She Was Ugly

Chapter 27: The Mother

"I forgave you a long time ago," I whispered.

"You did?" Leo asked.

"Yes, I did even if I didn't know it yet. I think I started to forgive you when your mother died. I knew you were going through so much and I felt bad for you. Since I felt bad for you it kind of pushed away any bad feelings I had about you."

"When you came back I got angry at you because after all those years of you bullying me, I had a lot of pent up anger. As soon as I was done yelling I felt guilty and wished I could take it back. Then I realized maybe it was better you hated me. I don't know what I was thinking."

"We became friends a couple weeks later and that's when I first started to realize that I never truly hated you for what you did to me."

Leo looked at me like I had just told him the best news in the world. "That makes me feel so much better. Thank you, and I promise I will never hurt you again," he told me.

"I know."

Via and my father came back with a bag of Chick-fil-A in their hands. "We thought you could use some of this since you've been in the hospital for a couple days," Via explained.

"Thanks, I was getting hungry anyways and I hate hospital food." I took the bag from her and dug in. They got me a spicy chicken sandwich with waffle fries and a Dr. Pepper. I swear Chick-fil-A's food is the best. I don't care what anyone says. McDonald's can suck it. They'll never beat Chick-fil-A.

"So I just talked to your mother and she said she'll be here in an hour," my dad said. I replied with an 'okay' and continued to eat. I was nervous about seeing my mother again. I hope she didn't hate me for all those things I said to her.

At the time I truly believed everything I said. Now I realize that it wasn't all true. Yes, she abandoned me and my father. Yes, she didn't bother contacting us for years. But at the end of the day she is still my mother. I have half of her DNA. I can't just deny that part of me.

It'll take time. We won't be able to go back to the way things were but hopefully I'm able to see her more.

As I was eating, the doctor came in to give me my daily medicine. He told me earlier that I need to take these pills every day for the next couple of weeks twice a day until my ribs are healed. He eyed my food silently, but didn't say anything.

I popped them in my mouth and drank some of my pop to make them go down easier. There wasn't any water in here for some reason so that's all I had.

When I finished my food, my father took the trash from me and threw it away.

"Leo why don't you take her for a walk outside. I'm sure after being in a stuffy hospital for three days she could use the fresh air. I need to talk to the doctor about some things," my father asked.

"Sure," Leo replied. There was a wheelchair near my room's door and Leo rolled it over to the side of my bed. "Come on," He said.

"No," I stated. "I don't need a wheelchair. I'm perfectly capable of walking by myself."

"Yeah okay," he snorted.

I slapped his arm and he rubbed it in mock hurt. I chuckled to myself as I slid my covers off me and attempted to get out of the crappy hospital bed. Key word being attempted. As soon as I stood up I crumpled into a pile on the floor.

"Athena come one let me help you. You've been laying down for three days, your legs are weak. It's just for today I promise." I let Leo hoist me into the wheelchair. God, this was so embarrassing. And to top it off I probably looked like a dead and half eaten wild animal.