I cried in his arms for a while. Alot was weighing me down, the news about the pregnancy, the accident, my mother, it was all just a lot for me to handle.
I had stayed in the hospital for two days and all through Dante hadn't left my side even with my constant persistence. I hadn't seen my mother either after the first encounter with her and I was certain she was avoiding me and didn't want to have anything to do with me.
"How are you feeling?" Dante asked as he helped me to sit upright.
"Sore, but much better" I admitted.
Our attention was taken away by a knock on the door and to my greatest surprise, it was my mother. Dante patted me on the shoulder.
"I'll excuse the both of you" he whispered to me and exited the room.
My mom walked in and I didn't know what to say.
"How are you?" She asked, her voice was shaky, I could tell she was trying to hold back a lot of emotions.
"I feel a bit better," I responded, almost coldly. When I had called out to her the other day and she didn't acknowledge me at all, I concluded I would give her space and not try to push anything with her, at least until I got better.
Awkward silence filled the room and we both stared at each other with clear expressions that we both had a lot to say but we're debating in our minds who should speak first.
"I'm sorry" we both said coincidentally in unison.
"No, no, I'm sorry" my mom said, holding me tightly in her embrace.
"You were a young girl, naive and in love, I should have been there for you. I should have been your mother but instead I threw you out, I can't forgive myself, I've never been able to, I'm sorry my dear" she said crying and wailing and I couldn't control my tears either.
We both cried in each other's arms for a while and after so many years, I felt like a burden had been taken off my heart. I felt a throbbing pain in my chest but this time, from the alleviating relief I felt. There were nights I would cry myself to sleep and the grudge I carried in my heart towards Marcus for treating me the way he did even after I gave up my family for him damaged me even more.
"I'm really sorry mom, I regret my actions and if I could go back I would do everything right" I confessed.
"It doesn't matter what has happened, it's all in the past now. I just want my daughter back, your father still hasn't forgiven me for putting you out and your sister misses you so much, you have no idea" My mom said wiping her tears with a smile on her face.
I meant it, if I could go back, I wouldn't have made the mistake I made and I would do everything right.
Dante walked in with the doctor announcing I had been discharged and was free to go back home. I was really excited. Being in that hospital was mentally exhausting for me, everything about the hospital reminded me of my condition and I didn't feel good about it.
"You have such a lovely husband, he's been worried about you all through" the doctor said to me, smiling.
It felt good to know Dante was concerned about my well-being. My mom looked at me in awe, her eyes asked all the questions I knew she was struggling not to blurt out but I couldn't give any details, at least not yet.
Dante packed up my things in the duffel bag he got from the hospital and I was really excited to finally be going home. My mom walked us to the car and just as she bade us farewell, Dante paused and called out to her.
"Here you go," he said, handing over a card that had our address on it. "Dinner at 7pm, it would be an honor" and my mom took the card from him joyfully.
"Why did you do that?" I asked as we drove off.
"Come on, aren't you happy? You and your mom are finally on good terms again, you must be excited. Dinner isn't a bad idea you know" he said, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, syncing to the rhythm of the music that was playing from the car speaker.
"I know but you should have asked me first if I wanted to" I grumpily responded.
He adjusted himself on his seat and turned down the volume of the speaker, the cheerful look on his face suddenly turned stern. "Yes you're right, I'll call her to cancel. I'll make up an excuse, you need to rest also so this may not be a good time"
"No you don't have to, dinner is fine" I said, feeling a little bit bad for throwing off his efforts. I knew he only meant well.
Being on the road again after the accident made me feel nervous, the PTSD settled in and I silently prayed in my heart for our safety. I was almost five months gone and my baby bump was becoming quite visible and discomforting as well. Dante took an odd turn that we usually never followed and I was a bit confused.
"We need to make a quick stop at the police station, I got a call about the hot and run criminal" Dante said when he noticed the confused look on my face.
"Has the person been arrested ?"I asked curiously.
"We'll find out when we get there," he replied calmly.
I was low-key worried about the situation, I had never been involved with the police ever in my life and being the victim of a crime that would have claimed my life puts me on the spotlight of the investigation. I really hoped the person had been caught so I could be out of the case as soon as possible after the court hearings, but whether or not the culprit had been found, I had no idea, but we were about to find out.