NELLIE BLUE

"How could things go wrong so fast? I was just gone for 30 minutes." I cry into my palms as Henry held me tight. Stella had been in the hospital for two hours now and she still shows no sign of waking up. Amy and Cassie got here a while back after I called them from the hospital.

I see them watching me from the sides of my eyes, but I pay no attention. What if Stella never wakes up? I lost my son, I don't want to lose my daughter too. I cry until henry lifts my face in his palms and tells me to calm down.

"We have to be there for her right now. Now is not the time for grief." He says. I nod. He is right. I wipe my face with the back of my hand and stand up straight. Amy and Cassie wouldn't meet my eyes. They're probably embarrassed to see a grown woman cry. I smile and look away.

Henry rubs my arm and sighs. I look at him and wonder what had actually happened to Stella. Did someone try to kill her? Did she try to do it herself? Where is the doctor? Why did he let us in the room? Was he even allowed to do that? Sure there is a nurse in the room, but how could he leave us here for so long?

Henry looks at me and gives me a smirk. Did he do this? For all I know, he'll be happy if Stella dies. Stella and Jack had tried to take down his company for years. The first few months after Jack died, Stella had tried harder than ever to gain evidence to prove that henry owned a drug dealing company apart from his actual job as a clerk. Maybe, Stella drunk poison to get away from her abusive father or from our constant fights. Sure, Stella and I fought a lot but, it doesn't mean I don't love my daughter.

Henry and I had been sleeping in different rooms for about a month now. I had a feeling he had someone else—someone younger and prettier. So, I checked his phone. My conscience told me I was doing wrong, but I pushed it away. I had to know. I'm his wife. I had the right to know.

He caught me and everything went downhill from there. I didn't care about him anymore. He might have snuck out every night after I went to bed. He must have slept with her for longer than I knew. He must have done things with her when I wanted to do them with him. I tried not to think about him. I tried to convince myself that it was ok, but I ended up ruining my relationship with Stella by fighting with her and crying every night.

He wasn't stable before I checked his phone either. He was abusive when he was stressed or drunk, which meant almost every single night.

Within a month it got so much worse. We avoided each other as much as possible. The question of getting a divorce hung in the air, but we never got the chance to talk about it. We didn't see enough of each other to even talk about separating.

I got out of the house today to get some fresh air, but what I came back to was horrifying. The sight was still stuck in the back of my mind. That moment I realized the silence after I had called for Stella was not right. I had walked into her room and my heart dropped.

Instinctively, the first person I called was Henry. I knew he shouldn't have been on the other side of the phone. A part of me knew that Henry wouldn't pick up the phone, but I desperately wanted him to.

"What?" Henry answered.

"Henry, you have to come over right now." I said between sobs.

"What? Why?" I could tell Henry was angry and wanted nothing to do with me, but I had to get him to come.

"Stella—Stella she's on the ground. I don't know what happened. She's not waking up." I broke down in tears and fell on my knees next to Stella. Everything that happened next was blurry. I heard the sound of sirens, the door opening and people barging into the room and carrying Stella away in a stretcher. Henry picked me up by the shoulders and we got in the car to follow the ambulance. I was still crying in the car and I could feel Henry's anger even though he didn't say a word.

Now, Stella is lying unconscious in the hospital bed. Amy told me that Zach had broken up with her on Saturday. Why didn't she tell me? How did I not know? She didn't trust me either and it is all Henry's fault.

I don't want to start a conversation with Henry because I know it will start a fight and I don't have the will or the energy for it. I can't watch Stella lying on the bed for any longer. The dim lights and the sounds of the machines scares me. I just want to go home. I just want to wake up from this nightmare and wake up to a loving husband, a beautiful home and an amazing daughter but in reality, I had none of it.

I sat down on the chair next to the door and tried not to cry. Amy had asked me to wait outside, but what would that make me? It would make me a bad mother. I'm sure Amy was just trying to be nice, but Stella's friends always came before me. Now, I want to be there for Stella. Even if it meant that I would have to watch my daughter unconscious for hours. Stella needed support and who could support her more than her own mother?

-x-

Thank you for reading. I hope you liked this chapter. I would love to read your feedback in the comments.

The plot thickens! What do you think happened to Stella?