Page 54 of The Wrong Side Of Us

Evelyn

The way life works, you never expect the blows until you receive them.

I glanced down at my phone with blurry eyes. Wiping away my tears, I stood up and began pacing. My overwhelmed mind could barely make sense of what happened.

What do I do?

The door burst open as Carter walked inside, pulling me into his arms immediately. Another sob broke free, and I cried into his arms.

It was already dark, and Nathan still wasn’t home, but I couldn’t think to call him, not right now. My mom was in the hospital for getting into an altercation with the wrong person in prison; the blows to her head had been too severe, and they weren’t sure she would make it.

“She will be just fine, Evie,” Carter whispered, holding me close to him. My eyes squeezed shut as I held onto him, the same feeling I had with Nana now making it hard for me to breathe.

She hadn’t been the best mother. Hell, she hadn’t been a mother at all, but she was still my mom.

She still gave me life.

“They should be calling me in a few hours.” I hiccupped, wiping away my tears. “Maybe she’ll be okay? Maybe it’s not too bad and she’s going to be fine, right?”

She’s not. You know that.

“Darling, you need to be prepared,” Carter said, cupping my face in his hands. I let out a shaky breath and nodded. I knew he was right. “For now, you need to calm down and take a deep breath, okay?”

You’ll never get a chance to ask her why she never cared.

You’ll never get a chance to know if she had even a bit of love for you.

“Did they tell you what happened?”

Carter guided me over to the sofa, holding me as if he was terrified that I would fall. Thankful, I closed my eyes and leaned my head on his shoulder, sobbing softly. “She initiated everything,” I answered. “She got into an argument with the wrong person, and it ended up with her unconscious. I don’t know why she would do that. But apparently, the woman already had it out for her because my mom kept being a pain in the ass.”

It didn’t surprise me. Hannah got her belief that she was better than everyone from Mom, and now she was paying the consequences. I swallowed, squeezing Carter’s hand. “I can’t go through this again,” I whispered

I still needed answers.

Circumstances that needed closure.

“Your mom made a lot of mistakes,” Carter murmured, pressing a kiss at the top of my head. “But those mistakes have made you stronger, the bright and kind young woman that you are today. I know that the last thing you wanted is for something to happen to your mom, but there’s nothing you can do, darling. Be strong, be there for her. That’s it.”

Part of me wondered how I could be there for someone that had never been there for me.

“You’re a lot like your grandmother.” I looked up at Carter, whose eyes were crinkling with a small smile. My heart beat quicker than ever at his statement. “You have a heart of gold, Evelyn. You have to stay strong to raise that little baby inside of you to be a courageous and humble human being like you are. When bad things happen, you can let them harden your heart or you can become wiser and try to improve the things that went wrong before you. Choose the latter, Evie, like you always have.”

Carter held me there for a while, not saying anything anymore. There really was nothing else to say.

As I started dozing off, I heard Nathan walking inside. I sat up, meeting his gaze, which flew from Carter to me for a few seconds.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“It’s my mom. Can you tell him?” I asked Carter, standing up. “I need to go to bed.”

I didn’t wait for a reply and walked away, over to the balcony of my room. Even the city lights seemed to dim, just like my hope.

My mom was really dying.

There would never be any chance for me to reconcile with her.

I didn’t know how much time I spent out in the balcony by myself, the place where I usually found comfort, until I felt Nathan’s presence.

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