The hospital walls still hummed with that cold, sterile silence that made my skin crawl. I stood there, staring at my mother. My chest tightened, and I groaned under the weight of it. It was too quiet. Too still. Too final.
I swiped my palm across my face, wiping tears that never seemed to stop. My throat was raw from crying, and every breath came out shaky, like my lungs were fighting me. I pushed myself upright, forcing my legs to move because if I didn't keep moving, I'd fall apart right there.
"I'll be back, Mom," I muttered, but my voice cracked halfway, slipping into a choked sound that echoed around the small room. I wasn't sure who I was trying to convince, her or myself.
I stepped out of the hospital, and the morning sun hit me with no mercy. I hissed under my breath, pulling my arms tight around myself. The world was still spinning like nothing had happened; cars honked, people laughed, vendors shouted. And there I was, standing in the middle of it all, a girl with a broken home stuffed inside her chest.
The taxi ride felt endless. When the car finally slowed in front of the house I once called paradise, my heart thudded painfully. I swallowed hard, my fingers trembling as I reached for the door.
"My… my favorite space," I whispered, the words trembling out of me like a fragile secret.
The moment I stepped inside, memories slammed into me with no warning. Dad's loud laughter. Mom's soft humming. My own childish giggles bounce off the walls. I snorted weakly, half-cry, half leftover memory of joy. Now the place smelled like dust, silence, and things left unfinished.
I walked through the living room slowly, dragging my fingers across the arm of the old couch. Every step felt like stepping on a memory. Every breath tasted like grief.
"So this is it…" I muttered, huffing as I blinked away tears. "The last time I'll ever stand here."
My room was exactly how I left it… and not at all how I wanted it to be. I stepped inside and instantly moaned quietly—one of those painful, gutted sounds you make when something inside you breaks in half. The sunlight touched my bed softly, as if unaware of the chaos in my life.
I dropped to my knees beside the bed, reaching for my favorite teddy bear. The moment my hand touched the fur, every dam inside me shattered. I hugged it tightly against my chest.
"I'll miss you," I muttered, my voice trembling as I grumbled through the tears. "I'll miss all of this."
But I didn't have time to sit in the past. I jumped into the shower, letting the water wash the dust, sweat, and sadness off me. When I stepped out, my hair dripping down my back, I collapsed onto the bed for what I knew would be the last time. It whined under my weight, as if protesting the goodbye.
After grabbing fruit and food for myself and Mom, I rushed back to the hospital. My stomach twisted the moment I saw nurses clustered in her room. My pulse quickened, my head buzzing.
"What's happening here?" I demanded, my voice shaky, the words almost swallowed by the fear choking me.
When they didn't respond fast enough, I shoved past them.
Then I saw the white sheet over her body.
My entire world stopped.
"Why… why is she covered?" I asked, barely breathing, every syllable trembling.
A nurse stepped forward slowly.
"I'm sorry, Tina… she couldn't make it."
For a second, I didn't move. Didn't blink. Didn't breathe.
Then it hit me.
"No!" I roared, a sound ripped straight from my soul. I collapsed beside the bed, gripping the sheet as if I could pull her back to life with my bare hands. "Please, please, can't you do something?" I begged, my voice cracking so hard it hurt.
But nothing changed. Nothing moved. Nothing breathed.
And just like that, I had no parents left.
I cried until my voice gave out, until my throat burned, until there was nothing left in me but emptiness. When I finally stood upright, my steps swayed.
"You'll regret this," I muttered darkly, wiping my face with the back of my hand. Edward. His name alone made something sharp twist inside me.
"I hope you're happy now," I hissed as I walked out of the hospital. "You ruined everything."
But grief wouldn't stop my life from moving. I had to survive. I had to fight. I had to find a way to live in a world that had taken everything from me.
I took every broken piece inside me… and went hunting for work.
And destiny, twisted and cruel, led me straight into the belly of a high-end restaurant; glitzy, shiny, and built for the wealthy who would never know what hunger tasted like.
"Hey! Hurry up and clean this mess!" my supervisor barked at me the moment I stepped inside. She was always like this; sharp, cold, and as welcoming as a slap.
I forced myself to move even though my stomach growled, my legs shaking from hunger and exhaustion.
"Ma'am… ma'am… I need to eat," I muttered, my voice trembling. I hated begging, but my body was giving up on me.
She turned slowly, her lip curled like she'd stepped on something disgusting. "Eat? Did you come here to eat or to work?"
Before I could speak, she grabbed a client's leftover noodles, shoved them into the trash can, and said, "Eat."
It shattered something inside me.
I knelt on the floor, tears slipping down my cheeks as I picked some of the noodles that fell on the floor into the trash can as I couldn't eat that. The humiliation tasted bitter in my mouth.
"Now get back to work before you lose your job," she snapped, turning away.
I wiped my face, breathing hard, swallowing the shame.
"Tina, how was work today?" Annie asked when I finally got home. She always tried to keep the place warm, even when we had nothing.
"As usual," I muttered as I collapsed onto the couch with a tired groan.
"Tina… rent is almost due. And it's your turn." Annie reminded me gently.
I sighed, rubbing my stomach. "Do we at least have food?"
She handed me a half-eaten chip. "This is all."
I snorted a tired laugh. "We'll figure out what to eat tomorrow."
But tomorrow had claws. And teeth. And consequences.