Mal woke up suddenly, shooting up from a dead sleep. She heard something. She immediately glanced over and saw her daughter, safe in Evie's arms. Mal's heart ached for a moment at the could-have-been. Her mind immediately turned back to the panic. She very carefully got out of the bed and crept to the door, making sure to not wake the sleeping girls. Mal walked through the apartment, looking around, her eyes glowing green. She strained her ears to listen, trying to place the noise that woke her up. Nothing caught her eye. Nothing was out of place. She opened the front door and peered out but nothing was there.
"Mal?" Evie asked sleepily.
Mal jumped and turned around, facing the blue haired woman.
"Fuck, E!" Mal yelled, her heart racing. "I mean, Evie." Mal caught herself, her eyes glowing a brighter green.
"Are you okay?" Evie asked, "Hey, calm down. Your eyes." She walked over to the woman and pulled her into a hug. "It's okay. Calm down."
Mal let herself relax in Evie's arms, calming her breathing until the feeling in her face cooled down. "Thanks."
"No problem. We can't have you turning into a dragon in here. You won't fit." Evie smiled, trying to get Mal to smile too.
"I'm okay," Mal told her, letting her go and walking into the kitchen for some water.
"What woke you up?" Evie asked, sitting down at the table.
"I heard something but I don't know what it was." Mal took a sip of her water bottle and offered it to Evie, who gladly accepted it and took a sip.
"Come on," Evie gestured, "lets get you back to bed. You have work in a couple hours."
Mal nodded and let Evie lead her into her room. She was just glad her heart rate had returned to normal.
"I'll go sleep in Macie's room. Sweet dreams," Evie told her, turning around to leave.
"Evil dreams," Mal said back to her, causing both girls to laugh at the memory. "Thanks."
"Night," Evie said before shutting the door.
"Hello?" Mal said into her cell phone as she tried to balance an ipad and medications in her hands.
"Hey, Mal, it's Melody." Macie's teacher said.
"Oh hey, what's up?" Mal cradled the phone in her neck and put the medications in her pocket so she could pull up a patient chart on the ipad.
"I'm really sorry but Macie is throwing up, she has to be sent home."
"Crap," Mal said, setting the ipad down and rubbing her temples. "Okay, I'll figure it out. Thanks."
Mal hung up the phone and immediately called Chloe. "Hey, is there anyway you can pick up Macie and watch her for a few hours? She's sick but the ER is insane. They aren't going to let me leave."
"I can't," Chloe said through the phone. I'm sorry. I have a meeting I can't get out of. I'm sorry, Mal."
Mal sighed, "It's okay, thanks." She hung up the phone and looked over at Sofia. "Macie is sick."
"They are never going to let you leave." Sofia told her, heading off to a patient room.
Mal looked around at the ER. It was completely packed. There was no way. Mal pulled out her phone and scanned through her list of contacts. The other few people who took care of her kid were at work. Chloe was usually her day sitter when she needed it. Mal sighed. It was either lose her job or call the one person she didn't trust with her child. She hit the call button.
"Hello?" Evie answered.
"Hey Macie is sick and no one can get her. Can you please go get her and take her home?" Mal asked, tightness in her voice.
"Seriously?" Evie asked, not even trying to cover the shock in her voice.
"I don't have anyone else and the ER is slammed." Mal said, desperately.
"Yeah, of course I will." Evie told her, getting up from the couch and throwing on a pair of shoes.
"Okay, I'll call the school and let them know you're on the way. The bus stop is right across the street from the daycare. When you get home, just get Macie changed and put her into bed. She should fall asleep fairly easily." Mal rambled on.
"I got it, Mal." Evie told her.
"Oh and put a trash can by the bed in case she gets sick. And a cold washcloth on her forehead." Mal continued, trying to open the chart she was supposed to be looking at while giving instructions.
"M, I got it okay? I took care of Dizzy when she was sick when she was younger. Macie will be fine. I'll call you once she is settled."
"Okay, thanks." Mal hung up the phone.
Evie grabbed the spare key and headed to the bus stop. She wished she had a car to pick Macie up but she had no idea how to drive. She made a mental note to learn.
Luckily it didn't take too long for Evie to arrive. She walked into Macie's classroom and saw the toddler laying down on a beanbag chair looking completely pitiful.
"Blue," she said weakly.
"Hi sweet girl," Evie knelt down beside her. "You ready to go home?"
Macie nodded and held out her arms so Evie could pick her up. She thanked the teacher and made her way back to the bus stop, Macie clinging on as tight as she could.
"Are you okay?" Evie asked while they waited for the bus, feeling her forehead for a fever.
"Tummy hurts," Macie replied before laying her head back on Evie's shoulder.
"I know, sweetie," Evie ran her fingers through the dark hair trying to comfort her. "We will be home soon."
"Mama," Macie said.
"She will be home as soon as she can be," Evie told her, the small voice breaking her heart.
Once they were home, Evie changed Macie into pajamas and tucked her into Mal's bed, placing a cold washcloth on her forehead. Evie laid down next to her and stroked her hair until she fell asleep, gripping Evie's T-shirt. She tried to pull away but every time she did, the toddler held her grip even tighter. Evie resolved herself to the fact that she wasn't getting up and snuggling down deeper into the bed, getting comfortable. She text Mal to let her know that Macie was sleeping and doing okay.
Evie was happy to have the distraction from her need for drugs but she felt so awful for the child.
What seemed like only minutes later, she heard Mal's voice, "Evie?"
Evie woke up from her nap. She didn't even realize she fell asleep and looked over at Macie, seeing that she was still fast asleep. "I'm sorry," Evie immediately said. "I didn't mean to fall asleep."
"It's okay," Mal told her, laying down on the other side of her daughter. "Thanks." Mal said quietly. She knew she had been making a big deal about how much she didn't trust her former friend. Evie could've easily thrown it in her face but she didn't.
"It was no problem," Evie told her, really hoping this was the beginning of a breakthrough for them. "I didn't mind at all." Evie sat up and stretched. "I'll leave you two alone." She smiled and walked out the door. She wanted to stay but knew that Mal would want some time alone.
Evie grabbed an old notebook and sat down to sketch. She figured it was as good a time as any to start designing again. If she was going to stop using, she needed something else to live for. Something else to distract her from her memories.
—
A knock on the door interrupted Evie's concentration. She put down her notebook and opened the door.
"Hey, Chloe," Evie told her. "Mal's in her room."
"Thanks," Chloe said walking through the door. "I just came to check on Macie."
Evie smiled a little. She was glad that Mal had another best friend but it still made Evie a little sad. "Last I checked, Macie was still sleeping but I don't know."
"I'll just go check on them," Chloe told her, heading in the direction of Mal's room.
Evie sighed and sat back down on the couch.
A few moments later both girls emerged, laughing at some joke between them. Evie felt a pang of jealousy.
"You guys can have the living room, I'll just be in Macie's room," Evie grabbed her notebook and walked out.
"Is she okay?" Chloe asked.
"I think so, I'm not sure. I haven't talked to her much today." Mal shrugged. She sat down on the couch and Chloe followed suit.
"How's it going with her? Having her here."
Mal took a moment to answer, "it's weird."
"Why?" Chloe asked.
"Evie and I used to be inseparable. We did everything together. She was my family," Mal started, "I'm not exaggerating either. We both came from really fucked up childhoods and we took care of each other."
"So what happened?" Chloe asked.
"Umm...some really bad stuff happened to her and she ended our friendship." Mal really didn't want to get into the details but she knew her friend and Chloe wouldn't let it go.
"That sucks. I'm sorry." Chloe told her. "Do you think you guys will get back to how you were?"
Mal sighed, "I don't really know."
Evie stood at the edge of the door, out of sight from the others. She had heard her name and got up to listen.
"Things with her and I are complicated." Mal continued.
"Why? It's not like you guys used to date. Friendships are able to be fixed." Chloe answered.
Mal sat for a moment, chewing on her lip. Would having someone to confide in really be such a bad thing? "There are other feelings making things complicated."
"Oh?" Chloe raised her eyebrow.
"Evie has feelings for me. She always has."
"And how do you feel about her?" Chloe asked.
Evie knew the answer but listened harder. She wanted to know what Mal would say.
"She's a drug addict, Chlo," Mal said quietly.
"Yeah so are you, Mal."
"Thank you. Can you tell me something I don't already know?" Mal snapped back.
"That shouldn't affect your feelings."
"I can't be with her. I can't even trust her around my kid. How am I suppose to trust her enough to date her?" Mal asked.
"She saved your ass with Macie today and you know it. You told me she was fast asleep with her when you got home. Clearly she is good with her." Chloe tried to reason.
"Yeah until she relapsed and brings drugs around my child. You and I both know it's coming. It's just a matter of when." Mal said, standing up.
Evie ducked back a little so Mal couldn't see her shadow. She knew she shouldn't be eavesdropping but they were talking about her.
"And you can cross that bridge when you get there. You can't use her drug addiction to justify why you can't be with someone if you love them. She's trying to get better."
"I know she is but Chloe you don't get it. She's the reason I started taking drugs in the first place. She abandoned me just like everyone else did." Mal walked over to the tank that housed her mom.
Evie felt a pang at the words. Every time Mal said them, it hurt.
"Do you love her?" Chloe asked again, walking over to join Mal.
Mal stared at her mom, watching the lizard climb around. "Yes." She said almost silently.
Evie cursed because she hadn't heard Mal's reply. She wanted to know if Mal's feelings were genuine or just want Evie wanted to hear.
"Exactly. You love her." Chloe said, making Evie smile.
"I can't be with her. 2 drug addicts can't be together. We can't raise a kid together. What if one of us relapses and brings the other one down? What if they take Macie from me?" Mal started panicking at the thought. She had never told anyone but when she gave birth, the doctors debating taking her child away for its safety.
"Hey, hey, calm down. Breathe," Chloe told Mal.
Mal's eyes started glowing once again.
"Woah, dragon girl. Calm down." Chloe told her, pulling her into a hug.
Evie couldn't stand by while Mal was panicking. She walked into the living room and grabbed Mal's arm, "hey, calm down, M. Breathe." Mal let go of Chloe and collapsed into Evie's arms. "Shhhhhh, breathe." Evie stroked her hair, trying to calm her.
A few minutes passed before Mal calmed down and her eyes cooled off. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Evie told her, letting her go. "What happened?" She asked as if she hadn't heard the whole conversation.
"Oh, you know. I just...with Macie being sick and everything...I just panicked," Mal rambled and lied.
"Right," Evie said, glancing over at Chloe.
"I'm fine though. I'm going to go check on Macie," Mal said as she disappeared down the hall.
"What really happened?" Evie asked, glaring at Chloe.
"She just has a lot of feelings and fears right now. She will be okay." Chloe said, grabbing her jacket off the arm of the couch. "I should really get going."
"I'll let her know," Evie said, narrowing her eyes as she walked out the door.
Evie headed back to the bedrooms and relayed the message to Mal.
"You sure you're okay?" Evie asked again.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Mal lied, sitting next to Macie. "She's still out of it. I hate to wake her up but she needs some medicine."
"Do you need help?" Evie asked.
"No, I'm okay. You should shower and get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow." Mal told her, gently waking up Macie.
"Yeah, okay. Night." Evie said, waving a little as she walked out the door. She wasn't sure whether she felt happy at the conversation she overheard or upset.
"Night, Evie."
