Chapter 9

"Where is that file?" Hayley muttered to herself as she frantically looked through stacks of paper in her home office. She continued rifling through the piles of research papers, before finally spying a blue file folder sitting on top of her printer. Thank God…she needed that file for work today. She could now continue getting ready, prodding the kids to get finish getting dressed, and hopefully they could have breakfast together for once. Mornings at their house tended to lean on the chaotic side. She could hear the kids fighting in the other room, and the radio playing loudly as Nate was showering in the bathroom upstairs.

Hayley rushed over to the kitchen. She had gotten up early and chopped up some vegetables and fruit. She looked at the ingredients thoughtfully. Things had gotten so negative between her and Nate lately, and she was so tired of the tension between them. Instead of trying some big gesture, perhaps doing small things for him would show that she cared would help melt the ice between them. She smiled as she cut the last of the strawberries. Hopefully making his favourite breakfast would be a step in a right direction to show him that she was trying. He loved a good western omelette. She put the cut up strawberries and bananas in the blender to make a smoothie. It would be nice to have the family sit down for a nice breakfast all together. She started sautéing the mushroom, onions and peppers in a pan with some butter.

Phoebe came running into the kitchen, followed by Daniel. "Mom! I hate Daniel! Tell him to stop bugging me!" she whined.

"I'm not bugging her! Now I'm bugging her." Daniel ran over and stomped on Phoebe's foot.

"Ouch! Quit it!" Phoebe hissed as she shoved Daniel knocking him to the floor. Daniel promptly started crying in the highest pitch he could register.

"Both of you, quit it! Phoebe go to your room now and finish getting ready. Daniel the same for you. I expect you both to be dressed, hair combed, teeth brushed, and backpacks ready to go. We are going to all have a nice breakfast together before you go off to day camp. Now be down here in ten minutes, and if I hear any more fighting between you two, you are both in BIG trouble. Now go."

Hayley rushed back to the stove and continued cooking her vegetables. Her phone buzzed with a text. She picked it up off the counter and glanced at it. It was from her mother.

Beverly: Hayley, can you please coordinate your wedding day outfit with Emily's wedding planner, as she is concerned you may pick on outfit that is gaudy, and she doesn't want the family photos ruined at the wedding.

Hayley clenched her phone. Stupid Emily…now she was working through her mother. This wedding couldn't be over soon enough. Her phone buzzed again. Mother again.

Beverly: Try not to wear blue or purple. It makes you look even more pale and washed out than you normally are.

Hayley threw her phone back down on the counter. "Thank-you mother" she muttered. She added the eggs to the omelette pan and it made a light sizzle. She threw the fruit and some milk into the blender to make the smoothie.

Nate walked into the kitchen. "What's all this racket?" he said while glancing at the stove and the blender.

Hayley smiled at Nate. "I thought it would be nice if we all had breakfast together before we went to work and the kids to day camp."

Nate shook his head. "This sounds like a classic plan for you to get all flustered in the morning." He walked over to the stove and peered into the pan. "What is that?"

"What do you mean what is that? It's an omelette. I know you love omelette's so I'm making you one" she said with a hopeful smile.

"It looks kind of strange" Nate sighed. "You didn't put onions in it did you? I don't want to go to work with onion breath." He made a face as he looked at the food.

"You can always brush your teeth after" Hayley said quietly. She poured him a smoothie. He sat down and the table with the eggs and smoothie. He quickly pulled out his phone and quickly became engrossed with it. He poked the eggs with his fork but did not take a bite. The kids came barrelling into the kitchen and sat down at the table.

"You missed meeting Penny the other day," Hayley said to Nate. "I didn't know what to expect of her, but she actually seems really down to earth. I think she'll be a good match for Leonard." Hayley said.

"Mmmm…." Nate replied still staring at his phone, clearly not listening.

"Mom, I'm not eating foods with the letter "e" in them this week. I can't eat this!" Phoebe exclaimed. "Eggs has one e. Strawberry Smoothie. That has two e's!"

"Oh my God Phoebe…I don't have time for this. Just eat what I've prepared" Hayley said exasperated.

"I'm going to eat a banana and a granola bar. See no e's!" Phoebe exclaimed happily. She turned to her dad. "Guess what, at day camp we are doing a play called Dreams for the Future. Daddy, what are your dreams for the future?"

Nate glanced up at Hayley and rolled his eyes. "I gave up on having any happy dreams years ago."

Hayley bit her lip and looked at Nate sadly as she felt her stomach churn. Why did he have to be so hateful all the time. She looked sadly at his untouched plate of food.

A loud honk from a car sounded from outside the house. "That must be Jenny's mom to pick us up. Bye Mom and Dad!" Phoebe said. Her and Daniel grabbed their backpacks and left the house. Nate stood up and walked over to his briefcase.

"Nate, you didn't eat anything." Hayley said. "I thought you would like it…it's your favourite."

"Not hungry. Listen, I've got to run. Don't wait up, I'll be home late." He walked over to the back door and opened it. "Oh Hayley?"

"Yes?" she replied quietly.

"Great job on this little breakfast fiasco. It went as well as I expected." He smirked and closed the door.

Hayley shakily sat down at the kitchen table and put her hands over her eyes. Hot salty tears started streaming out uncontrollably. There was nothing she could do to hold them back any longer. Why was everything so hard all the time? Why was it every time she tried to make this better with Nate, or at least show that she cared it backfired in her face. He always made her feel like such a failure. She was trying, she really was…but it all seemed for naught sometimes.

Hayley picked up her phone and opened her photo app. She scrolled back through hundreds of photos until she came upon one of Mitchell. He hated having his picture taken, so she didn't have too many pictures of him. She smiled as she gazed at his warm kind smile on her phone. He was the only person in her life that was kind to her. That believed in her. He was so smart, and interesting, and kind to everyone he crossed paths with. What would have life been like if Mitchell had loved her? If he had been her husband instead of Nate? He would never be cruel to her. He was the kindest man she knew. He would build her up and support her instead of constantly being torn down. She felt a tingling in her stomach that went all the way to her toes whenever she thought about him.

Hayley shook her head. What was the point in thinking like that. She was married. Mitchell was her colleague and friend. She doubted he ever had thoughts like that run through his head. Her phone buzzed again with a text message. Hayley opened the app, this time it was from Emily.

Emily: Hi Hayley. I hope you have a WONDERFUL day! Kisses. Em.

Hayley looked at her phone confused. What the hell was that about?

"Man Leonard, we have created quite the feast!" Penny exclaimed as she set a plate full of toast down on the table. Penny sat down. The kitchen table at the Hofstadter family home was filled with every breakfast dish they could come up with from raiding the fridge and pantry.

"What can I say…being back home has made me ferociously hungry" Leonard grinned. He filled Penny's mug full of coffee. "We've both been running around since we got here, and this is the first real alone time we've gotten. Mom's out all day, and we can do whatever we want today. You and Michael got home so late, and you were so tired. I never got to hear about your day out with him."

Penny took a big sip of coffee. "It was interesting. I got to know Michael a lot better. Sorry we got back so late, I can't believe the traffic here. We spent the majority of our time just not moving on the freeway. How was working on the presentation with Ainsley go? I take it by the fact that you are not heading over there today that you two got everything done?"

Leonard shifted his toast around on his plate. "Umm..Penny. Actually I wanted to talk to you about yesterday at Ainsley's. It was kind of strange."

Penny frowned. "Strange? How so?"

"Well, I mean….the presentation went well. We got it all pretty sorted out. But Ainsley was acting weird. Umm… towards me." Leonard said hesitantly.

Penny raised her eyebrow. "Weird how? Leonard what's going on?"

"Well, she kept making references to our past together. Aaah…intimate references. Then she implied that our relationship was unstable, and that we didn't have much in common. "

"What!" Penny exclaimed. "She doesn't even know me, or anything about our relationship! How can she say that?"

"That's exactly what I told her! I told her in no uncertain terms that I love you and only you, and whatever she was suggesting – "

"-Suggesting? What did she suggest?" Penny demanded.

"…well she mentioned that if she ever had a second chance, she would do everything in her power to make me blissfully happy." Leonard said quietly.

Penny threw down her napkin on the table. "That's it! She's in for an ass kicking. This whole presentation thing was farce. I knew something smelled fishy." Penny got up and started pacing around the kitchen. "She totally planned this whole thing from the beginning. From what we can see Emily is a total control freak about her wedding. Why would she have you and Ainsley throw together a presentation last minute that's going to be shown during the reception? An ex girlfriend you haven't spoken to in a decade! Why didn't she ask the two of us to work on it together? You know Emily would have every detail of her wedding worked out to the final detail months in advance. It was just a ploy to get you and Ainsley together. That bitch! Now why are Ainsley and Emily working together? What would Emily have to gain from any of this? They didn't really know each other before this whole wedding did they?"

Leonard cleared his throat. "Well, I don't think so. Ainsley was Hayley's friend, and my ex girlfriend but that was long before Emily ever entered the picture. I'm not sure how their paths must have crossed."

Penny continued pacing in the kitchen with her arms crossed. She snapped her fingers. "Hayley. Hayley is the only common factor between Ainsley and Emily. She must be involved in this scheme somehow."

"Hayley? Why would Hayley want me and Ainsley to get back together? That makes no sense. And her working together with Emily on it? That makes even less sense. You saw how much those two dislike each other."

Penny looked at Leonard thoughtfully. "Maybe it makes more sense than you might think. Ainsley is a good friend of Hayley's. She probably thinks you two make a good match. If you started dating her again, then you'd probably move back to the east coast. She mentioned to you the other day how much she wished you still lived out here. Then her brother is dating her friend, and is back close to her family. It makes perfect sense."

Leonard shook his head. "It was just such a long time ago Penny. I really can't believe that she would suddenly want me together with Ainsley out of the blue."

"Well…it was probably Ainsley pushing for this. Perhaps she was missing you and mentioned it to Hayley. It probably got her thinking" Penny mused.

"Wouldn't Ainsley try to contact me first? I honestly don't think Hayley would intentionally try to break up our relationship like that. It just doesn't seem like her. Also, Hayley convincing Emily to go along with her plan…I really don't see that happening." Leonard countered.

"Maybe she got Michael to help her convince Emily. Michael and Hayley seem close. I think you may not know Hayley as well as you think you know her. She's living a bit of a double life. You know how little Phoebe has been all upset and we haven't known why. Well I think Michael and I stumbled upon the real reason yesterday. She's in love with another man!"

"What!" Leonard exclaimed. "What are you talking about?"

"Michael and I popped in to see her at her office yesterday. She's completely in love with her co-worker. It's written all over her face. Little Phoebe is probably picking up on her parents marital problems, which is probably why she's so on edge."

"Hayley's cheating on Nate? Penny are you sure? Did you actually see anything that really confirms that?"

"Leonard, I know that look anywhere. She is totally in love with the guy. I don't know if they've acted on the feelings, all I know is that she's into the guy."

"Well, I'm not going to go in guns blazing and accuse my sister of all of this…cheating, aiding Ainsley in trying to break us up. I suggest we sit down and talk to her. Hayley and I have always been close. I know she'll be honest with me. This whole thing is unbelievable…" He trailed off.

Penny sat back down and picked up her piece of toast. "Well, I guess we have our plans sorted out for today then?"

Leonard sighed. "I guess we do."

Hayley walked out of the elevator doors and towards her office. Today was off to a bad start, and she had so much work to complete. She walked over to her office door and glanced door next to hers. That was strange. Mitchell's door was closed and the lights were off. He usually got in much earlier than she did. She walked in and sat down at her computer.

Her first email was from the department head informing her that the date for publication in the journal had been moved up, and they would need to submit their final paper to the committee by Wednesday next week. Next week! When was she going to find the time? The wedding was this weekend, and she would have no free time at all. She needed to talk to Mitchell right away about this. She grabbed her phone to call him but was interrupted by a knock at her door. It was the department head Gary Ma. He was standing there with a perplexed look on his face.

"Hayley what is going on? We are all thrown in a whirlwind with this news." he said tensely.

"What are you talking about? What news?" she asked.

"Mitchell. Surely you must now as you two work together."

Hayley could feel an uneasiness start to rise in her. What had happened to Mitchell? Was he ok?

"What about Mitchell?" she said panicked. "I'm in the dark here."

"He just sent me notice of an unscheduled leave of absence. I have no idea when he is going to be back to work. Did he tell you anything? What is going on? This is so unlike him." Gary exclaimed.

Hayley looked at him in shock. What was going on? She had just spent all afternoon working with Mitchell yesterday, and he never mentioned anything. Something must have happened to him last night. Perhaps with his family? She needed to find out right away.

"I have no idea. I'll try calling him and talking to him."

"Please do. Listen we need the paper submitted by early next week. The future of the grant money depends on it. Will you be able to complete it without Mitchell around?" Gary asked.

"I'll try" Hayley said faintly. She was staring at her cell phone sitting on her desk.

"You'll need to do more than just try. I'll leave you to it." Gary left her office.

Hayley grabbed her cell phone. She needed to call Mitchell right away to see what was wrong. Leave of absence? This sounded so serious, she hoped that he was ok. She went to his contact and hit dial.

I'm sorry this number is no longer in service. Please redial or try again.

What was going on? His number no longer worked? She texted him at this number all the time. It was so unlike him to not tell her if something major had happened to him. She could feel a wave of panic take over her body. Her hands started to shake, and she started to feel slightly dizzy.

"Oh God…please let him be ok" Hayley whispered. She looked at her desk and the panic started to increase. Mitchell was in the middle of writing a key section of their paper. She didn't even have a draft of his portion. All their work would go down the tube, if they lost their grant money because they didn't submit their paper. Her phone kept buzzing with notifications of new emails to her personal account. She quickly opened it to see if perhaps Mitchell had written her there. She quickly scanned the emails. Dammit they were all to do with the wedding and various dress fittings and hair appointments.

Her hands started trembling. She knew she was falling into a panic attack. The wedding, Nate, Mitchell missing, trying to finish the paper with no time…. She needed to get out of there. To get back to a place where she felt in control. She needed to go home. She grabbed her purse and headed towards the door. Her phone buzzed with a text. It was Leonard.

Leonard: Hayley, we need to talk. Where are you?

Hayley's fingers trembled as she typed.

Hayley: Heading home now.

Leonard: Ok, I will see you there in a bit. Heading in from NJ.

Hayley popped her phone in her purse and headed out the door.

Hayley walked in the door of her house and tossed her purse on the couch. She couldn't stop worrying about Mitchell. He was her best friend in the whole world. He would never just disappear without telling her what happened or why? It was so weird. Hayley felt overwhelmed by a feeling that something bad had happened to him. Tears filled her eyes. She didn't think she could handle it, if Mitchell was hurt. He was the most amazing person that she knew. He was so kind to everyone, he tried to help his friends whenever he could, he was brilliant and funny and sweet. She loved him. She knew she shouldn't, but she did.

"God please keep him safe" she whispered.

Her phone buzzed and she leapt across the couch to get it. She dumped the contents of her purse out and grabbed the phone. It was a text from Emily.

Emily: Has your "lover boy" gone missing Hayley? Tsk tsk tsk…

Hayley looked at the phone in shock. What was she talking about? Was she talking about Mitchell? She went to Emily's contact and hit dial.

"What are you talking about Emily?" Hayley said tensely.

Emily laughed. "Gigs up Hayley. I know all about you being in love with your dorky co-worker Mitchell. I wonder if Nate knows? More importantly dear Hayley…you know who DOES know…Mitchell."

Hayley gasped. Mitchell knew that she has feeling for him? How did Emily know this?

"I don't know what you are talking about, and why you are dragging my colleague Mitchell into this. If you are playing one of your stupid little games Emily, you better stop." Hayley hissed.

"Stop pretending Hayley. I found out about your deep pining for your tall skinny science boy. And I thought I'd do the "sisterly" thing by not stopping in the way of true love. So I helped you out and told Mitchell that you had feelings for him. Well I don't want to hurt your feelings but he did not react well. Turns out he's not interested. So not interested that he really doesn't want to see you anymore at all. Changed his number and everything. Well who could blame him. You are a psycho nutcase. Who would want that!" Emily laughed.

"You told him I loved him?" Hayley croaked.

"I did. Boy Hayley, you must really leave a bad impression for someone to leave their prestigious job and change their number…all to get away from you!"

"Oh my God…" Hayley whispered tears running down her face.

"Checkmate Hayley. Checkmate. The queen is dead, and her king has run away. There is a new queen in town, and don't you ever forget it. If you try to interfere in my life, all this will seem like child's play. You are to stay out of Michael and I's lives. Do we understand each other?"

Hayley hit end on her phone. It dropped from her hands and onto the floor. She tried to wipe the tears away from her eyes but her hands were shaking so badly. What had just happened? Mitchell was the only thing in her life that was good. She knew that probably he would never love her, but it felt so good to be around him. To be around someone that had such a good soul. And that he liked her, even if it was as a friend, meant so much to her. It meant that she must be ok too. That she was not the horrible person her mother and Nate always told her she was. But it was all gone. It was over is a flash. The thought of her being in love with him had sent him fleeing.

Was the idea of her liking him repulse him so bad that he had to get away from her? Was she that bad? To the point where he left his job and changed his number? Hayley started sobbing. It was all gone. The happy part of her day. His sweet smile. She had ruined it, simply by being herself. Nobody cared…nobody ever did. She was alone in this life she created for herself. He husband looked at her with hate. Her parents never showed her any love or affection. She loved her brothers, but she doubted they loved her the same in return. She was just alone. She was always alone.

"I don't want to do this anymore…" she sobbed to herself. "I've never wanted much. I just wanted someone to love me…" She walked upstairs, stumbling along. When she walked into her bedroom, she knocked over a glass vase that was on a table near the door. She looked as the carpet quickly absorbed the water. The flowers lay strewn along the floor. How long would it take before the flowers withered away without water to sustain them? How long has she existed without any love to sustain her?

She entered the bathroom and slumped against the wall. "Why am I never good enough? Why?" she whispered. There were no more tears.

Leonard parked their rental car outside Hayley's home. He turned to Penny. "Let's not go in full of accusations. We don't know the whole story, or if Hayley is even involved in this ok."

Penny nodded. "Don't worry. This whole thing is totally messed up. I have a feeling though, Hayley probably knows more than she has let on."

"Well let's see." Leonard replied. They went up to the door and knocked. There was no response. He rang the bell, but there was no response either.

"That's weird. She said she was heading home. Let me call her cell." Leonard pulled out his phone and dialed his sister's number. They could hear the phone ringing from the other side of the door.

"She's home. I can hear her cell phone inside ringing." Leonard said puzzled. He tried turning the knob of the door. It was unlocked. They entered the house.

"Hayley?" Leonard called. His voice was met with silence. He looked over at the living room couch. The contents of Hayley's purse were dumped all over the cushion. Her cell phone was lying on the floor on the rug. "Why is her stuff dumped all over the place?" He suddenly looked panicked. "I hope she is ok"

"Hayley!" Leonard bellowed looking around frantically.

Penny ran into the kitchen calling her name. She ran through the lounge and the library. There was no sign of her. "Upstairs?" she suggested looking at Leonard.

They both sprinted up the stairs. They could hear a faint noise coming from the master bedroom. They ran over the master bedroom door when Leonard abruptly held out his arm. "Stop!" he yelled.

Penny stopped abruptly. There were shards of glass all over the carpet, and a bunch of flowers strewn all over the floor. They could see the bathroom door ajar and the sound of the shower going.

"Something is wrong, I know it." Leonard said urgently. They gingerly walked around the broken glass and into the bedroom.

"Here, let me check in the bathroom, in case she is showering." Penny said. Penny walked into the bathroom. She saw Hayley sitting on the floor of the shower fully clothed with her head cradled between her knees. Ice cold water was blasting down on her. She was whimpering softly but seemed to take no notice that Penny was standing in the room.

"Hayley!" Penny exclaimed. She ran over to the shower and turned it off. "Hayley?" She touched her shoulder, but Hayley continued rocking back and forth not taking notice. "Leonard get in here!" she yelled.

Leonard ran into the room to see his sister shivering on the floor of her shower rocking slowly. "Hayley, what's wrong! Talk to me."

Penny went and grabbed a bunch of towels from the rack. "She's freezing Leonard. She's not responding at all."

Leonard wrapped his sister up in the fluffy towels and put his arms around her. "Hayley…it's ok. We are here. It's me, Leonard. It's ok now, sweetie, it's ok. What happened Hayley? Please tell me what's wrong." He pleaded as he held her tight.

Hayley just stared blankly at the wall, tears still streaming down her face.

"Leonard…I'm scared. I think we should get her to the hospital quick. Something is really wrong with her. It's like she doesn't even see us here." Penny whispered.

Leonard held her tight in his arms. "You're right. Grab some warm clothes from her closet. Let's get her to the hospital fast."

A/N: Poor Poor Hayley. Things are about to get super crazy at the hospital. Please stay tuned! I would really really love to read your reviews. Thanks so much!