Cat puts the baby back in the car seat. She does up the little buttons on her coat and pulls the pink blanket up to Olivia's nose. Cat breathes in deeply, fastening her own jacket. She goes to the front window of the taxi, and shakes as she tells the driver to take them to Troubled Springs, a branch of Troubled Waters. The driver nods kindly and says he knows where to go.
Cat leans back as she hears the click of her seatbelt, trying to relax a bit. It doesn't work. She looks out of the window and nearly chokes. The driver asks her if she's okay.
"Can we roll the window at the back a bit?" She asks, breathless. The driver looks back quickly. He rolls down the window quickly and Cat grabs her water bottle. She throws it out, aiming for her target. It hits Beck. He looks back, wide-eyed. Cat does a lot of hand motions. He turns away and Cat curses, doing a different type of hand motion back at him. The girl who's hanging onto his arm uses a varied vocabulary to describe Cat, too. "What a whor-" she pauses as the driver leans back to listen. "Horrible day, Olivia…what a horrible day."
They arrive pretty quickly and Cat checks her watch. "Well, Olivia, I'm going see your mom now. You are too." They walk in and Cat is close to tears. It's like a prison. She jiggles Olivia happily on her hip. "Okay…let's see. Your mama is in the butterfly unit. That's rooms 60 through to 100." Cat pulls out the slip she got from the front desk, telling her Jade's room number. 64. Cat shoves her bag in Olivia's car seat along with her keys and Olivia's toys and diaper bag. They walk to her room and Cat braces herself. "She's getting better." Cat reassures herself. She opens Jade's door and creeps in. Jade is sitting on her bed, her eyes closed, her forehead creased.
"I'm so glad you made time to see me." Jade whispered, a teardrop rolling down her face. She doesn't brush it away so Cat does for her. Cat bites her lip, scared that Jade is so fragile she'll break. "I always forget to tell you I love you."
"It's okay," Cat tries. "I love you too. You'll always be a sister to me," Cat hugs Jade tightly. She hands Olivia over. Jade starts to get upset again. She grabs Cat's hand.
"She deserves so much better. Her parents can't look after themselves, let alone her."
"You're just sick." Cat reassures her. "You'll be fine." Jade sighs, playing with Olivia's fingers. Olivia grins at her mother, and Jade smiles sadly back.
Cat visited every other day until Jade was well enough to come home. And seven months later, Jade could. By then, Olivia's first birthday had passed. She was fourteen months old now. She was talking at last. Thankfully she'd said her first word when Jade walked in the first day after treatment. "Hi-Hi!" Jade's head snapped up. A grin crept across her face. "Oh, Livvy!" Jade bit her lip. She played with her all afternoon, never getting tired of hearing "hihi". It was only seven when Jade went to bed, so Cat put the baby to sleep.
Cat tucked the blankets in and gave Olivia her stuffed horse. "Night night sweetheart, sleep 't let the bug beds bite, will you?" The baby shook her head, her curls bouncing. Her blue eyes shone up at her, looking so much like Jade. But her tanned skin glowing against Jade's pale complexion reminded them every day of Beck. "I'll see you in the morning, darling."
"Byebye." Cat awwed and then gently shut the door. Cat chuckled to herself as she walked to her room. She fell into a deep and easy sleep, her breathing slow and steady, her heart beating like a drum.
Jade's eyes spring open as she hears Olivia screaming. She hears Cat get up too. They both rush to her room. "Oh sweetie, come here." Cat picks her up, cradling her carefully. "You mustn't jump out of your crib!" She lets Olivia hold her hand and take her first steady steps. Eventually Olivia lets go of Cat's hands. She toddles over to Jade and grabs her hand.
"Mama!" Olivia cried, as if Jade didn't know. Jade picks her up and snuggles against her. It reminds her of the first moment she saw her. Powdery and pink, her baby looked so perfect. Her lips were perfect. Her hair. Her eyes.
"Yes, darling I'm your Mommy. I love you very very very much, so much you won't believe." Jade sighed. "Cat? I need to find Beck."
A/N:
So….this is it. I hope you like it :)