Family Is Everything Waterloo Road

Chapter 50:

As silence began to fall over the house, Taliah listened as she heard the final creak of Mrs Budgen's door close and knew that everyone would be heading off to sleep; everyone but Taliah. Sleep was the last things on her mind despite being massively tired. She couldn't believe her Gran had died. It felt as though her family was slipping away from her one by one and nothing she tried to do could stop it. She knew she was going to miss her Gran even though she was no longer suffering but, what made it harder to deal with was that she had nothing to remember her by. Most people say that memories help them through but all Taliah wanted was something that belonged to her Gran; something that smelt of her to remind Taliah of her, but Finian had denied her this chance, all because she had originally wanted to say no.

As Taliah thought about what Finian had done and how she would never see her Gran anymore, Taliah burst into tears. No matter how hard she tried to keep them back it didn't work as they just kept flowing down her face. Taliah got up off her bed and started rummaging around in her room for some tissues which she eventually found after opening and closing several drawers and cupboards in the process.

Making her way back to her bed, Taliah heard a quiet tapping sound on her bedroom and saw it slowly opening and saw Scout making her way into the room. She slowly walked over to the bed where Taliah was laid sobbing into her pillow as she wasn't sure if she had seen her make her way in.

"Taliah, are you okay?" Scout asked quietly even though she knew she wasn't. She sat gently on the side of her bed and watched as Taliah slowly sat up and looked at Scout who put her arm around her to comfort her. The duo sat like that for a while whilst Taliah cried into Scout's shoulder as Scout knew how important it was to let tears go rather than to hold them back. She herself had learnt this after her Mum had died as she tried to keep them back but learnt that it was better to just let them out as they wouldn't go away otherwise. After a while, Taliah slowly started to calm down and managed to sit herself up and dry her eyes of slightly before looking at Scout.

"Do you want to talk about anything?" Scout asked quietly as she had no idea about what had happened at the hospital and wanted to be there for Taliah if she did want to talk about it as it is different from talking to teachers and close friends. Scout watched as Taliah shook her head before pulling her duvet cover closer to her.

"I...I'm too tired to talk about it." Taliah said quietly and Scout nodded her head to show that she understood. She reminded Taliah that she was just next door if she needed her if she changed her mind before giving her a reassuring hug and heading back to her own room.

Taliah watched as Scout shut the door, leaving Taliah alone and in silence. She had no idea what she was going to do. She had been lying in her bed for what seemed like ages and, despite being extremely tired, she still had not managed to fall asleep. Her mind was too alive with thoughts and emotions and all she wanted was for it to switch off so that she could get sleep. The nap she had on the way back from the hospital had emphasised how tired she really was and how much in need of sleep she really was. However, several hours later after a lot of tossing and turning, Taliah finally managed to fall asleep.