Torn Apart

Once Scarlett pulled into the driveway of the home she lived in for half of her childhood, she put the car in park and took the keys out of the ignition. Scarlett insisted she drive home from the airport because the way her mother had been acting since she’d been in her presence made her nervous, and she wasn’t even sure how she got to the airport herself in the first place. Her mother’s rushed attitude and obvious anxiety was so unfamiliar to Scarlett and she felt bad for her mom. Her mother used to be so happy and outgoing and didn’t have a care in the world, but now Scarlett was starting to think that this heart attack ruined the rest of her life.

“So, what do you want to eat for dinner?” Scarlett asked her mom as she climbed out of the car and opened the trunk so she could retrieve her bags. Anne slid out of the car seat and joined her daughter at the back of the car to gather a couple of light bags that wouldn’t be too hard for her to carry.

“I can whip something up,” Anne answered as she started towards the front door with Scarlett’s purse and the bag that contained her bathroom supplies.

“No, I can,” Scarlett said as she pulled all of her bags out of the trunk and shut it. As she walked up to the front door she locked the car. “You’ve had a couple of rough weeks. I can make you something.”

“I haven’t really been eating a whole lot,” Anne commented as she opened the front door and led her daughter inside. “I just haven’t really been hungry.”

Scarlett just nodded her head and followed her mom into the house, coming to the conclusion that she wouldn’t let her mom leave the table until her plate of food was gone. She didn’t fly all the way here to watch her mom get sicker and sicker, and she wasn’t going to let her mother starve herself because she “wasn’t hungry”. Scarlett was strong minded and she got that from her dad, and her mom was going to see it whenever she tried to argue with her daughter about what she was doing and when she was doing it, especially if it is bad for her health.

“How about some roast chicken and mashed potatoes and gravy?” Scarlett suggested as she started up the stairs towards her old bedroom so she could toss her bags in there.

“That’s okay,” Anne nodded as Scarlett watched her walk into the kitchen. Scarlett didn’t say anything as she continued up the stairs and down the hallway to the bedroom she used to sleep in every night before she decided to move to England.

Scarlett opened the door, and as she entered her room she looked around. The walls were still painted pale pink and her white curtains were pinned back so the sun could light up the room, and her pink and white bed set was made and it looked like no one had been in the room for years. Dust didn’t cover the dressers and bedside table like she expected and all of her old pictures of her and her friends were still on the shelves, taking Scarlett back to when she was younger and in high school.

She set her bags down next to her closet and sighed to herself. It was definitely weird to be back in her old room. There were so many memories here, from sleepovers with friends, to Scarlett and her mother painting the walls with pale pink and laughing as they made a mess on their clothes because neither of them were expert painters. Scarlett didn’t think it would be so odd to be back in this room after being gone for so long, but she was more or less excited to flop down on the bed and go to sleep tonight.

She pulled out her phone and turned it on to see if Zayn had tried to get in contact with her during her flight to Columbus. She thought about him the whole 14 hours she had been away from him and she was constantly wondering what he and the rest of the guys were doing. She missed him to pieces and she knew she was going to have a hell of a time not thinking about him or the things she wished she could do with him while she was away.

Making a mental note to call him after dinner, Scarlett left her bedroom and headed downstairs into the kitchen to see her mom setting out potatoes and frozen chicken breasts. Scarlett looked around at the dirty bowls and plates that were piled in the sink and she knew those weren’t just from today and yesterday. The leftover food on the dishes was hard and it was obvious her mom hadn’t washed any dishes lately. She put that task on her mental checklist to do before bed, before she walked over to her mom.

Scarlett shooed her away from the counter and told her to go sit down so she could get dinner ready. As Anne took a seat at the kitchen table, she looked up at her daughter. “So, tell me about everything that you’ve been doing in England.”

“I’ve been doing a lot,” Scarlett chuckled as she started to peel the potatoes and toss them into a pot. “It’s been an amazing three years, I’ll tell you that. Things have been great.”

“That’s good, honey,” she smiled as she fiddled with the placemat in front of her. “Are you still working with Zayn’s father?”

“Yeah, it’s a great job,” Scarlett answered. “It’s not too challenging and Mr. Malik is such a sweetheart. He promised me that I would still have my job if and when I go back.”

Anne nodded, looking down at the table. “Good, good.”

The two of them fell silent, the only sound being the peeler slicing off the potato skins. Scarlett was looking around the kitchen to see that everything was still the same. It was the same barnyard red color that she was never crazy about, the old stove still sat there, and her mother’s chicken time was still on the window sill. Things never changed when it came to Scarlett’s mom and her decorations; she did everything once, and she was done.

Three shot glasses lined up against the back of the counter caught Scarlett’s eye. Next to the shot glasses there was a green Tupperware container filled with pill bottles, and she knew they were for her mother. She hated how everyone had to take pills to feel better, it was sad to her. She hated medication and she knew she wasn’t going to like to see her mom downing 12 pills a day to make her feel better.

“So, how many pills are you needing to take each day?” Scarlett asked her mother curiously.

Anne shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t taken any of them yet.”

“Why?” she wondered slowly. “You’ve been home from the hospital for a few days, mom. You’re supposed to be taking pills, I assume.”

“Everything is just stressful,” she commented. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Scarlett rolled her eyes making another mental note to call Dr. Hastings, Anne’s doctor. She needed to make sure her mother was doing everything she was supposed to, even though she wasn’t all about babying her. But if she had to do it, she had to. If her mom wasn’t going to take the necessary precautions and do what she was supposed to to feel better, Scarlett knew it was going to be a long and stressful road for the both of them.

+

Zayn’s eyes flew open to the sound of his phone going off on the nightstand next to the bed. He quickly wiped the sleep from his eyes and grabbed his phone to see Scarlett’s name flashing across the screen. He felt himself smile as he answered. “Hi, love.”

“Hi, Zayn,” he heard Scarlett say into the phone. “I’m sorry to wake you.”

“I’m just happy you’re calling,” Zayn said as he glanced at the clock to see that it was nearing three in the morning, meaning it was around ten at night in Columbus. “I miss you so much.”

“I miss you too,” Scarlett sighed. “My mom is in terrible shape. She isn’t doing what she is supposed to, and she’s so much different than she was before the heart attack.”

“Why do you say that, love?” he wondered as ran his hand through his hair, wishing Scarlett was lying next to him in bed. He missed feeling her there and listening to her breathe while she slept.

“She’s…distant, kind of. She doesn’t want to eat, she wants to sleep a lot; she’s been asleep since 7:30. She isn’t taking her pills and I had to call her doctor to find out when she needs to take them and what they’re all for because she doesn’t think she has to take them, but she’s afraid of having a heart attack again,” she explained. “I don’t know how I’m going to be able to do this.”

As much as Zayn wanted to tell her that she didn’t have to do it and she could come back home to him, he knew he couldn’t tell her that. He sighed. “You’ll do just fine, babe. I know you can do it. You take great care of me, and you’ll do the same for your mum. Just be patient with her.”

“Thank you,” Scarlett said, her voice cracking slightly as if she was going to cry. “Well, I just wanted you to know I got here. You need to sleep. I’ll find some time to call you tomorrow. Goodnight, Zayn. I love you.”

“Goodnight, Scar. I love you too. So much.” Zayn said quietly, before pulling his phone away from his ear and pushing the ‘END’ button. He tossed his phone back onto his nightstand before turning on his side and laying there, his teary eyes wide open and his heart heavy.