Left Behind

Donation Box

Jessica had been fast asleep. It had been around noon when she woke up to the sound of pounding on the front door. It startled her. She had been so tired and this was the most sleep she had gotten in a long time. She quickly sprung out of bed and ran down the stairs. The pounding got louder and louder. As she got closer she heard her name being called.

"Jessica! Open up! Please!" Dorthy yells

Jessica runs to the door and opens it. Immediately when Dorthy saw her daughter she started to cry. She had woke up that morning to Jessica not being there. She was scared to death, thinking something may have happened to her. She held her daughter tight. Jessica was confused as to what was going on.

"Why didn't you tell me you were leaving? I've been looking for you all morning! I was scared to death!" She cries

"... I'm sorry, I'm fine." She mumbles

"You aren't fine, Jessica. Look at you." Dorthy covers her mouth and looks her daughter up and down. It was almost as if she was lifeless.

Jessica stood there, waiting for her mother to continue.

"Why did you come here, Jessica? You should come home..." She says softly

"This is home... this is Danny's home." She looks around then back at Dorthy.

Dorthy steps in a closes the door. She saw all of the pictures hung back up. All of Danny's things were back in place. She had an idea of what was going on. Maybe all this time what Jessica needed was to feel as close as possible to Danny and this was her way.

Dorthy took Jessica's hand and walked her over to the couch. They sat down together and held each other's hands.

"I'm sorry, I was just scared... I'm worried about you." She mumbles

Jessica was silent.

"I want you to see the doctor... just so he can give you vitamins or something to catch up on everything your body isn't getting. You barely eat, baby. I don't want you to get sick." Dorthy says sincerely

Jessica could see in her mother's eyes that she was scared and desperate for Jessica to get better.

She nodded her head slowly then fell into her mothers arms. She began to cry.

"Oh baby..." Dorthy says softly

"I don't want to be like this Mom! I just hate Danny! He left me... he turned me into this." She cries

"Don't hate him, love... he wasn't able to control staying or leaving... he wouldn't want you to be like this... he'd want you to live your life." She says rocking back and forth.

"I can't sleep at night... I keep having nightmares. It's the same one, every single night. He's on the plane, perfectly fine, and then he dies. Over and over and over again. I can't handle it! I can't relive his death! But last night, being in his room, holding his blanket, sleeping in his bed, it helped... I was able to sleep."

Dorthy nods her head "Do you want to stay here?" She asks nervously

Jessica nods "I think I need to..."

As much as Dorthy wanted Jessica to be with her so she could keep an eye on her, she knew that Jessica may just need her space and adjust to being on her own. Dorthy didn't want to hold her back especially if this is what she wanted.

"Okay." She agrees

"... just until I go back to New York."

Dorthy widens her eyes and gets a pit in her stomach. Of course Jessica would go back to New York, but hearing it made her heart hurt. She didn't want Jessica to be alone in that city. If Sarah lived there it would be different. But she didn't have people in New York like she did back home. Dorthy also didn't trust her. If she stayed at the lake house at least Dorthy would be close by to check up on her.