Alone but United

Chapter 11

Carter awoke. She frankentally looked around,  noticing she wasn’t at her apartment or in Mathew’s living room. She saw her books and the wardrobe that used to be completely overwhelmed by clothes. It seemed that someone had cleaned and organized the wardrobe, along with placing several other clothes she didn’t recognize. As she sat up, she recognized the covers that were neatly lad on her while she was sleeping.

The door of the room opened and Mathew walked in.

“Carter,”he greeted her with a soft smile,”I’m glad you're awake.” He then sat on the bed next to her.

“Where am I, what is my stuff doing here?” was Carter answered Mathew's greeting.

He gave another smile, that seemed to calm her just enough for her to not start freaking out more,”You're in my house. This is one of the extra rooms I had.”

Carter took a small sigh of relief, at least she knew where she was at,”That doesn’t explain why my books are her. My books. Or even my parents’ wardrobe!” Carter, throughout expressing yourself, started to get herself excited.

Mathew placed his hand on hers, in another attempt to calm her,”So I’m gl-”

The door, once again, and all of Carter’s attention went to the slight rufalling of the carpet against the door.

Walking into the room, she looked up from the breakfast tray at Carter,”Oh, you're awake.”

“Stephanie?”

“How are you feeling.”

Carter quickly started to assess the situation. Then all of a sudden, a brown blob russes through the door. It swiftly jumps onto the bed and lays right next to Carter. Once it stopped moving Carter recognized it as a brown dog.

Turning her head back to Stephanie, she looked at her puzzled,”Completely confused.”

“As I was saying,”pausing for a second ,Mathew allowed Carter to slowly refocus on him,”I am glad you reached out to me.”

Carter looked down, which was an unusual feeling for her, since she always looks at the person talking to her in the eyes. She could feel her whole body have a huge cold flash then become overwhelmingly heated. “He was talking to her about this here, in front of them.”she thought to her overloaded brain, probably only working on fuem at this point.

“You were so smart coming to be, and even if you don’t think so right now, communicating what was in your head will help you so much better than keeping it in.”

Carter looked at Stephanie, giving Carter a trusting smile. Then Carter looked down towards her lap, seeing that the dog had pushed Carter’s limp hand on their head. As if trying to reinshier her. With the full brown eyes looking up at her she gave in and stoke the brown curly hair of the dog. Somehow this helped her to mellow out again, patiently awaiting the rest of Mathew’s explanation.

“I have decided, and I hope you agree, I-”Carter could now tell that Mathew was getting a bit nervous,”have chosen to help you with your mother and brother.”

“What about the reason my stuff is here?”

“Right, I decided to take your stuff, and your mother’s and brother’s stuff, to my home. So now this is your home also. And once I told Stephanie about it she decided to move in also to help.”

Mathew anxiously waited for Carter to give out any opinion, but she didn’t know how to react. It has been a long time since someone tried to help her with anything close to this. She is normally the one with the information or the perfect card up her sleeve, and in return she was given more information or a favor. Now, she is the one in det. She can’t even think of how she will start to repay Mathew, or even Stephanie.

“Thanks...how.” she started to tear up, but pushed herself to stay composed,”How do I ever start to repay you?”

Mathew gave a silent breath of relief,”You will never have to repay me, what you can do is always strive for your goals. But never keep all your worries and anxieties to you and you alone. I’m-”

“We,”Stephanie added.

“Yes. We are here for you.”

Stephanie got up and then set the tray on Carter’s lap, allowing Carter to remember more questions that had overwhelmed her mind early.

“Where is Mom?”

“She is in the next room. It was my office before, but I don’t think she’ll mind too much till she is in a more healthier condition.”

“I’m sure she willn’t.”

“Well, since you're awake-,”Mathew and Stephanie got up to leave the room,”would you like to come down with us to get Tyson?”

Carter suddenly confused again,”What do you mean, ’get Tyson’?”

“He’s being discharged.”

“How? They wanted to keep him in for two more days at least?”

“You’ve been asleep for 2 days”

They shut the door and  left Carter there with her food, the dog, and her thoughts. Did all that really drain her that greatly?

Carter put on her regular outfits that she usually wore.The old s**t and pants with the high-heeled boots. Walking into the living room, followed by the dog, she saw Mathew was in the kitchen and Stephanie sat at the island. Carter sat next to Stephanie, listening to their conversation. Carter then got distracted by her surroundings. Her eyes started to wander around the room. Looking at the open planned living room and kitchen.

She was interrupted by a small, heartbroken whimper. Carter looked down and saw the dog,“Hello sweetie.”

Stephanie turned her attention to Carter,”Her name is Maria Pualson.”

“Awwww, that’s adorable.”

“Thanks,”Mathew smiled from over the counter,”I call her Mimi, for short.”

“Is she coming to the hospital?”

“Yup,”Mathew gets set in a jogging stance,”and I’ll race you to the car.”