Chapter 201

Chapter 201
KIERA

Angelo came down to breakfast looking tired. He'd visited his mother at the hospital yesterday and came back quiet, going straight to his room.

I quietly set a plate in front of him. He picked at his food without eating much.

"How was she?" I asked gently, breaking the silence.

"Same." He pushed eggs around his plate.

My heart ached for him. I'd visited Allegra three times a week since she'd been admitted, bringing her things, sitting with her, trying to help. But she was like a shadow of herself, barely responding and lost somewhere inside herself.

The doctor said she has lost her will to live hence she's not fighting for her life but we are doing everything to keep her alive and with us.

Luca walked in and squeezed Angelo's shoulder as he passed.

"She'll get better," Luca said. His voice reassuring.

That evening, the hospital called Luca that they're releasing Allegra next week.

His eyebrows rose. "That's good news."

I bit my lip. "Luca, she's not better. Every time I visit, she's worse. “She didn't even recognize me the last time I visited, I don't think she's ready."

"We'll be here to help her," Luca said firmly.

A week later, the medical transport brought Allegra home. I opened the door and even though I'd seen her just a few days ago, my heart still clenched at how she looked.

Angelo was already there, looking so excited as he raced towards her. He didn't go to school today because he wanted to be at home when she got home.

"Mom!" He threw his arms around her.

She hugged him back but her face was so vacant that it made my stomach twisted.
"Hi, sweetheart," she said in an indifferent tone.

"I'm so glad you're home." Angelo's eyes were wet. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too." She replied automatically.

Inside, she walked slowly up the stairs toward her room.

Angelo followed close behind, chattering nervously about school, about things he wanted to show her, trying to fill the silence.

She sat on her bed and looked around the room with strange eyes.

"Everything's different," she said quietly.

"We didn't change anything, Mom, it's exactly how you left it" Angelo said.

But her gaze showed no emotion as she touched the dresser as if she didn't recognize it.

I exchanged a worried glance with Angelo.

"Are you hungry? I can make you something." I asked with a worried frown etched on my forehead.

"Maybe later. I'm very tired."

She lay down and was asleep within minutes. Over the next few days, I realized Allegra barely left her room. She slept most of the time, and when she was awake, she sat by the window staring outside with empty eyes.

Angelo brought her meals, tried to get her to come downstairs, asked if she wanted to watch movies or take walks. She'd pat his hand and say "maybe tomorrow" but tomorrow never came.

One night, I woke to get a glass of water to drink and heard movement downstairs. I found Allegra in the kitchen, standing in front of the open refrigerator in her nightgown.

"Allegra?" I approached slowly. "What are you doing?"

She turned to me, confusion all over her face.

"I'm waiting for Erasmus. He said he'd meet me here. "Have you seen him?"

Her eyes were unfocused and my blood ran cold.

"Allegra, Erasmus passed away. Don't you remember?"

She blinked slowly and awareness crept back into her eyes.

"Oh. Yes." She looked down. "I must have been dreaming."

I guided her back to her room, my hands shaking. The next morning, I told Luca what happened.

"That's not normal grief," he said, his face tight with worry.

"I know. And it's worse than what I saw at the hospital. She's deteriorating fast."

"Give her a few more days. Watch her closely."

But things got worse. I started noticing pill bottles in her room. At first just the ones prescribed by her doctors, but then others appeared. Bottles with different names, different pharmacies. I found them hidden in drawers, under the mattress, in her closet.

One afternoon, I knocked on her door to bring lunch and found her taking pills from three different bottles.

"Allegra, what are you doing?" I asked, I couldn't keep the fear out of my voice as I walked towards her.

She looked up, startled. "Just my medication."

"That's more than your prescribed dose."

"You don't understand." Her voice turned sharp. "The pain is too much. I need them."

"What pain?"

"Everything hurts!" Tears filled her eyes. "Every second I'm awake, I feel like I'm dying. The pills make it stop."

I sat beside her. "These pills won't help. They'll make everything worse."

"I don't care." She swallowed another handful. "Let me have this."

I told Luca and we started locking up all medications, counting every pill. But Allegra was clever. She called pharmacies and got new prescriptions. She saw different doctors. The bottles kept appearing.

Angelo didn't know. He just saw his mother fading, becoming a ghost in her own body, and he couldn't understand why.

One night, I heard him outside her door.

"Mom? I made dinner. Your favorite."

Silence.

"Please come out. Just for a little while?"

"I'm too tired, baby. Maybe tomorrow."

Angelo stood there, the plate in his hands, he blinked severally and his jaw tightened. He set the food down and walked away. I wanted to go to him but he locked himself in his room before I could.

That night changed everything. At two in the morning, Angelo started screaming.

"Kiera! Luca! Help!"

We ran to Allegra's room and my heart stopped. She was on the bathroom floor, empty pill bottles everywhere. At least a dozen. Luca checked her pulse.

"She's breathing but barely."

I called the ambulance while Angelo stood frozen in the doorway, staring at his mother's still body.

"Is she dead?" His voice was small and terrified.

"No," I said, even though I wasn't sure. "She's going to be okay."

At the hospital, they pumped her stomach. Angelo sat in the waiting room, his whole body shaking. Emilio arrived and pulled him close, but Angelo didn't cry. He just stared at nothing.

Hours later, a doctor came out.

"She's stable. But this was a suicide attempt. She took enough to kill herself three times over."

Angelo made a choking sound and Emilio held him tighter.

We were allowed to see her after she woke up. She looked at Angelo with glassy eyes.

"What happened?" she asked.

"You took too many pills, Mom."

"Oh." She seemed confused. "I don't remember."

Angelo held her hand and whispered, "Please don't do that again."

But she didn't respond, already drifting back to sleep.

That night, Angelo finally fell asleep in the chair beside her bed. Luca and I stepped into the hallway.

"We need to talk," I said quietly.

We walked to an empty waiting room. I looked at him and tears burned in my eyes.

"She's not getting better. She's getting worse. She's drowning in pills and grief."

"What are you suggesting?" Don Luca asked, staring at me.

I took a breath. "A facility. A real rehab center. She needs more help than we can give."

Luca was quiet for a long time. "Angelo just got her back."

"If we don't do this, he'll lose her forever. She'll succeed next time." I grabbed his hands. "This is the only way to save her life."

He closed his eyes. "You're right. I'll make arrangements tomorrow."

Neither of us saw Angelo standing in the doorway behind us, awake and listening to every word.