HAZEL“I’m coming with you,” I said to Christian as he came out of the safe with a bag full of money. I never even had any idea that we had that much money in the house, but I guess it was somehow working in our favor.“No, you’re not.”“Uh, yeah I am.” I stubbornly got in the car beside him as Dennis started the engine. “Hazel, it’s dangerous.”“All the more reason why you shouldn’t go alone. And I think we should call the police.”“Did you not hear what the man said? You think it was just empty threats? You of all people should know that Mark is going to act on his words, and I can’t risk it. And there’s no need to worry, I already have arrangements in place. Just in case things get out of hand.”For what must be the thousandth time that day, I flinched. You of all people. My reality slammed me full force in the face again and I remembered that the past year and half of my life had been a lie. I didn’t even know what was real anymore. “Right,” I mumbled and turned to face the wind

TWO WEEKS LATERIt had been two weeks since Hazel was last awake, two weeks since I stood helplessly behind the glass doors and watched the doctors work tirelessly to keep her alive. Two weeks of Valerie asking over and over again for her mommy. I watched her frail body shake with severe convulsions that looked too painful for a human being to endure and the fear I felt at that moment must have been palpable. I thought I lost her, I believed I did. I saw the desperation and sense of urgency in the eyes of countless doctors and nurses, I watched them all shake their heads at me without giving me a direct answer to the one million questions I asked. I knew that things weren’t looking good.I didn’t leave the hospital for the first few days. I refused to leave, until Grandpa had to forcefully pry my fingers away from the glass doors of Hazel’s room, saying that I needed to shower and get some real food in my system, and work was piling up too. But I came back everyday after work, struggl

“I don’t know where to begin,” Christian said.“From the beginning, Christian. Don’t leave out any detail," I answered, not wanting to go soft or cut him any slack.“Okay.” He swallowed again, looking helpless like a little child. “I didn’t think I would ever think about you again after that night at the hotel, I thought it was just going to be a one time thing. But then I couldn’t stop thinking about you, and I just knew I had to find you and tell you.”“And that’s how Rose came into the picture,” I whispered, saying my sister’s name for the first time in years.Christian frowned. “Yeah. I was going crazy and I put out fucking fliers,” he chuckled and I couldn’t help but smile too. It was silly, but in a sweet way. “Months passed and I was already losing hope, but then you- Rose walked into the restaurant where I was having dinner with the team. And I thought I must have done something good in my past life because I really figured I wasn’t going to find you again.”“Hmm.”“We spent a

Walking into the house was like taking a breath of fresh air after you’ve been stuck in a dusty smoky room for a long time. And as I looked around the living room filled with all my loved ones, there was nothing that I could do to stop the tears.“I missed you, mommy,” Valerie said, placing a kiss on my cheek. She had jumped into my arms the second I walked into the room with Christian behind me, and had refused to let go.“Awww,” I kissed her back. “I missed you too, my baby.”“Was Gamma number two sad that you were leaving?” She asked, and I remembered Christian saying that he had told her I went to the beach to see my mom.I shook my head. “A little bit, but she said she’d be okay. She wanted me to come back home to you.”“I’ll pray tonight and thank Gamma for letting you come home,” she said before her face brightened with an idea. “Oh I know! We can take her cookies too!”“Okay mama, okay,” I assured her as the whole room burst into laughter.“Welcome back, Mrs Walker,” Tina smil

I woke up alone the next morning. The sheets looked slept in, but they were barely rumpled, and if there was one thing I knew, it was that Christian slept like a crazed wild animal. So now I was starting to question if he even slept in the bed with me all night, or if he got creeped out and went to one of the other rooms in the middle of the night. He probably did. Sitting up, I nibbled on the inside of my cheek. It was all sore and had these weird chewed up parts, but ever since I started doing it at the hospital since I woke up, I couldn’t seem to drop the habit no matter how much I tried. I moved on from that as my mind circled back to everything that happened last night and I smiled. I wrapped my arms around myself as I imagined Christian’s strong arm around me. It was like I could still feel his breath on the nape of my neck, and hear the sound of him inhaling as he sniffed my hair. Did I regret last night? Definitely not. But I was definitely confused and nervous. What did this