Hades

Chapter twelve - Cause of Death

I woke up the next morning to find myself in my own bed, back in my house. The only proof that last night happened was the blanket that was still wrapped around me.

I was already late for school so I quickly changed into some warm clothes for the cold weather, and hopped on the first train which took me to school. I had gotten there five minutes before the bell.

In English, I realised I had difficulty concentrating. The events of the previous night kept flashing through my mind, most of all the last few words he had said to me.

"Clarice?" My teacher's voice rang out snapping me out of my daze. "You're not usually one to daydream. Well, there's a first time for everything. Please read Act 1 scene 3 please."

I sat frozen in my seat. What was I doing here in school? What was I even doing staying in Canada? I should have been with my mother. My dying mother. She only had, what? Seven days left. I only had seven days left with her before her life would end. I stood up.

"Excuse me, Clarice?" The teacher looked at me in a puzzled manner. "What are you doing? Read the scene."

"I have to go," I said as I quickly grabbed my books and shoved them into my bag. "Thanks for the lesson."

"Clarice, sit back in your seat, the lesson isn't--"

I had already left before she even managed to finish the sentence. That was perhaps the most rebellious thing I had ever done in my life.

***
"I think I'm getting better Clarice," my mother announced as I walked into her room. "The doctor said I might live a little longer than expected."

I tried for a smile. Even her optimism couldn't shield her from death. Seven days more is all she will get. One more week.

"Clarice my dear," she began, worry seeping into her voice. "Shouldn't you be at school?"

"Don't worry about it mother," I told her. "There's only a week and a bit more of school left. All the main exams are over."

"That's good to hear," she said as she straightened the sheets covering her legs with the palms of her hands.

"Are Jon and Ron at school?" I asked as I took a seat on the chair next to her bed.

"Yes, your father took them to school," she replied laughing a little. "He really hates leaving me alone."

There was a long pause, then she said, "Your father...I remember when I first met him."

"Really?" I asked, just wanting something to talk about. "What was it like?"

"We argued a lot. Too much, actually. But that was the best way to get to know someone," she chuckled as if she were remembering some very distant memory. "We were so different. I liked to run around, discover new things. Your father was more like you, preferring to stay in his own comfort zone, just reading his time away. It didn't stop him from being an argumentative person though."

I laughed at the thought of my father arguing. He was a horticulturist, I knew him for his peaceful nature. Same for my mother.

"But when I was with him, I felt whole," she explained. My heart nearly stopped. "It was as if a missing piece of a puzzle was put back into you--"

"--but you didn't even know it was missing in the first place," I finished for her.

She looked at me confused for a while, then she smiled. She understood, like a good mother would.

"It was only after we had you did we try to keep the arguing to a minimum," she continued her story. "Your father read somewhere that it was bad for children to hear arguments. Babies are like sponges, they soak up everything they hear."

"How are you able to do that?" I asked. "You never ever fight."

"Oh we do," my mother replied. "When all of you are asleep we shut the door and we continue arguing. Very heated arguments sometimes, if you get what I mean..."

"Ok, that's enough," I said half pretending to make a gagging face. I had never seen this side of my mother before. She was playful. Less like a mother, more like a friend.

"Don't you dare tell your father I told you any of this though," she warned. "He won't be pleased with me."

***
I stayed with my mother for the next three days. I didn't go to school, and used up all my spare change on the vending machine. She really seemed to be getting better. It wasn't until the fourth day, did things start to go down hill again.

"Blood clot in the brain," the doctor informed me as him and his team of nurses pushed my unconscious mother on a bed to the E.R room. "Which means if we don't get there fast enough we'll have an aneurysm."

I waited six hours in the waiting room. Dad came in the first half hour with Jon and Ron, but he didn't do much help. All he did was pace back and forth, making everyone more agitated. My two brothers were fast asleep when the doctor came out of the room. He looked tired and weary, with bags under his eyes.

"Is she Ok? Can I see her? How did the operation to?" My father gushed.

"She is still alive," the doctor announced telling us the good news first. "But the blood did leak out into her brain. I'm afraid she can't move the right half of her body now. She may...never will again."

That was when my father broke into sobs. I hugged him but I didn't say anything. The doctor muttered an, "I'm sorry," then left to tend his other patients.

"My wife, my poor wife," He mumbled to himself as I sat him down on one of the chairs. "Your mother..."

I couldn't afford to cry now. Not when I had to be strong. Especially in front of my father. I suddenly felt extremely angry. Why did life have to be so unfair? No, not life, death. He could let my mother stay. He could leave everything the way it was. But no. My mother is now four days away from being dead. Forever. My father was a wreck. Jon, Ron and I will soon be motherless.

Someone had to be blamed for this. Someone with power. Hades.