait for time to pass and the pain slowly became bearable to live with. Sure there would be days it would all resurface and would spend the days in bed crying over memories or events that would be missed and he would have to be there for them, seemingly unbreakable but breaking with each tear that fell from their eyes.

Then came the moment everyone was getting into their hired cars and follow the hearse to St James Church. The trio silently got into Adrian's car and began to follow. Once they reached the church, which took half an hour with heavy traffic, they  all waited for the vicar and the coffin bearers (which were courtesy of the church because no one wanted to hold it for fear of breaking down) They were stood for around 5 minutes when a blonde guy in a grey suit with blue eyes and a little stubble told them there was going to be a delay while the event inside ended and the place was cleaned.

**Emma's pov**

How ironic how 20 minutes later one of the saddest days of her life was one of the happiest for someone else. The wedding party burst out of the church doors cheering, laughing and smiling while throwing confetti. The bride looked sheepish and they quickly moved on. The silence that fell afterwards was heavy, so heavy Emma slouched a little from the weight and the funeral began. The coffin bearers seemed to appear from nowhere and bowed to the coffin before lifting it out of the hearse and slowly walking up to the church, through the doors, into the room where she could say her final goodbye to her mum and have to live her life without her. This was a very somber affair in which the world must have agreed for it began to rain, making the day more miserable than it already was. Then out of nowhere thick, rolling clouds brought with them thunder and lightening, along with dressing the sky the perfect color for funerals; Black.

**Liz's pov**

Once the coffin bearers began to walk, the family and friends walked in a straight line with their heads bowed, some crying already. It seemed everyone already knew where to sit without being told, it was an invisible force. Emma, Adrian and Liz sat in the front row, with the rest filling out the rest of the pews.

The service was beautiful and the vicar didn't get anything wrong about Susan at all. She had read stories about vicars getting speeches wrong, messing them up by improvising and even losing the speeches and music lists and picking up the wrong speech and making the deceased look like a criminal, and when the family had to stand up and say it was all wrong and damage the vicar's reputation. However, this vicar said everything right and seemed to address Susan herself. It made it seem like even if a stranger walked in they would leave feeling like they knew her and would mourn for her also. Towards the end of the speech the vicar seemed choked and had to take a few deep breaths and shook his head a little as if he knew she didn't deserve this. Once the curtains had closed for the last time and everyone had said a prayer and a silent goodbye they all walked with some still crying, back to the car park and traveled to the local pub for the wake.

**Emma's pov**

The service was everything she had hoped for and even though she had cried throughout, she felt a little better knowing she had a good service and said goodbye properly, even though it was the hardest word to say. 

Once they had reached the pub, everyone who was at the funeral offered their condolences and some went straight to the food or the bar. She was offered drinks and phone numbers in case she wanted to speak or some photos of her mum in her youth and once this was done they sang her mum's favorite songs, danced, released balloons and drank to forget their grief for a short while (apart from the designated drivers), or celebrated Susan's life. At 10pm Adrian grabbed her waist and helped her find Liz, once this was done he put Liz' arm around his shoulder and helped them both walk out. Emma began to laugh as Adrian struggled and how they didn't fall she didn't know. Somehow, he managed to get Liz in the backseat and strap her in and left Emma stood against the car and then helped Emma into the front seat and strapped her in, checked them both again and got in the car himself.

**Adrian's pov**

He didn't know how he had managed to get them in the car and ready for the next challenge; getting them home. He set off at 30mph and Liz kept complaining from the back about going too fast and then having to stop the car every 5 minutes because she felt sick so he slowed to 25mph and told her if he was fined for going too slow she would pay. Thankfully, it was only Liz complaining as Emma had fallen asleep. When they finally reached Liz' house, David was already waiting outside so he came and collected her from the car faster than Adrian had managed to get her in, but David knew her more and how to handle her when she was drunk. He watched as David got Liz inside, checked Emma again and drove to Emma's. As soon as he pulled into the drive she began to wake up as if she knew she was home and as he helped her into the house she asked him to stay, he wasn't going to at first but she told him she had a spare room so he accepted. He helped her up the stairs and got her into bed still fully clothed and found her a bowl in case she felt ill and went into the spare room to sleep.

At around 3 in the morning he woke up, thinking it was Emma he went to check on her, but she was fine. He went back to bed and just as he was almost asleep he woke with a jolt, really unsettled he heard what seemed like a child's voice; "Mama, I'm on the 13th step..." he listened again but it had stopped so he settled back down when "Mama, I'm on the 14th step" he put the pillow over his head hoping it was just a dream and went to sleep, a very fitful one at that.

When he woke up again it was 6:30am, he went to toilet and when he came back he noticed a potdoll on the 14th step so he picked it up and put it in the car as he wanted to see if it was the doll that had caused him to wake up or his imagination. He then decided to go home and grab a change of clothes and some breakfast items but first he put a bottle of water with 2 painkillers on Emma's bedside table as she would need them when she woke up.