Sorry for the delay! I had to figure out where The Campbells were headed next in this story. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 4: When the Lights Fade Out

It was a crisp December morning when Joan woke up to find the spot beside her in the bed cold. Before she could contemplate where Arthur was, a wave of nausea overcame her and the next thing she knew she was kneeling in front of the toilet vomiting. Feeling awful and weak, Joan was sitting on the cold tile floor of the bathroom trying to will herself to get up and brush her teeth when her daughter burst into the bathroom calling out to her.

Seeing her mother on the floor by the toilet, Maia knew what was up. Flushing the toilet she tried to give her mother a reassuring smile, but Joan didn't see it; she was holding her head in her hands trying to stop the pounding headache inside. "Come on mom," Maia tried to encourage her mother, "You'll feel better after you brush your teeth. Promise."

Joan gave her daughter a weak smile then, and took Maia's outstretched hand. Heaving herself off the floor, Joan rinsed out her mouth and brushed her teeth - all under the watchful eye of her 14 year old daughter. Finishing up she whispered, "Mai - I really don't feel good. I think I need to go back to bed." Maia nodded, wondering whether her mother actually knew why she didn't feel good. Thinking it better not to confront her with the information right then Maia just agreed with her and walked her back to bed. Curling herself into the fetal position, Joan squeezed her eyes closed as she tried to squeeze out the pain she was in. What was happening to her, she wondered.

"Can I get you anything?" Maia asked her mother cautiously.

"No. Thanks," Joan told her - her voice muffled and weak sounding.

"Okay. I'm just going to sit here for a little while then," Maia said softly as she settled herself into the whiskey colored leather club chair in the corner of her parents' bedroom. The chair had been there all her life; it had survived all three redecorations of the room that her parents had undertaken. It was more worn now than when she'd been a little girl, but it still looked good and Maia thought the wear and tear just made it softer and more comfortable. Pulling a blanket over herself as she snuggled into the chair, and then turned the brightness down on her phone so that it wouldn't bother her mother while she tracked her father's flight back to DC. When she heard her mother's breathing slow, she knew she was asleep. Maia sighed then. It had been a long night. Maia knew she should be tired, and that she should take advantage of her mother sleeping to get some sleep herself. But she couldn't get her own mind to slow down enough.

Only two months ago everything seemed to be going so well, Maia thought. She'd been on her first date, and her mother had seemed to so excited for her. In fact, her mother had taken a half day at work that Friday and done a little shopping before Maia got home from school. When her mom greeted her at the door, Maia was surprised, and then she'd been thrilled when her mother had escorted her to the living room where she had a bunch of outfits laid out. "I couldn't help myself," Joan had said excitedly - as if she was the one going on the date, "I think any of these would be fabulous choices, but I didn't know if you wanted to go dressy, casual, or what, so I got you some options." Joan gestured to all the clothes she had laid out around the room as Maia's eyes grew wide with surprise and pleasure.

"Seriously mom?!" Maia had asked as she hugged her mother, "You're the best!"

"I try," was all Joan had said as she watched Maia think about what to choose for that evening. Maia decided that casual was the way to go since they were taking the metro, and planning to grab a quick dinner before going to a movie. After a lot of deliberation about what was best, she and Joan settled on a gorgeous cobalt blue top - the sleeves were all cobalt dyed lace that ended in banded cuffs of the same color just above her elbow. The rest of the shirt was a fitted cobalt blue tank overlaid with cobalt blue lace, with a neckline to match the cuffs. Paired with her dark wash J. Brand jeans, a black tipped but otherwise graphite gray schoolboy blazer, and tall black boots, both Joan and Maia thought she'd be ready for the weather while still looking cute, and be attractive without being too much. She'd topped off her look with tiny pearl studs, and a long silver chain necklace adorned with larger pearls and silver filigree balls.

The date itself had gone well. Maia had worried she might be awkward since she'd never done anything like it before, but conversation with Marc was just as easy over dinner as it was over lunch at school or math homework. Before they'd exited the metro at their final stop on, Marc had pulled her back from the escalator that would lead them out to her waiting parents. Quickly he'd placed a small, tender kiss on her lips. A little unsure of herself, Maia had kissed him back quickly before she stepped back to just smile at him shyly. "Thanks," she'd said as she blushed, "I had a really good time tonight."

His eyes radiated warmth as she smiled back at her, "Me too. Let's do it again," he told her.

She nodded at him as she told him she'd like that. Then he'd taken her hand and pulled her toward the escalator. "We better get up there before your parents worry and come down after us," he'd teased in a way that caused her to roll her eyes. Her parents were definitely right there waiting for them when Marc and Maia exited the station, and they definitely wanted to know if the two of them had a good time, but on the short drive back to their house and Marc's waiting car, they hadn't been too awkward. Maia and Marc had told them about the movie they'd seen, and Arthur and Joan had just asked questions about it. When they got back home, Arthur had tried to walk Marc to his car, but Joan took Arthur's hand and instead led him toward the house whispering to him, "You can spy from inside, but you have to let her have this moment."

The moment was sweet, some holding of hands, a hug, and a peck on the cheek from Marc. All in all, it made Arthur's blood pressure go up, but it wasn't all he'd feared the moment to be. And by the time Maia came through the front door, both of her parents were just milling about the kitchen while Joan made some tea. Maia knew they were not as innocent as they'd been acting, but she was pleased with how they'd handled the situation overall, so she just smiled at them, rolled her eyes, and excused herself.

As Maia thought about that night and all the nights that followed, she couldn't put her finger on exactly when or why everything had gone south, but trying to figure that out gave her something else to think about as she watched her mother sleep and waited for her father to get back Stateside. Things couldn't ever be perfect for everyone at the same time in this family, Maia thought to herself. Everything was going well for her at school, with her friends, and with Marc. Her relationship with parents seemed on track too. But her parents had been tense with each other for awhile now - a little distant even. Still, she knew that her parents were prone to arguments and that their work lives added extra tension to not just their lives, but also their relationship. From what Maia had seen all her life, however, she also knew that her parents eventually worked things out and seemed to grow stronger through these ugly phases. But then last night happened and everything spun out of control.

Before she'd gone out with Marc the night before, Maia had tried to talk to her mother - to just have some conversation, but her mother was distracted. Joan apologized to Maia and told her that she was really busy with work, and then she'd excused herself to the home office. Rationally Maia knew that her mother didn't mean to be dismissive; her mind was clearly on other things. But in the moment Maia had been irritated at her mother for pushing her away, and she'd wanted to blame her mother for pushing her father away too. Maia knew enoug from her own past experience confronting her mother that confrontation - especially when her mother was upset - was not a good idea. So instead Maia had sighed and rolled her eyes, and left the house frustrated.

By the time she returned home around 11:30 that evening, Maia felt bad about how she'd left things with her mother and had promised herself that she'd just try to be patient with where her mother was emotionally. Psyching herself up for an awkward interaction with her mother, Maia was surprised when she didn't find her mother lurking around the kitchen or living room waiting up for her. Even when she was distracted, Maia knew that Joan Campbell was still always interested in having all the information, and that meant making sure she knew when Maia came home and what she'd been up while she was gone. Maia also knew that her mother didn't sleep well when she and her dad were having relationship issues, and so it would extraordinarily unlikely for her mother to have gone to bed at or before 11:30. Knocking on her parents' bedroom door, she didn't get a response. Maia didn't hear anything coming from the bedroom, but she could see that the light was on. Thinking that perhaps her mother had actually gone to bed and t fallen asleep with the light on, Maia quietly opened the door a crack. From her vantage point there she could see that her mother wasn't in bed, and that the bed was still made up. A little worried, Maia had run around the house looking for her mother, only to return to her parents' bedroom. This time she looked beyond the bed, and that's when she saw blonde hair on the floor in the bathroom. Time stood still then in Maia's world. Screaming out to her mother, Maia had burst into the bathroom to find her mother's body crumpled on the floor. She shook her mother then as she cried and yelled at her to wake up. Her mother's eyes fluttered a little, but her body was limp. Tearing through her purse to find her phone, Maia started to dial 911. Then she saw the bottle of pills on the counter by the sink.