Sapphire

Chapter 47

Maria Williams was her real name. She gave birth to Shay at age seventeen and due to problems at home, she had to give Shay up. It was written in the adoption papers that she couldn't visit Shay, and Val didn't see her until that one day in the park. Once she realized those two drug addicts had been looking over her own kin, she did what she had to to protect her daughter.

Shay listened to the whole story with an open mouth. Shock was too light of a term to describe what she was feeling. Though really, with the similar appearances and unusual amount of affection Val had for her, Shay should have figured it out.

Turns out, she wasn't a very good spy.

"I couldn't tell you because I was afraid you'd get upset and run again. We had such a good relationship when you came back and I didn't want to ruin it." Val explained when she was done with her story.

Shay stared at her for a couple of minutes as she processed this information. Val was her biological mother. It made sense, she supposed.

"I can't believe I have a family. And I didn't even know." Shay muttered, though really, did this revelation change much? Val was her stepmother and had been for a while now. She had treated Shay extremely well for as long as she'd been living there. It had taken a bit to get over Val murdering her 'parents' but realizing how much danger they'd put her in was almost enough to excuse the act.

And now, now that Shay knew the entire truth, how could she not sympathize with the woman sitting across from her after everything they'd been through?

"I know. I'm sorry." Val pleaded. "I'm trying not to keep secrets anymore. I want to be completely honest with you."

Shay blinked a couple of times and pursed her lips. Honesty. That might be nice. "Ok."

Val's hand went to Shay's knee, where she lightly squeezed. "I just wanted you to know that even though Noah is gone, you still have people here for you. Not just me, either."

Oh right.

Noah was gone.

Val's revelation briefly distracted her from the knowledge that her best friend had abandoned her. Upon remembering, she felt a familiar lump in her throat that wasn't going to go away.

"I appreciate that." Shay's voice was soft as she tried to squelch the impending tears of doom. Once she let one out, they would all break free like the white walkers at Winterfell.

"I'll let you get some more rest but you're getting up tomorrow, alright?"

"Ok."    

After squeezing her knee one last time, Shay watched her mother leave the room. Then she finally released the dam holding her tears, letting them fall until the river ran dry.

*******

The next day was a blur, and not because of the concussion. Shay couldn't think about much else besides the fact that she felt alone again. Even though she felt better, and now knew she had a mother, she didn't want to leave her bed. She couldn't bear the thought of going to her room again and not seeing Noah in the one across the hall. She didn't want to use the sink and not worry about running into him. She'd rather stay here while the memories of that night came back, reinforcing her bad mood.

Summer came in at one point to check in. She expressed her relief at Shay's well-being and also mentioned how sad she was that Noah was gone. "He'll come back," she had said before leaving. She was so confident about it, and Shay wasn't sure if Summer was trying to convince Shay or herself. Jon and Eli had also visited her a couple of times but didn't say much. They seemed to do it more out of obligation, or maybe by Val's suggestion. Still, it did help to know that she had people that still supported her.