Love, Bets and Football

6.0

~Racheal~

In no time, I had dashed off to the hospital where my mother was currently admitted. I sat in the lobby, anxiously waiting for the doctor or a nurse in charge to at least provide me with a diagnosis. Anything to at least let me know she was going to be fine.

"Racheal !'

I looked up, finding Camilla, coach's daughter and my friend. Relief flooded me, and I rose from my seat and rushed to her. She wrapped me in a hug, and my eyes filled with tears.

I held back as soon as noticed the other person that was standing behind her. I froze as we made eye contact, but he looked away from me. I sighed, pulling away from Camilla. She had noticed the slight change in atmosphere, so she quickly explained. "Oh. He begged me to not leave me behind, so I brought him along."

I slowly approached him, watching for his reaction."Hi. How are you? How have you been?"

"Where's mom?"

I sighed, not surprised that he had completely ignored me again. That didn't mean that I wasn't still hurt everytime he did it. From the corner of my eye, I caught Camilla opening her mouth, probably to scold him, but I stopped her.

It was unnecessary and would only make him hate me more. I didn't want that. Dejectedly, I replied him. "Mom is still unconscious and I unstable. The doctors will get back to us once she's stabilized."

"This is a ll your fault. She wouldn't be hear if you didn't have locked in that horrendous place."

"Richard!" Camilla couldn't hold back her anger this time as she swore and glared at him. "That's not how to speak to your sister. Apologize to her. Right now!"

"Apologize?" He smirked before cruelly staring my way. "Why should I be apologizing when I said nothing but the truth."

And then he was storming off in the opposite direction. I stayed there, hanging my head in shame. Maybe it was really all my fault. I shouldn't have deprived a young boy of his mother.

"Are you alright? I'm so sorry for his behavior. He promised to be on his best behavior if I brought him along." Camilla explained as she led me back to the chairs in the waiting room.

"It's alright. I'm not mad at him." I muttered as I played with my fingers. " He's right."

"Not this again." Camilla groan as she hugged me tighter. " I can assure you, Racheal, you did nothing wrong. You only did what was best for your mother, and nothing else."

Richard/Richie was my brother and the last child my parents had decided to have. As a family, we all had dotted on him and showered him with love, but especially mom.

When time had come for me to make a decision of signing mom into a mental hospital, Richie had begged me not to go through. Of course, with him still being a child, he had wanted to stay with his mom, even with all that we were going through, but I couldn't. I couldn't watch as mom dwindled away.

And so I had proceeded to sign the papers. Richie was only eleven at the time and I had just turned 18. He never forgave me for it and refused to talk to me. The only time he spoke was to blame me for our mother's situation and it gutted me everytime. That was four years ago and nothing had changed between us.

Ever since mom had been admitted, Richie had been taken in by Uncle. Although we weren't blood related, Uncle had been my father's best friend and so taking us under his wing had come naturally to him. Camilla was his oldest daughter who came after his two older sons.

Even though my brother hated me, I was glad Camilla always looked after him in my place. And she was like a sister to me too.

Camilla and I waited together for half an hour longer before the doctor came in. Apparently, my mom had taken an overdose, but the drugs had been pumped out. She was currently still weak, but she would be able to receive visitors the next day.

I was relieved and so was Camilla, and so was Richie, who had returned when the doctor had been giving his diagnosis.

We said our goodbyes, before we headed off in different directions. Dialing my old boss' number, I inquired if there was a shift I could cover. Thankfully, he had no problem with me working for him again, so I headed to the popular off campus dinner.

I only needed to cover a few shifts, and then I would be able to pay off my mother's hospital bills.

****

It was exactly five minutes past one in the morning when I got back home, or precisely, Cain's home. I was tired and looking forward to my bed, but I didn't get a chance as the door was suddenly opened and I came face to face with my Uncle.

"Where the f*ck have you been?"

I was welcomed by Uncle's yells as soon as I opened the door to Cain's house. I was so exhausted and sleepy, but one glimpse at Uncle's furious red face and I was wide awake and attentive.

"I. . .I. . .I. . ."

I tried to explain, but my thought process had completely frozen as I countinuosly stared at Uncle's angry self. He always terrified me when he got angry. But this time, he looked like he would blow up any minute.

"You can't even explain yourself. Do you know what f**king happened when you were gone?"

"No-no." I squeaked out, wanting this to be over with. I had no clue what had gotten uncle in this terrible mood, but it looked like I was part of the reason. I hadn't meant to return this late last night if this was what he was mad about.

"Well, did you know Cain slipped? The person I paid you to look after slipped in his bathroom. Where the hell have you been all day?"

Just then, Cain interrupted him, "Coach, it's fine. I'm safe nothing serious happened. I'll still recover quickly, so don't be too harsh on her."

"No. She needs to know how much worse all this could have turned out. That injury could have ruined everything for all we could have known. Especially your career."

"I-i'm sorry. I didn't mean to be absent." I hang my head. I didn't think I could look him the eyes.

"You better be, and I hope you'll have a better explanation when I return tomorrow." With that, he stormed off, slamming the door behind him.

It was Cain that broke the silence between us. "Are you alright? I didn't expect him to be this angry."

I just nodded. I was afraid if I said anything, I would break down, and the last thing I wanted was to cry in front of him.

"You look like you could use a hug." Cain tried to joke, but I turned to him, nodding once again. "I do. I really do."

"I know you hate me and that we don't like each other. But just this once, hold me." I begged, not bringing myself to look in his eyes.

Cain was silent and I was starting to regret what I said, but he obliged. "Sure." Without wasting time, he closed the gap between us, and then he was engulfing me in his arms.

I tried to fight it back and hold it in. Nothing worked though. The dam had already broken down, and before I knew it, I broke down in my enemy's arms.