Chapter
4
1 week later
Mariah
watched TV trying to amuse herself. It was the middle of the afternoon. None of
the good TV shows were on until later in the afternoon. Right now, all the
cheesy soap operas were on and Mariah didn't particularly like them. She sat on
her bed flipping through channels, trying to find at least something that would
interest her. Then there was a knock at the door.
"Hey
Mariah..."
Mariah
turned her head and looked astonished at what she saw.
"Jake?
Wh--h-how did you know I was here?"
"Well,
your mother called before she left on her trip. I thought I might come and
visit you. Is that a bad thing?"
"No,
no, of course not. Come in."
Jake
walked in the room and gave her a kiss on the forehead like he always did.
Mariah was surprised. She didn't think he would act like this if he found out
that she had cancer. Mariah never told him. She was going to, but then changed
her mind, thinking it was better that he didn't know. At least not yet.
"So...how've
you been?" said Jake with concern. "Everyone's been wondering where
you've been, but I wouldn't tell them. Your mom said that you didn't want them to
know."
'I
didn't want you to know either.' thought Mariah.
"I've
been good," replied Mariah. "Could be better though. I hate it in the
hospital. Everything's so gloomy and there's nothing to do. I'm bored out of my
mind. I just wish that everything could go back to normal."
"Well,
looks like your cold's better," said Jake.
"My
what?" asked Mariah, not knowing what in heck he was talking about.
"Your
cold. Your mom said you were really sick and the doctors decided that you
should stay in the hospital for a while. Isn't that why you're in here?"
asked Jake with confusion.
Mariah
sat there paralyzed. Now she knew why he came and saw her. He thought she was
having a cold, and yet he waited a week before he even came and visited her.
Her anger was building inside, but didn't want to let it show.
"Um..yeah,
that's why." answered Mariah.
"You
don't sound too sure of yourself," said Jake.
"Oh,
it's nothing. I'm just really tired, that's all. Slow reaction. You know
me."
"Alright.
You sure you're okay?" Jake asked with genuine concern for Mariah. Mariah
just nodded and assured him that everything was all right. They talked a little
longer, but the whole time she just wanted Jake to leave. She realized that she
couldn't stand him anymore. Sure, he was concerned, but even with a little
cold, he had waited a week to come see her after he knew what was wrong. She
felt bad about feeling that way, but she couldn't help it. She thought he loved
her, but obviously he didn't care as much as she thought.
Soon,
Jake grew tired and left, promising that he'll be back in a day or two. Mariah
wouldn't be surprised if he didn't show up until next week. Jake had kissed her
forehead, said good bye and left. Mariah said good bye, and said good bye to
him in her heart too.
Later
that night, after dinner was over and things had slowed down, Mariah sat and
wrote in her journal. She sat looking out her window. This was what she did
every night. It soothed her in a way. Mariah wrote about what had happened that
day with Jake and poured out her feelings, but she never shed a tear. She
realized she had let go of him a long time ago. Not that she wasn't happy with
him, she just didn't see him the way she did before. Suddenly, she heard a
child crying. At first, she ignored it, but the crying continued and wouldn't
stop. Mariah went into the hall wondering what was going on.
"Sheesh,
where are all the nurses when you need them.' thought Mariah.
She
walked into the hall. She heard the soft crying and followed the sound. Mariah
stopped in front of the ice machine room. It was two doors down from her room.
The boy was crouching in the corner. He couldn't be more than 5 years old. Her
heart went out to him.
"Hey,
there. What's wrong? asked Mariah. "You're lost aren't you?"
'Duh,'
Mariah thought in her head.
"Let
me take you back. I'll help you find your mom."
The
child just looked at her and continued crying. His cries were getting a little
louder each time. Mariah reached out for him, but the boy backed away. Mariah
cautiously approached him, taking slow and small steps. She sat next to him and
just looked. The boy stopped crying and looked back.
"You
know," said after a while Mariah. "I've been lost many times before,
but I always ended up finding my mom. It's okay, you don't need to be scared.
I'm the Mom Detector. I can find anyone's mom." Mariah knew it sounded
absurd, but hey, the boy needed some comfort.
The
boy's face looked at her in awe.
"Really?"
said the boy in a soft voice. Then he gradually got louder. "Wow, that's
so cool. I wish I could be like that."
Mariah
smiled. "It's an okay job. It's better staying with my mom though. I got
lost so many times I had to find my way back, that's how I became the Mom
Detector, but you don't want to be lost that many times do you?"
The
boy then paused and thought about it. "I guess not."
"That's
right. So, what's your name?"
The
boy brightened up a bit. "My name's Carter and I'm six and a half years
old." he replied proudly.
Mariah
just smiled, remembering how important it was to add that half in the end. Even
adding a quarter mattered.
"Wow,
six and a half," replied Mariah, making sure that she added that half.
"That's real neat. You're a big boy now, aren't you?"
The
boy nodded his head with a big smile on his face.
"Well,
Carter, how about we go find that mom of yours?"
"Yeah!"
replied Carter with enthusiasm. "You show me how to become a Mom
Detector."
"Deal."
replied Mariah.
They
both got up and walked out of the supply room. Not even after 10 steps a
woman's voice yelled out Carter's name. She rushed over and hugged the boy so
tight that Mariah thought that the boy's eyes was gonna pop out. The boy didn't
seem to notice though.
"Mom,
Mom!" Carter exclaimed. "Guess who this is?" Carter pointed at
Mariah. His mother asked who, glancing up at Mariah. She was too busy checking
if the boy was hurt or not.
"She's
a Mom Detector and she's good. The minute we walked out of that room, she found
you!" Carter looked so excited that he was jumping up and down.
"A
Mom Detector, huh?" replied Carter's mom with a smile. "Well, Mom
Detector, thank you so much for...um...finding me. It's greatly appreciated. I
was real worried about this boy here. Sometimes, he's just too much."
Carter looked up at his mom with a big smile.
"No
problem," replied Mariah. "It was no trouble at all. He's the cutest
kid!"
Once
again, she thanked Mariah and gave Mariah her name and phone number. She then
quickly hurried off with Carter's hand tightly in one hand. Carter just turned
around and waved bye with his free hand, and a big smile was plastered on his
face. Half way down the hall, they met up with someone who was in a wheelchair.
The person looked at Mariah, smiled and went off with the lady and Carter, who
was busy talking.
Mariah sighed. 'What a night,' she thought and
went back to room to get some rest.
***
