Inevitable (23 page)

Resting my
heavy eyes as I lay in Blaine’s lap on an uncomfortable leather
bench I was startled by the creak of the door opening. Bolting
upright my eyes met those of a tall, dark-haired doctor with
designer stubble.

“
Miss Davis?” he asked.

“
Yes,” I muttered impatiently, nodding repeatedly like an
idiot.

“
Good evening, Miss Davis, my name is Doctor Anchor and I’ve
been taking care of your mom this afternoon,” I nodded in
acknowledgement before noticing his I.D. badge – Dr. William
Anchor.

I shit you
not.

W. Anchor.

Poor
bastard.

“
Is she okay? Is she awake? Is she
normal?
Can I see her?” The dishy doctor raised
his hand, stuttering on the response he was trying to get out but
couldn’t because of my incessant ream of questions.

“
Yes, she’s awake. She’s still quite groggy but she’s asking
for you. First however-”

“
She knows who I am?” I interrupted, relief flooding my
voice.

“
Yes. She appears fully coherent at present, although she
doesn’t seem to remember what happened before she was brought in. I
have informed her to the best of my knowledge, which has left her
confused and to be honest a little scared. You can go in and see
her soon, but I would just like to talk to you about her history
first.”

He took
a seat on the plastic chair across from where Blaine and I sat and
leaned forward, clasping his hands together on top of his knees. He
asked me what seemed like an endless list of questions. When did I
first start noticing changes in my mum’s behaviour? How frequent
were her mood swings? How severe? Did she ever have irrational
thoughts or ideas? The list went on for what felt like
hours…

“
A member of our psychiatric team will be assessing your mom in
the morning. I expect they will want to admit her for a while,
possibly just a few days, maybe longer. We will make sure your mom
gets all the help she needs. Does that sound okay with
you?”

I wasn’t sure. My mum would
hate
staying in hospital. She would see it as people
prying and interfering. And of course she would be scared. I knew
she still believed they’d take me away from her. In that very
moment I wondered… is that why she was so hysterical? I replayed
the day’s events in my mind, remembering how she pleaded with
Blaine not to let them take me away.

I nodded
at the doctor.

“
Can I see her now?”

“
Of course. Please, follow me,” he said as he stood up and
started walking towards the door.

“
I’ll wait here,” Blaine said, taking my hand and kissing
it.

“
Are you the young man that rode in with her?” Doctor Anchor
asked Blaine. Blaine simply nodded. “In that case she’s been asking
for you too.”

I smiled, touched by the fact my mum wanted to see him.
Even though she didn’t remember what Blaine had done for her, she
had been told and I imagined she would want to thank him.
I tugged gently at
Blaine’s hand until he rose from the bench. He flashed me a half
smile but he seemed nervous, his breathing slightly too fast.
Still, he clasped his fingers around my hand and followed me out of
the room.

The doctor led
us to a side room with a small window concealed by vertical slatted
blinds. Stepping inside I was almost blinded by the shockingly
bright sunshine-yellow walls. Then, after blinking the sight away I
noticed my mum’s tiny body tucked up inside the white bed
sheets.

“
Oh, Mum!” I whimpered, running to her side and flopping my
body over hers.

“
Fuck, Maddie, I need to breathe!” she choked. Reluctantly
I
prized
myself off her, kissing the top of her fading red hair as I did. It
would need dyeing again soon I mentally noted. I wondered what
colour she would go for next. “Sit down,” she said warmly, patting
the mattress beside her. I lowered myself onto the bed and then she
scooted up to the top of the bed and crossed her legs Buddha style.
“Come on, Blaine, don’t be shy.” She winked at Blaine who was still
standing in the doorway and then gestured her hand towards the
polyurethane visitor’s chair by her bed.

As I suspected my mum wanted to thank Blaine. Then she
apologised to both of us, even though there was absolutely no need
and I repeatedly told her as much.
The more time and idle chitchat that
passed the more she seemed to struggle to keep up her calm
façade.

“
I’m so afraid, Maddie. I don’t know what’s happening to me.”
Her voice cracked on the last word and then she broke down into a
violent sob.

“
I’m scared too, Mum,” I uttered through my own tears,
leaning across to hug her. “But we’ve got each other. We’ll be
okay. We always are, right?”

“
Right.”

A knock on the
door interrupted us. Blaine rushed over to it as it started to
open.

“
Not now, Trudy,” he snapped firmly.

“
It’s fine, Blaine,” I said, suddenly curious about his
hostility towards her. Had they had an argument when I wasn’t
looking or something? “Come in, Trudy.”

Treacle
shot Blaine a death glare when she thought I wasn’t looking
and not so subtly shoved past him. I’d definitely missed something,
but I didn’t have the energy to care.

“
How are you feeling, Annie?” My mum rolled her eyes and for
a second I was expecting her to come back with something sarcastic
like ‘with my fingers’. She was pissed off with
Treacle too lately.

“
Fine,” she deadpanned.

“
Well… good. That
’s good.”

I looked at
Blaine, wondering if he felt as uncomfortable as I did. He shrugged
and I decided he was.

“
So, Maddie, you start your new job this week, don’t
you?”
Treacle
asked, deflecting to me.

Shit.

“
Oh, Maddie, that was supposed to be tonight!” my mum
squealed, throwing her hand over her mouth. “Oh shit, Maddie, I’m
so sorry.”

“
It’s okay, Mum. No big deal.” I strived to sound casual but
I just
know I
failed big time. I was so looking forward to that job. I
needed
that job.

“
I’m sure if you called them they’d understand,”
Treacle said,
placing her hand on my shoulder. I forced a smile and feigned an
itch in my ankle so I could bend down and shrug out of her
over-familiar touch.

“
Maybe,” I said, shrugging.

“
Trudy’s right. Go and do it now,” my mum ordered.

“
I’ll do it later. I’m not leaving you.”

“
Madonna Whitney Davis do as you’re god damn told and go and
ring them now!” I opened my mouth to reply but was cut off by the
sound of Blaine choking on his own spit.

“
I’ll be right back,” I said to my mum. As I stood and
walked out of the room I purposely avoided looking at Blaine who I
could hear sniggering under his breath.

“
Whitney?
” he breathed in my ear as he pulled me back a little by
the crook of my arm as I stepped past him.

“
Fuck off, Blaine,” I mock-scolded. He tipped his head back and
laughed before cupping my face with his hands and laying a loud,
exaggerated kiss on my lips.

“
If you want to screw my daughter, lad, at least take her
outside.”

“
Annie!” Treacle blasted, clearly offended. Maybe I
should’ve been too, but that was just… Mum. Blaine chuckled and I
rolled my eyes playfully.

“
Come on, lish, I’ll get the drinks while you make the
call.”

Like he
said, Blaine disappeared down the corridor towards the vending
machines. I teased my mobile out of my back pocket and noticed a
text from Lori. I didn’t read it, deciding I would call her the
second I got a spare minute. I felt sick as I hovered my finger
over Sarah’s (the manager of Brewed Awakenings) personal number. I
was about to lose my first ever job before I’d even
started.

My heart edged
a little further up my throat with each ring. Just as I was about
to gag on it, Sarah answered.

“
Hello?”

“
Hi, is that Sarah?”
I asked, squeezing my arse cheeks together to stop
me crapping my pants.

“
Yes, this is Sarah.”

“
Hi, Sarah, it’s Maddie Davis. I just wanted to apologise for
missing my first shift tonight. My mum was rushed to hospital, I’ve
been here all day and I’ve only just noticed how late it was. I
know that isn’t your problem and of course I don’t expect another
chance I just wanted to say sorry all the same.” The words rushed
out and I hoped I wasn’t completely unintelligible.

“
Oh no, that’s terrible, Maddie. Nothing too serious I hope. Is
she okay?” she asked politely, no doubt working her way up to
firing my arse.

“
She will be, thank you. Again, I’m sorry I let you down. I
hope I didn’t leave you too much in the lurch.”

“
Not at all. Families come first. Will you be in tomorrow? It’s
no problem if you need more time, just let me know.”

“
Really?” I chirped, my voice rising to a higher pitch than
I knew I was even capable of. “I can come back?”

“
Of course! We all have emergencies beyond our control. It
wasn’t your fault and you let me know as soon as you
could.”

“
I just wasn’t expecting…Thank you, Sarah. Thank you so
much. I will see you tomorrow then.” In that moment Blaine appeared
holding two steaming Styrofoam cups with white plastic lids. I gave
him an excited thumbs up accompanied by a jaw aching
grin.

“
No problem, Maddie. Give my regards to your mom. See you
tomorrow.”

“
Thanks again, Sarah. Bye.”

“
Bye, Maddie.”

After ending
the call an involuntary, homecoming queen worthy squeal escaped my
lips.

“
I’ve still got a job!” I shrieked, lunging towards Blaine and
stopping abruptly when I remembered the hot drinks.

“
That’s great, lish! What did she say? Was she
pissed?”

“
Not at all. She was really nice and understanding. She said I
could take as long as I needed and that she sends her regards to my
mum. I said I’d start tomorrow anyway… I didn’t want to push it.
Plus I really am looking forward to it and I know my mum will be
looked after while she’s here.”

“
Good. I’m happy for you, lish. Now will you take one of
these god damn cups before
the fuckers burn away the last traces of my
fingerprints?”

“
Sorry,” I muttered, biting my bottom lip as I reached out
for a cup.
After pushing in the little plastic sipping hole I brought
it eagerly to my lips. I was exhausted and emotional and tea was my
wonder drug – my answer to everything.

“
What the…” Blaine yelped when I sprayed a mouthful of bitter
black coffee all over him.

“
This is yours,” I muttered, smacking my lips together as if
that would shift the vile taste from my mouth. “How can you stand
to drink that shit?”

“
How can you stand to put milk in your tea? They’re like two
different drinks. I mean… would you put m
ilk in your OJ? It’s just
wrong.”

“
Touche.” I winked at him as we swapped cups.
I took a welcome sip
and immediately crinkled my nose.

“
What now?” Blaine asked, seeming amused
with a wicked grin splayed
across his delectable face.

“
It tastes like piss,” I retorted. Granted it was better
than the coffee, but I was pretty sure it’d never seen a real life
tea bag. Blaine snorted a small laugh and as he opened his mouth to
speak Treacle interrupted.

“
We need to get back now, Blaine. Your father is expecting
us
.” The
blood drained from Blaine’s face leaving it almost as pale as his
chest.

“
I’m not leaving Maddie,” he snapped.

I caught sight of
Treacle give Blaine a knowing look and I could
practically see his heart sink into his stomach. What the hell was
going on with them? I wondered idly if she really did know about
the vile things his dad had done to him but almost instantly
decided she couldn’t. She wouldn’t allow that to carry on under her
nose surely?

“
It’s okay, Blaine. I’ll be fine. I’m going home myself soon
anyway. There’s not much more I can do for her tonight.”

“
Then I’ll wait for you,” he said, tossing the still-full cup
of coffee into a plastic bin beside us and wrapping his arms around
my waist.

“
Blaine…” Trudy said, exasperated.

“
Oh fuck off, Trudy!” he barked. I decided then that I would
ask Blaine what the hell was going on between him and Trudy the
next time we were alone.

“
Blaine, go home,” I ordered tenderly, cupping his face in
my hands. “I’d like some time alone with my mum before I leave,” I
lied. I wanted nothing more than for him to stay with me, but I
could tell by the urgent tone in Treacle’s voice and the anxious
glint in Blaine’s electric blue eyes, that he
needed
to go.