Broken Pieces

Chapter 5

A week had passed since Sofia was admitted to the hospital. She refused to wear the hospital gown so she wore a regular button up shirt and her pajamas. So far everything was good.

Back at home, Jeremy had scolded and fought with Bella. He refused to talk to her until Sofia recovered. He slept in Sofia's room every night since they had the fight. They say silence is the best punishment. Jeremy was exactly doing that. It hurt Bella when he woke up before her and had his breakfast before she could see him. He came home late at night after she had slept. Jeremy gave her a silent treatment. He pretended as if his wife didn't exist. It hurt him a lot but he had to do it for him.

One night, he was sitting in the living room in front of the fire nursing a glass scotch. He wasn't the type to drink at home, in front of his wife and daughter. In fact, he rarely drank alcohol because he had little to no tolerance for it. Bella woke up around midnight to get water from the kitchen. She saw him sitting as he clutched his hair. He looked like a wreck. His appearance disheveled and he looked tired.

"Jeremy?" Bella asked to make sure it was him and she was not seeing someone else.

"What do you want? "He asked her. Bella came near him. He had a bottle of scotch on the coffee table. The liquid glowed in front of the fire.

"Why are you drinking? What happened, Jeremy?" She asked.

"Sit here. I'll tell you why I'm drinking." He said as his words slurred. He pulled Bella close to him and clutched her hand.

"I.... failed. I failed to... protect my princess. I am a terrible father. I fought with you. I am a terrible husband." He said as his words slurred.

"Get up. Let's go to our room." Bella said as she helped him up.

"No... I want to visit Sofia." He said.

"Sofia would be sleeping right now. She's coming home in a few days anyway." Bella replied as she helped him up the stairs. The next few days went much worse. Jeremy lost control over himself. He was drowning himself in guilt.

It was the day when Sofia was being discharged from the hospital. A nurse came with the discharge papers to be signed.

"Mrs. Clarke, these discharge papers need to be signed." The nurse said as she put forward the papers.

"I'll ask Mr. Taylor. Please leave the papers here." Mrs. Clarke said as she fished out her phone and called Jeremy.

"Mr. Taylor, there is some paperwork that needs to be signed here at the hospital. Will you please come to sign it? And Mrs. Evans called to ask if she can keep Sofia with her for the afternoon." Mrs. Clarke said.

"No. I can't come. I have a meeting. Yes, take her to their house. You sign the papers and bring Sofia back with Mark." He said to her hastily and hung up the phone. Mrs. Clarke felt bad for Sofia. Her parents were breaking apart. It would hurt her very much.

Mrs. Clarke signed the paperwork and asked Mark to bring the car to the front.

"Is dad coming to get us, Mrs. Clarke? Or mum?" Sofia asked hoping she'd say yes. Sofia was sad because all the time she'd been in the hospital her father visited her only twice.

"No, darling. We're going to meet Mrs. Evans right now. I've talked to your father." She said as she helped Sofia sit in the wheelchair.

"They're my parents. All they care about is business. Mrs. Evans is not my mum but still, she's always there for me when I need her." Sofia said as Mark pushed the wheelchair. Mrs. Clarke walked beside her.

"Take care, Sofia. Be a good girl. Okay?" Said the doctor who was a kind middle-aged man of around her father's age with grey hair.

"Yes. Thank you so much doctor for taking care of me." She said as she gave him a smile. The doctor gave her a pat on the shoulder.

As they reached Evan's home, Mrs. Clarke and Mark helped Sofia into her wheelchair. Mrs. Evans opened the door to let them in.

"Hazel, Sam! Look Sofia is here!" She called out to let her kids know. Hazel and Sam came running from the other end of the house.

"Hey, Sofia!" They hugged her. Sofia hugged them back.

"Hi." She replied. Hazel gestured Sam. He went over to a cupboard and handed a scarf to Hazel.

"What are you doing?" Sofia asked as Hazel tied the scarf around her eyes.

"Can you see anything, Sofia?" Hazel asked as she waved her hand in front of her face. Sofia shook her head in denial.

"Umm okay, how many fingers are these?" Sam asked as he held three fingers up in front of her face.

"I don't know," Sofia replied.

"How can she see if we blindfolded her, you silly?" Hazel said as she smacked the back of his head.

"Hey, don't smack my head," Sam said rubbing the back of his head.

"Okay hurry up," Hazel said. Sam pushed her.

"Ow! She's too heavy. She's even heavier than you Hazel." Sam said as he pushed Sofia's wheelchair towards the garden at the back of their house.

"Okay now. Ready??" Hazel asked.

"Yes. Ready." Sofia replied as Hazel opened the blindfold knot and it fell in her lap. Sofia blinked her eyes as she looked around. There was her favorite pair of swings in the garden and Simon was sitting in one of them grinning at her like he used to when he used to be here.

"Surprise!" Hazel and Sam shouted.

"Are you for real?" Sofia asked.

"Yes, princess. I'm as real as anything." He said as he came forward and hugged her tightly.

"Oh my God! I can't believe it!" Sofia exclaimed.

"What did you do to yourself?" He asked as he sat in front of her on his knees.

"Nothing. It was just an accident." She lied. Hazel and Sam grunted in disapproval.

"C' mon Sam. Let's leave them alone. Let's go steal some cookies." Hazel said aloud. She took Sam's hand and hopped inside.

"It's so nice to see you, Sofia. I missed you." Simon said as he held her hand.

"It's nice to see you too. You're not going back, are you?" She asked him.

"Why do you girls keep on growing beautiful with time?" He said as he took a strand of her brown hair and smelled it.

"Its nothing like that," Sofia replied as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"You look quite..." She said but Simon didn't allow her to complete her sentence.

"...handsome? I know. I was born handsome, princess." He said as he straightened his collar.

"I have some very important work here. So yeah I'm not going back." He said.

"Oh okay," Sofia said with a smile.

"C' mon kids. Come inside. Lunch is ready!" Bellowed Hazel from the kitchen window.

"Yes grandma, coming! "Simon called back as he teased her. Hazel hated it when someone called her that. Simon took Sofia inside. They had lunch. After lunch, Camilla brought Sofia's favorite chocolate cookies. The siblings chatted nonstop. Sofia wished her family was also like them. Funny and together as a unit.

As the afternoon came to an end, Mrs. Clarke took Sofia home. An air of happiness and smiles was always around her when she was with Simon's family.

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