Sophie

I finally had the strength and courage to get up from the shower floor after crying for so long. I dried my body down and changed into black leggings and an oversized sweater, placed on my socks, and walked out of my bathroom with a towel in hand to dry my hair.

The house was quiet. The boys were probably in school, and dad had also gone out to the vineyard to work on last-minute details for an event they were holding this weekend.

It was only mom and me in the house.

I have been feeling down and sorry for myself these past few days. But I had to face reality. It was over between Logan and me. Whether I liked it or not, he was gone.

I grabbed my phone and turned it on after it has been off for a few days. My phone immediately got flooded with notifications from Logan, Troy, and Lexie.

Texts from Lexie asking how I was, trying to comfort me, and asking me to be brave. I had over fifty calls, if not more from my friends. But the ones that hit me the worst were Logan's.

He was hurting as much as I was. Without a doubt, he thought I had been unfaithful to him. He kept asking why I had been unfaithful, how could I've betrayed his love, his trust, our commitment, and the oath to always stay together.

My tears rolled down free-willingly. My hands were shaking as I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand.

I slowly caressed the tattoo on my arm. It was half of the love lock chain we had gotten together as a couple a few days before my birthday.

My birthday, shit. Troy's birthday. His birthday passed. Oh, God. Troy turned eighteen on the same day he and Dylan became intimate for the first time. The day right after all this happened.

I'm such a bad friend. I never bothered calling him to wish him a happy birthday.

I faced palmed myself, throwing my phone on the bed and standing on my feet, running my hands through my face.

I slowly got up and walked out of my room. It was enough of me locking myself in that room. If I stayed this way, I was only going to get worst. I'd get more depressed and frankly, I was going crazy. Too many thoughts of what-ifs ran through my mind.

The truth is- there are no what-ifs. What's done is done? I had to face the fact that Logan had dumped me, and we were probably never going to go back together, though I wished every second that this was a dream.

I keep hoping that I was asleep and soon wake up next to him. Having him holding me right and kissing my forehead as he whispered good morning. But, that will never happen.

I sighed and grasped my door handle, letting the air in my lungs exhale dramatically slow, that it pained my chest.

As I made my way down the corridor of the hallway towards the stairs, I couldn't help but stop by my mom's room.

It sounded as if she heaved, trying to catch air. I panicked once I realized she was throwing up inside. I quickly opened the door and ran to her joined bathroom.

I opened her restroom door and ran to her side. "Mom. Are you ok? What's wrong?" I moved her hair out of the way. Her left hand firmly gripped the toilet seat and her right hand was vastly glued to her chest as if trying to alleviate her chest pain from throwing up.

"It's ok mom. It's ok, I'm here." I said as I held her hair out of the way.

My eyes were pricked with tears as I saw her in this state. I was hoping she was ok.

She tried to wave me off, nodding and moving her hand. But she breathing uneasy, and I could see she was struggling to keep herself from vomiting.

"Mom, relax. It's ok. I got you." I said as I rubbed circles on her back. Her hair felt different. I hadn't noticed that until now.

It wasn't shinny, or silky like it used to. Her hair felt weird, like touching a wig, or fake hair. But maybe it was just my imagination.

Her body felt weak, thin, colorless. Why had I not noticed this before? Had I been so in a trance with my relationship with Logan that I had failed to see mom was in bad health?

"I'm....fine....sweet-" she managed to utter out before she began to regurgitate again and heaved, vomiting the leftover vile in her stomach.

"Mom, you are not fine. I'm calling dad and the doctor." I said as I stood up.

She quickly pulled my arm, trying to hold me back, nodding in disagreement. "Soph, no. I'm fi-" she added, but quickly turned towards the toilet again.

"You are definitely not fine," I said turning towards her.

She tried to stand, but her knees gave out. I quickly gripped her, holding her with both hands to prevent her from falling.

"Mom!?" I yelled, panic overtaking me. She was too heavy for me, get body felt heavier, as she gave up, fainting in my arms.

"Oh God, no. What is happening?" I quickly pulled her and placed her on the bed, ran to my room, and dialed for an ambulance.

I gave the operator the address and explained the situation, and they quickly told me an ambulance had been dispatched and would be here quickly, but I was still really nervous. I didn't know what to do, the only thing I could think of was to call him. I don't know why I called him, but by the time I realized it, it was too late to hang up.

The phone rang thrice before I realized who I called. I was ready to hang up when he finally answered. My voice quivered and the tears ran down my eyes as I tried to control myself.

I was surprised that he stayed with me on the phone until I got to the hospital. His voice soothed my nerves like it always did. I had ignored every message he had sent, and every call, but even then, he answered without hesitation.

I don't know what is going on, and I was so scared. All I could do was stay on the phone with him until I arrived at the hospital where he was already waiting there.

He quickly ran to me, hugging me tight as I exited the ambulance as they took mom inside.

I gripped him tightly, my fingers tugging and clutching at his shirt. The aroma of his cologne filled my lungs with the all-too-familiar scent of him.

Reality had snuck up on me, and I did not see it coming. I was in for a long road ahead.

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