Before the 2nd encounter
…..
as he entered the room, Venelope stepped out of the hospital room, gently closing the door behind her.
Her heart was still racing. She could hear muffled voices inside; Jay's voice, sharp but low. His reply, a little too soft for comfort. She thought out aloud, "Good! Atleast they are talking!"
She leaned her back against the wall, just letting herself breathe for a moment.
But before she could get a breather, she was interrupted by sharp voices. Her heart raced as she placed her hand on her chest, her face showing visible sign of a painful grimace. But this time, the voices were not from behind the door. But from the hallway.
"Now what are you playing at?"
It was jay's father; his tone low, but seething and irritated. The kind of voice that boiled, but didn't burst, well not yet.
Venelope opened her eyes and straightened up taking her hand away from her chest. "What do you mean, Uncle?" she said non-chalantly.
He approached her with his wife, jay's mother following close behind him; expression tense, eyes lined with passive agression that had dried into suspicion. His voice was tight, brows wrinkled and his fists clenched by his sides.
"Why have you brought him here again? After everything? Don't you see how angry she was just a few hours ago? Why are you dragging her into more of this?"
"Uncle," Venelope said, slowly, with all the patience she could summon, "SHE wanted to meet HIM."
Her aunt scoffed softly. "She said that? Or you're the one who forced her? Tell me I am assuming?"
It took all her patience and wit to say a mere No, she wanted to say out loud that you are the ones forcing her! Didn't you want to marry him to this boy? Why? Now she is willing you don't want her to? Again playing her controllers again?! But she locked eyes with her mother and said politely and respectfully. "Auntie, She said it. With her own mouth. I didn't force anything. She wanted to meet him to ask him a few things."
They were silent for a moment.
Then her father ran a hand through his hair and took a shaky breath. "She's confused. She's vulnerable. She's recovering from; whatever that episode was. And that boy? That boy is the reason all of this got worse! I told you all from the start; he's not right for her."
"I'm not saying he is or he isn't," Venelope said firmly. "But this isn't about you. Or me. This is her story. And she asked to see him."
He looked at her with surprised eyes and was about to say something when jay's mother stepped forward, her eyes sharp, her hands clenched in front of her. "She's our daughter! We know what we are doing for her! We don't need a stranger to tell us!"
"I know," Venelope replied. "And right now, she's also a young woman trying to figure out who the hell she is after; being told by everyone; including both of you; who she should be."
Her father opened his mouth to speak, but the words caught. Then he opened it again and looked from his wife to venelope, and while pointing at his wife said, "I was saying it to my wife…"
"ah… apologies" venelope said with a chuckle but hid it with her hand. Jay's mother was burning with anger.
"you are again cornering me! Blaming me! Pinning me for all this?!"
Her father held his hand and went over to sit on the bench. Venelope sensing the pressure, took over, "auntie I know, You're scared she'll get hurt again," Venelope added, softer now, putting her arm around her shoulder. "But shutting the door on this conversation won't heal her. It'll bury her. And one day, you'll wake up and she'll be gone; not physically, but emotionally, completely. You'll have lost her."
A long pause followed.
Venelope looked at the door behind her. "Let them talk. Let her ask questions. Let her rage and cry and maybe even forgive. But let her choose. You owe her that much."
Her mother looked away.
Her father finally sighed. But something cracked in his posture. A weariness he couldn't hide anymore.
Venelope turned to the wall and sat on the waiting bench.
No one said another word.
Inside the room, a voice rose softly; a girl who'd once been silent too long. A boy who'd waited far too long to speak.
The past was knocking. And this time, the door was finally open.
........
But it didn't last 5 minutes.
"Miller why this girl is even here! We don't need her here! Send her away! I am not liking her influence on our daughter!" jay's mother said it in front of her.
Venelope looked at her, coldly, the simmer finally boiling over.
"Auntie," she said, her voice flat but edged with steel, "I didn't ask you how you're doing. I actually wanted to know how are you here."
Elyana flinched slightly. She was caught off-guard.
"Where were you the whole week Jay was suffering in that hospital bed?" she continued. "Where were you when she cried, bled, hallucinated, and nearly lost her mind?"
Her father, quickly stepped forward, throwing out a hand as if to shield his wife. "She was; taking care of the house. In our stead. You know that."
Venelope turned on him. "Uncle; you might be able to fool Jay. But you can't fool me. I've seen it. The tension. The silence. The distance in every glance you two share. Don't lie. Not here. Not now."
She turned back to Elyana, who had lowered her eyes, her lips trembling but still shut tight.
"Where were you auntie?" Venelope repeated.
A beat of silence followed the question.
"I was…" Elyana's voice faltered.
She wasn't never going to say it. She couldn't say it. Because the truth was as ugly as it was pathetic.
She had tried to kill herself. Or maybe just tried to make herself think about it. But the truth was, she didn't have the courage to go through with it. She still had the vain illusion that she was the only one to take of her so called family . She had wanted to vanish, to slip away unnoticed. But all she had done was hide in plain sight; lounging on the sofa, scrolling endlessly through old TV dramas, watching meaningless hours tick away. She wasn't sick. She wasn't sad. She was avoiding.
Avoiding everything that being a mother demanded.
Avoiding her daughter's pain.
Avoiding her own shame.
"She was at home," Mr. Miller admitted bitterly. "At home, wasting time. Pretending the world would fix itself while our daughter lay in a hospital ward getting IV fluids and silence."
"I didn't…" Elyana whispered, her voice cracking. "I didn't send that man to her!"
"You didn't stop him either," her husband growled. "I know what you're doing, Elyana. Don't throw these useless excuses at me. Not after the way you've behaved."
"I was scared," she snapped, voice rising now in desperation. "You think I wanted this? That I planned to stay away?"
"I think you let it happen. That's worse."
Venelope, standing still between them, eyes unwavering, spoke once more.
"Jay might still forgive you. That's between her and her heart. But you have to stop running. You've been running from being her mother for years."
And with that, she turned away and sat down on the bench.
Inside, the muffled sound of a girl's voice drifted through the door again.
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