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“Yes, I should have asked Carly to pick Jackie up,” Bailey said, sniffing.
My phone rang, and I answered. “Hello,”
“We are behind you. Let me take Jackie, and I’ll wait at your house,” Carly said.
“Carly, thank you so much,” Bailey said. I pulled over, and we handed Jackie to my brother Ryan and Carly.
“I’m so happy they took Jackie back home; I don’t know what will happen when my Dad wakes up. What if he doesn’t wake up?”
“Now, sweetheart, don’t start talking like that. Your Dad will be fine, I’m sure. Let’s keep good thoughts,” The family were all in the waiting room when we arrived.
“Have they said anything yet?”
“They did some scans of his head we haven’t heard anything. We heard a noise and the doctor with Jonah beside him stood at the door. We all looked at Jonah.
Bailey
My father stood in the doorway, and our eyes locked. In that momentary gaze, I could tell he recognized me; the recognition was evident in his eyes.
“Bailey,” I hurried over to him. “Can you ever forgive me? I would change everything if I could. I’m so sorry I didn’t remember you and Jackie. I love you, and I will always love you. I deeply regret what happened to Jackie. If I could turn back time, I would.”
“You remember me?” I asked.
“Yes, honey, I remember you,” I saw him look around, and when he spotted the others, they all came, and he hugged everyone. Izzy hugged him, and he laughed, I’m happy you are my daughter. I love you, Izzy. I love all of you,” he said. Then he turned to me again. We’ll discuss your mother later. I want to know everything about you and Jackie. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you.”
“Daddy, it wasn’t your fault you were shot in the head. The police should have done a better job finding the robber instead of Hastily assuming it was you because you were there. They wanted to be able to close the case, and that’s what they did. Do you have to stay at the hospital?”
The doctor spoke up. “No, he can go home, but if he experiences any pain, he must go to the emergency room.”
“Well, in that case, let’s go home, everyone. We have a dinner to enjoy,” I noticed my dad glancing at Cole, and we all left the hospital. As we left, I wondered about what my father wanted to discuss regarding my mom.
“Why do you think he wants to discuss my mom with me?”
“Well, he’s remarried, so if your mom is still alive, he’ll need to get a divorce from her. I imagine he wants to find her and see how she is doing. You said she took off when you were a teenager, and she was dealing with drug addiction. If I were him, I would be very angry because she ran off and left you two alone.”
I glanced at Cole; he sounded like he was angry. I know it makes him upset because of how I cry for my sister. Today was Jackie’s birthday. I wonder if my father remembers it was her birthday.
When we pulled into our driveway, almost everyone was there. My uncles and aunts hugged my dad; some shed tears while others shared laughter. Ryan grilled steaks, and Carly who was heavily pregnant, cradled little Jackie in her arms. I took Jackie from her, put her to bed, and then started preparing the food and putting it on platters.
My dad joined me in the kitchen. “Today is Jackie’s birthday. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for both of you. I asked Steel and Viper to find out what they could about your mother. Is that alright with you. Did Jackie have a service?”
“No, she was cremated. I have her ashes; I plan to bury them in my rose garden. I understand that you need to find out if my mother is dead or alive. If she is alive, I don’t want her anywhere near me or any of my family.”
I looked at him, and shook my head. “She’ll rob you blind. She always found my money and would spend it on drugs. I worked at the grocery store bagging groceries. The woman she was when you left is not the same woman who left Jackie and me. That woman was a drug addict who only thought about herself.”
“They may not even find her,” my dad said. Just then we heard a noise, and Steel entered with some papers in his hand. I knew what they were because Steel had once asked me if I wanted to know if he found anything about my mom. I had declined. He must have done it anyway to see for himself what happened to her.
Steel approached and handed the papers to my dad. “These are the documents about Bailey’s mother. I checked her out the same day Bailey told me about her.”
I watched my dad take the papers and sit down. Then he carefully read through each page. He went through all of them before he looked at me. “She’s in a nursing home. Tomorrow, we’ll go see her.”
I hesitated, not wanting to see her. “I don’t want to see her. I told you how she was; she knew she was becoming hooked on those drugs and took them anyway. We begged her not to, but she wouldn’t listen to us. I blame her completely for Jackie’s death. I won’t go see her.”
Suddenly, Cole appeared, wrapping his arms around me. “Listen to me, Bailey. You’ll regret it for the rest of your life if you don’t see her now and wonder if you should have. I’ll be right by your side the entire time.”
I nodded because I knew he was right. “Where is she?”
“She’s at a nursing home here in town. She must have known you were here; and this is where she wanted to spend her final days.”
