I Have but Two Faces

Sunday finally arrived and I was apprehensive as we walked through the hospital's front doors. I was excited to see my mom, but after everything that has happened i wondered: would I still recognize her? My eyes shifted to my dad as he limped down the corridor and my anxiety grew. He had changed quite a bit since we last saw him. He had lost weight, his hair had lightened at the temples, his face was sunken a little in the cheeks and eyes, and all together his demeanor was different. He was definitely not the dad that I grew up with. I knew he'd change since the ordeal with mom, but it still shakes me up inside thinking about it. If he'd changed so much, wouldn't it only be natural for mom to change too?
As we neared her door I slowed down, while my dad and brother walked right in to see her. "You alright, lassie?" Uncle Aidan walked up beside me.
I bit my lip and replied, "Kinda, it's just... my dad's changed so much, what if my mom has too? I've talked to her, but talking and see her are two different things."
"You've been through a lot, I know. But you won't know until you see her. I think you'll find that she's changed the least out of everyone." He gave me a little shove and we walked in together.
"Sonya." My mother smiled widely. He eyes crinkled at the sides and she held her hand out.
I took it and smiled back, "Hi, mom. How are you?"
She pulled me into the tightest hug her frail body could manage and replied, "Great, now that everyone is here. You don't know how boring a hospital can be. How are you?"
I breathed in her scent and then replied, "A lot better. Sorry we couldn't come to see you sooner." I pulled out of the hug and sat next to Zane on the bed.
"Zane said the same thing." She laughed. Oh how I missed her laugh. "Don't worry about it." She looked at us hard for a moment and said, "You two have grown so much... What year are you?" Zane and I looked unsure for a moment of what to say. "I'm sorry, some of my memories are a bit fuzzy. They say its a mix between the accident and being in the coma for a month. They said it should become clearer as time passes."
"We're seniors in high school." Zane answered
"We'll be graduating in a few months" I smiled.
"Wow, you've grown up so much. And your birthdays are coming up soon, right?" She was second guessing her knowledge; unsure if she was getting confused.
"Yep, in a few weeks we'll be 18." -Zane
"Really?" Uncle Aidan asked shocked.
"February 28th." -Me
"I didn't know that!" -Uncle
"With everything I almost forgot." I laughed.
"Me too, it wasn't until a few days ago that I remembered." -Zane
"What happened a few days ago?" -Mom
"We got interviewed at work." -Zane
Mom got thinking a moment and asked, "Which work?"
My voiced lowered as I replied, "The modeling one."
"The one you started freshman year?" -Mom
"Yes." -Zane
"Wait you model?" -Uncle
"Yep, for a local magazine." -Me
"Brendan, you never told me that." -Uncle
"It never came up and I was kinda preoccupied." My uncle just shook his head.
"We can show you one of the magazines when we get home." -Me
"Actually I have this months with me now." -Zane
"You do?" All of us together
"Yes. You never take them out of the truck unless you clean it out." He directed the last part to me.
"Touche." -Me
"I'll be right back." Zane left to get the magazine and we continued talking a little. I asked dad and uncle how Ireland was. Dad replied that he liked what he saw, which wasn't much. Not long after Zane returned with this month's issue. He handed it to Uncle Aidan. "On the cover is our friend Tristan and the other models are Mist and Sky."
"It's a gothic/punk magazine, though mostly gothic." -Me.
"Where are you two?" -Uncle
Zane took the magazine back and flipped through it to the valentine section and pointed us out. "That's me." He had on skinny plaid pants that had zippers and straps, red Vans, White t-shirt that had a plaid heart and safety pins through it, and an open black sweatshirt that had red and black striped sleeves. In the picture he was leaning over to hand a girl in red plaid dress a pink rose and held a heart shaped balloon behind his back. She was facing him with a surprised look on her face. "And this, awkwardly enough is Sonya." He then pointed to me. I was dressed in a wine red dress shirt with my sleeves rolled up to my elbows, black pants with red pinstripe, Demonia boots, and a few silver necklaces. I was leaning over a girl and handing her a black rose. I had a black trench coat slung over my back and I grinned, as Trina would have put it, seductively.
"Wait, why is Sonya dressed as a guy?" -Uncle
"Well, that's the funny part." -Zane
"I got the gig as a guy. Everyone, but a select few thing Azrael Night is a dude." -Me
"Why would you do that?" -Uncle
"Only way to get the job." I shrugged. "But it works because I like the male clothing better. I'm not much of a skirt and dress person."
"If you say so." Uncle Aidan was still confused to why I'd agree to it, but I wasn't going to go into detail that our family really needed the money the job provided. So I left it at me taking it and uncaring that I had to hide my gender; not that I really cared in the first place.
We spent the rest of the day talking with mom. She had lapses in her memory which would take some getting use to. It seemed that the more recent the memory was, the harder for her to fully remember it. On top of having memory issues, she also needed a lot of physical therapy. As we listened to the doctor give us a run down of what to expect for recovery, I started dreading months to come; money was once again going to be short.