Page 87 of Saving Me
“Hi, Mom.” Lyla’s voice filters softly through the air.
You can tell she’s a beautiful woman like her daughter. They look so much alike that I’m taken aback. She has the same big caramel eyes with long lashes, but as she stares at Lyla, I notice how vacant they are. There’s no life to them. A deep sadness seeps into your bones when you gaze into them.
“I want you to meet someone. This is Jake,” she says, taking my hand. “He’s very special to me, and I wanted you to meet him. You will love him, Mom. He reminds me so much of Dad,” she says with a small smile. “He has the biggest heart and treats me just how I know Dad would have wanted me to be treated.”
Her mom turns to me, and for a brief second, I see something flash…something real. It’s gone in the next blink, replaced with the emptiness that has taken over.
“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Pierce. Lyla has told me so much about you. You have an amazing daughter here,” I smile but get nothing back.
I hear Lyla sigh, and I squeeze her hand. The nurse comes in and hands her mom a cup full of pills. She takes them without question and stares back out the window once the nurse leaves.
The view is of the parking lot, and I frown. I’m feeling depressed just looking at it, so I can’t imagine how she feels staring at it endlessly day after day…if she’s even focused on it.
“Where’s Tim?” I whip my head to the sound of her mom’s voice. Lyla’s eyes widen before she looks over at me.
“I’m…I’m no longer with Tim.”
“Good,” she says, keeping her eyes on the window. “I didn’t like his eyes.”
Lyla grips my hand tight and leans forward. “How? I never brought him with me, Mom. You never met him.”
“You can’t trust eyes like that. He has a dark side.” She ignores Lyla’s question as I get up and kneel in front of her.
“Mrs. Pierce. Did Tim come to see you?” I block her view, hoping she will focus on me. Her light brown eyes blink before meeting mine.
“He would come to talk to my nurse a lot at the other place. Wanted to make sure I was taking my meds.” She seems to be studying me, but I can’t tell from the blank stare she’s giving me. “You do remind me of Sean. He had nice eyes, too.” Recognition of a memory flashes across her features, and I get a glimpse of the woman trapped inside before it disappears again.
“Mom, why didn’t you tell me Tim came to see you?” Lyla takes her hand as I stand up, trying to put the pieces together. I walk over to the window as my thoughts race.
“Mom?” Lyla asks again but gets no answer. I glance back and see she is more gone than when we arrived.
“I’m tired,” her mom says, making it clear our conversation is over. Lyla walks with her to her bed and covers her with a blanket.
“I’ll be back soon, Mom. I love you,” she whispers, kissing her forehead gently. She brushes back the tears when she doesn’t get a response. I feel a deep ache in my chest as I watch a daughter wanting so desperately to have her mom back.
We say our goodbyes and leave the room quietly, her mom’s eyes already beginning to close.
She’s silent as I help her into the truck and head out of town.
“Do you know what meds they have your mom on?” She stops looking out the window to look at me.
“I’m not sure..why?”
“I’m just wondering why Tim would come by to talk to hernurse and ask about her medication. Something is not sitting right with me. Did he pick the place, or did you?”
“He did. He took care of all the paperwork and financial part. He told me he had heard good things about the place and that she would be taken really good care of. What are you thinking?” She studies my reaction as I focus back on the road.
“I don’t know yet. It’s just this gut feeling that something isn’t right. When I was talking to her, I swear I saw the real her for a second…like a glimmer of who she was before. Then she took all those pills the nurse gave her, and she got more vacant the longer we sat there.”
“The doctors at the first facility said it would be normal for her to come in and out of it. They diagnosed her with severe depression along with a dissociation disorder of some kind. When someone goes through something traumatic, it can trigger an emotional numbness where they shut themselves off from the outside world because the pain is too much. I guess losing my dad was just too much for her.”
“When you had her moved to this new place, did they go over her medical records with you or change any of her medications?”
She furrows her brow in concentration. “I had copies made of her medical records, and as far as I know, her meds haven’t changed.”
“I’m probably just overthinking everything.” I turn to smile at her. “She’s very pretty,” I say, wanting to lighten the mood and take away the worry on her face that I caused. “You both look a lot alike.”
“She is,” she smiles. “Dad always used to call me her little mini-me, and she always called me her beautiful Lyla Rose. She loved her rose bushes so much that she named me after them.Lyla Rose Pierce.” A sad look briefly crosses her face, and I squeeze her hand.
