Sweet Soul (Sweet Home #5)(19)
Sighing in defeat, I closed the door as tightly as I could and began picking the broken furniture off the floor. It didn’t take me long to clean up the mess. When all the debris was cleared, I packed the few clothes we owned into our small bag. It wouldn’t be long until the landlord came to evict us. The money that I’d managed to save from my mom’s welfare and disability checks was running with her bloodstream, and sitting in her supplier’s wallet.
Making the apartment as clean as I could, I walked to my mom who was lying on the bed. A lump clogged my throat as I saw her blue eyes open, watching me. Her pupils were dilated, but I knew she could see me. It was rare that my mom wasn’t high. These moments were constant.
Carefully moving the needle and foiled up heroin from the bed, I placed them on the floor. I sat on the mattress and stroked the damp strands of blond hair from my mom’s forehead. She smiled when I ran my finger down her face.
“Hi mom,” I said. I watched as her eyes read my lips.
My mom lifted her hand and struggled to sign. “Hi, baby girl.”
I smiled back, but tears built in my eyes when I wondered what would come next for us. My mom, even in her drugged up state, must have realized this as she placed her hand on my cheek and said aloud, “No crying… baby girl.”
I closed my eyes at the sound of my mom’s voice. She hated speaking aloud, as did I, because people only ever made fun of us. But we could talk to each other, free and without fear of mocking. And to me, her voice was beautiful. It was home.
“Come,” my mom said, weakly tapping the bed beside her. Doing as she said, I laid on the pillow-less bed, facing her direction.
Mom smiled at me as she stroked through my hair. Her eyes began to close, her body forcing her to sleep to cope with the drugs. But as with every night before she slept, she placed her hand on my cheek, as I did on hers, and she drew our foreheads together. My mom rarely spoke, instead she struggled by using her messy and mostly incorrect sign language, or through actions that were simply between her and I. Just like this.
I love you.
Our hands on each other’s cheek, and our forehead’s joined, was our ‘I love you’. Needing my mother’s comfort right now, I kept my hand on her face as she fell asleep.
But I never slept. I never slept knowing the landlord would be coming to kick us out.
Which he did two hours later, when we returned to the streets, to the cold and wet and rain, back begging for money, until they took me away.
Took me away and ruined my life…
My eyes rolled open and I lifted my hand to my cheek. For a moment I thought everything had been a dream and I was still on my bed with my mom’s hand holding my cheek. But my palm met my skin and I blinked and blinked as my fuzzy sight cleared.
A white ceiling came into view, and it took me a few seconds for the panic to set in.
Where am I?
My body felt heavy and numb, but I told myself to move. Just as I rolled on the soft bed that I was laid in, the sound of a female voice met my ear. I froze. I heard a female voice. I heard. I racked my foggy brain to recall the last time that I had heard anything. I didn’t know how long it had been since my hearing aid had stopped working, but I knew it was a long time ago.
My heart beat faster and faster, confusion and fear taking a strong hold of my body. Suddenly, someone entered the room.
My breathing was shallow as my eyes slammed to the opening door, only to see a small black-haired woman walk in. When she cast a glance to the bed, she startled at seeing me sitting up. Her hand landed on her chest, and a smile broke out on her face. That smile calmed something within me. She looked kind. She appeared relieved as she looked at me with interest.
“Hello,” she said clearly and slowly. Out of habit, I read her lips as she sounded out the words. The woman edged further into the room, and said, “My name is Lexi. You’re safe. You’re in my home.”
I frowned and looked about the large room. My eyes widened when I saw the expensive furniture against the walls. I nearly gasped as the large window showed a crystal clear view of a river beyond.
A hand landed on my arm, and my head turned in the direction of the woman. “Can you hear me okay?” she asked. I could see the concern on her face.
My hand instinctively lifted to my right ear. I nodded my head when I realized I could hear, better than ever before. I could pick up background noises that I had never heard before. A sudden rush of happiness washed over me, and tears filled my eyes.
I could hear again.
I was no longer trapped in the silence.
“Honey,” the woman said quietly as she sat on the edge of the bed. I stared at her, trying to recognize who she was and why I was here in her home. But she was a stranger to me.
As if hearing my thoughts, she said, “You’re probably a little afraid and confused right now, but there’s no need to be.” I sat back on the bed, feeling too weak to be sitting up straight. Lexi, the woman had said was her name, laid her hand on mine. “My brother-in-law knows you, sweetie. We helped you a few nights ago.” Lexi’s head dipped. “You’re sick, honey. You have pneumonia.” Fear ran through me, but she quickly offered assurance. “You’ve been on medication and you’re responding perfectly to it. You’ve been in and out of consciousness for the past few days.” Her face wore the kind smile again. “It makes me real happy to see you up and awake.”