I'll Be There

I was woken up by a hand shaking my shoulder. I heard a faint noise in the background, like a fly that wouldn’t stop buzzing. I blinked several times before I made out a white sleeve rising from my shoulder. I suddenly jolted upright, causing Dj to stir and look around. “Mom…” I whispered. I already felt the tears forming and my throat burned. The buzzing noise registered louder as my senses awoke. Dj was suddenly holding my hand tightly, staring at me. Her eyes were closed, her hand was beside my head, and there appeared to be a slight smile on her face. The tears spilled over my eyes silently as I looked up at the doctor behind me. I swallowed, trying to stop my voice from cracking. “Please tell me she went peacefully” I whispered. He nodded. “You should go now.” He said quietly. I looked down, then lightly touched her hand. “Bye Mom.” I said, my voice finally faltering. I barely noticed Dj lead me out of the room as my life once again took a devastating turn. I had a mother, a God-given caring mother, who died for no reason as I slept. In my 19 years of life, my “parents” never told me about her. About me. I was suddenly very angry.
“Raven?” Dj said. He was quiet at first, then became serious. “Raven?” I broke free of his hand and flew down the hallway, shooting down stairs like a bat out of hell, grabbing my almost-dead cell phone from my pocket as I emerged from the front entrance to the hospital. The sun was just rising into the sky, the air was just beginning to become humid. I turned the screen on, intent on calling my good for nothing lying bastard “parents”, but something stopped me. I had texts and voicemails from everybody I know, people I never gave my number to. My friend in LA, Nikki, Kari, even Tommy and James. The DC guy from the club. There was a voicemail from Nikki, even one from Mick Mars, who didn’t know me and whom I hadn’t met. Kerri Kasem had gotten my number from Nikki. After reading a few I turned my phone off and let the tears fall freely. I sat on the curb and cried. Just a few seconds later Dj was at my side, lending me his silent strength as he held me. When I had cried for so long that the tears no longer came I looked up at him. “I wanna go home.” I said. He looked as though he was about to question me and stop himself, but this time he went ahead with it. “Are you sure? You were her only family that we know of.” I nodded. “I’m sure, I just want away from here.” He helped me up and we spent the whole day driving home, not even stopping to eat.