The Ones She Left Behind

Chapter Eleven

Darcy sat cross-legged on a bed of grass, staring at the night sky.

It was calm and peaceful, but she felt far from at ease. Her one and only friend was gone, forced completely off the planet by Darcy’s selfish sister. She wasn’t even sure where Maggie was, for when Darcy arrived, she wasn’t home. Now that it was late, she still wasn’t home. She tried to consider other places Maggie could be, but all she could think of was that she was spending the night with one of her new friends.

Sighing, she stood up and closed her eyes. She was already bored with Maggie’s new location, and without Topher, there was nothing for her to do and no one for her to talk to. Now, the closer she was to Maggie, the further away she felt. She wasn’t even sure what the point was of still coming around.

Darcy held her arms out to her sides, feeling the wind around her whip as it collided with her growing energy.

Darcy opened her eyes and smiled as the wind around her calmed.      

Halls paved with white tiles greeted her. She felt the pull toward one specific room at the end of the hall, and she headed toward it. She felt a similar pull when Maggie was near, but the one to her mother was a little stronger.

Nurses rushed past her, heading for the same room. Curiously, she followed them.

The door was wide open, meaning she didn’t have to worry about the awkwardness of passing through a closed one. She approached them and found a woman on the floor, passed out.

A white veil covered the body, a white veil only visible to spirits. It signaled that the soul was in the process of leaving the flesh.

Darcy clamped her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming, not that anyone would hear her if she did.

Her mother was dying.

“Overdose,” a nurse said, picking up an empty pill bottle off the floor. “How did she get a hold of them?” She glared at another nurse who was crouched down next to her body. “It was your job to watch her tonight.”

“I was!” the other nurse said. “I don’t know how this could’ve happened. We were so careful.”

Darcy tuned the women out as the light started changing, moving. Darcy stepped closer to her mother.

“You’ve had a rough last seventeen years,” Darcy said. “But, you've got to hold on, please? It'll get better."

While her physical body remained unconscious, her mother’s spirit was beginning to emerge from her body. Darcy dropped to her knees beside her. Her mother’s spirit drifted just inches from above her body. She met Darcy’s gaze, leaving Darcy momentarily startled. For the first time, she knew her mother could see her.

“M-Maggie?”

If Darcy had a heart, she knew it would have just shattered. For thirteen years, she wanted to have a mother who knew she existed. Now that her mother could see her, she still forgot about the daughter she never knew.

"No, momma, your other daughter." There was no time for her to dwell on her own pain. Darcy knew if she acted quickly, she could prevent her mother from dying. “And sorry, but this is going to be a bit awkward.” Darcy grabbed the sides of her mother’s head, putting every ounce of mental strength she had into it. She watched as her mother’s spirit re-entered her body, but she didn’t remove her hands until the EMTs loaded her mother onto a stretcher.

As the EMT’s took her mother from the room, Darcy’s gaze fell onto a picture on her mother’s nightstand. It was of Maggie from a few years ago, a school picture with a purple background. Darcy’s hands clenched at her sides. It was always Maggie.

While Maggie was busy moving on with her life, everyone around her was paying the price. First, she had sent Topher away, and now their mother was trying to kill herself. Darcy had a feeling that she would be next, but she refused to let that happen.

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Maggie lay awake, staring at the ceiling of Diana’s bedroom. It was well past midnight, and after a few more failed attempts to make her wish come true, Diana suggested they call it a night and offered to help Maggie come up with a new plan later in the week. Maggie had reluctantly agreed, but she didn’t think any plan would bring Topher back to her.

While Diana was fast asleep in her bed, Maggie lay on a cot near the bay window. The night sky seemed to be almost mocking her now, as if to say there wasn’t a single star in the sky that would bring Topher back to her. She wanted to sleep, but the fear of never seeing Topher again kept her awake.

What would happen, she thought, if she never saw Topher again? Was she doomed to spend the rest of her life dwelling on regret, or, over time, would she forget about the fight, or even forget that he ever existed? Maggie clutched the blanket as tight as she could. There was no way she would ever let herself forget about Topher.

“If you can’t come to me, then someday maybe I can come to you . . . .” Maggie’s eyelids felt heavier as she finally allowed herself to succumb to sleep.

 _______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Maggie was awakened far too soon by the sound of Diana’s alarm. Groaning, Maggie pulled the blanket over her head, hoping she could turn invisible, but Diana soon pulled back the blanket.

“Time to get up,” she said. “I’m exhausted, too. Maybe some coffee will be good for both of us.”

Maggie shook her head. “If I was at home, I’d probably ditch school today.”

Diana frowned. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure something out about your situation. Just don’t give up.”

Maggie stared at the ground. “What if the reason he’s not here is because he doesn’t want to be? Could it be that all of the wishing was for nothing because he has no desire to come back to me?”

“Don’t think like that,” Diana said. “If he’s half a good a friend as you say he is, I think he would come back if he could.”

Maggie tried to believe her, but as she got ready for school, the last of her hope continued to dwindle. She didn’t want to believe that Topher was refusing to come back to her, but each passing moment without him only further increased her fears.

After the girls had gotten ready, Diana drove them to school. Diana, being six months older than Maggie, had her license already. Maggie figured it was only a matter of time before Lani forced her to get one as well, but Lani had to first get her own license unsuspended before Maggie could even so much as get a permit.

The ride to school was mostly quiet as Maggie attempted to calm her own fears and despair over last night’s failed attempt to reach Topher, but as they got closer to school, a new feeling of dread hit her. Soon, she would have other friends, specifically Lewis and Rydelle, to deal with. She felt comfortable enough to tell Diana everything, but she didn’t trust Rydelle or Lewis nearly as much. She had to put on a façade for them, but she wasn’t sure if she had the energy to do so now.

Once they arrived at school, Maggie and Diana parted ways. As Maggie walked through the crowded hallway to her locker, she found Lewis already standing in front of it. Biting her lip, she walked closer to him. When he saw her, he smiled.

“For a minute, I was worried Lani had forgotten to pay your cell bill,” he said. “I tried calling you last night but your phone went straight to voicemail.”

“Oh.” Maggie rubbed the back of her neck as she stared at the ground. “That’s because I had turned it off. I was just trying to focus my complete attention on my studies. Sorry about that.”

“No worries. But I was just wondering if you were free to go out again tonight?”

Maggie met his gaze as guilt flared up again. “I’m sorry, but I just don’t think dating is such a good idea for me right now. There’s a lot going on right now, and I’m afraid I’m going to fall behind in my classes. But, if you’re still interested, could we maybe try again next semester when I shouldn’t be so behind?”

His smile fell, and Maggie could feel disappointment radiating from him. However, it seemed to fade as quickly as it appeared. Much to her surprise, he smiled again, although this time not as wide. “That’s okay. When you’re ready, you’ll know where to find me.”

Maggie forced a small smile. “Thank you, and I hope you still want to be friends. I could really use some right now.”

He nodded. “Of course. Don’t worry about it.”

As Lewis started walking away, the guilt dissipated as Maggie breathed a sigh of relief. Letting Lewis down was something that she dreaded, and she was glad that it went over better than she thought it would. Then again, they had technically only been on one and a half dates, she thought. It was better that she disappoint him a little bit now than to string him along for several months.

As Maggie started to walk into homeroom, her teacher, Mrs. Hykes, was in the process of hanging up the classroom phone. She approached Maggie with a neutral expression. "Maggie, your aunt Leilani just called the school. I was asked to relay the message that she's coming to get you, so you should wait for her in the office."

"What's going on?"

"I don't know. That's all she said."

Maggie left the room and headed for the office as she tried to figure out why Lani was coming to get her already. Was Lani just bored and needed a day-drinking partner, or was it something serious? As many male friends as Maggie figured Lani had, she knew the former would probably not be the reason, which left her to ponder over the latter.

Maggie’s heart lurched. Her mother. Had something happened to her?

 _______________________________________________________________________________________________________

When Lani picked Maggie up, she didn't say much. Maggie wanted to know what the problem was, but she was too afraid to ask. When they got home, Lani took out a bottle of whiskey and poured it into two shot glasses, passing one across the kitchen table to Maggie.

Maggie frowned. Was this how Lani dealt with bad news?

They both took a seat across from each other. Before saying anything, Lani downed her glass.

"What's going on?" Maggie's voice came out almost like a squeak.

Lani finally looked at her as she poured herself another shot. "Your mother overdosed sometime during the night."

Maggie's heart wrenched. "No . . . she's not . . . is she?"

Lani shook her head. "They say she'll be fine. They pumped her stomach and now have her under twenty-four hour observation."

"Can I call her?"

Lani shook her head. "Now's not a good time. She said she doesn't want to speak to anyone."

Maggie's shoulders slumped as she stared at the glass before her. "More like she doesn't want to talk to me."

Lani shook her head. "Don't take it too personally. Your mom's got a lot of issues."

Maggie shook her head, tears gathering in her eyes. "She talks to the nurses just fine, but she almost never talks to me. Do I look so much like him that she can't stand to see me?"

"Maggie." Lani took her hand. "Your mother loves you very much. Give her time to get straightened out."

A fresh wave of guilt overwhelmed her. The last email she had sent her mother had been over the weekend. Had her mother read it? Was her mother’s latest suicide attempt her fault?

Maggie’s arms wrapped around herself. “This is all my fault. I wish I was a better daughter.”

“She’s not gone, you know,” Lani said. “You still have time to fix what needs fixing, but it’s not all on you. She needs to sort out her own problems, too.”

Maggie’s hand shook as she grasped the glass in front of her. Tears stung her eyes. Her mother had had years to sort out her problems, but Maggie needed her mother now.