Just Breathe Again - Mia Villano Page 0,10
Lydia didn’t want her mom to have another bill she could not pay for even though she said going to the doctor didn’t count. Lydia saw the “didn’t count” from her dads hospital stay piling up on the counter and her debt didn’t need to get bigger.
Still standing outside the bathroom, and once again banging on the door to speed Lydia up, Jeannie had lost her patience with her slowness.
“I will be in the car and your brother is sitting here waiting to go to the bathroom. Please, for the love of God, hurry. If you aren’t out here in two minutes, I’m leaving,” she yelled.
Jeannie didn’t realize as she was yelling, Lydia’s head pounded in pain, making her dizzy and sick to her stomach. She didn’t realize while she yelled for her to come to the car, Lydia rummaged through the medicine cabinet for some type of pain reliever. She had to find something to dull the torment. Whatever they gave her last year, worked for a long time, until the prescription ran out. Now, nothing dulled the horrific pain that seemed to come in the morning and ravage her body the rest of the day. Quickly, she rummaged through the medicine cabinet and found an expired bottle of generic ibuprofen. They weren’t that expired, and any pain medication was better than nothing. She took four, cupping her hand under the faucet to get a sip of water. The pain still throbbed in her head as she stood up straight and examined how bad she looked in the full-length mirror. Her eyes were now dark underneath and her skin didn’t look right. She even gave up layering on gobs of makeup to cover up the fact she looked dreadful. She just didn’t care anymore. Lydia used to have rosy cheeks, big brown eyes, and flawless skin. She didn’t see that anymore when she looked in the mirror and she wondered why her mom hadn’t noticed.
Jeannie had been consumed with trying to keep them afloat for the past year; she didn’t notice her daughter suffering quietly. If she knew, she would’ve taken her to the doctor at once. Lydia hid her pain pretty well for the longest time. Her pain was becoming impossible to hide anymore.
The horn tooted outside the window making Lydia jump and grab her head. Any fast movement made her head hurt worse.
“My God, Mom,” she yelled, and turned off the bathroom light. She tried to move as fast as her body would let her out the door. The last thing they needed was Jeannie unemployed or, they would be in a tent. Her little brother, Michael sat on the couch waiting to use the restroom.
Lydia noticed Michael squirming. “Hi Michael, I’m sorry I took so long.”
He didn’t say a word, just ran to the bathroom with a pained look on his face. Lydia grabbed her backpack hoisting the heavy bag over her shoulder, grimacing in pain and steadying herself from the spinning.
Finally, making her way to the car, Lydia was ready to go. They had to wait for Michael, and taking more time would put her mom farther behind, and angrier. He finished in a flash, ran down the steps, jumped in the car, and buckled up his seat belt.
As she had been doing most mornings, Jeannie peeled out of the driveway, kicking up the gravel. “I can’t do this anymore. From now on I’m leaving you, and you can stay home or get a ride from someone else.” She backed up in the yard and nearly ran over the Blessed Virgin Mary statue placed in the weed covered circle. The one thing they had left from their old house. The Mary statue came with them to the trailer park like a beacon of hope, no matter what happened.
“Mom, don’t run over Mary,” said Michael. He remembered from the earlier mornings, he had to remind her. Jeannie slammed on the brakes and Lydia’s head started throbbing again as her head jerked and hit the back of the seat.
“Lydia, look at me. Are you okay?” she asked. Jeannie put the car in drive, stepped on the gas, and glanced at her daughter. Lydia’s pained expression didn’t hit her till the second when they were in the car and she took a long look. She was always statuesque, in shape, and now she was thin and pale. The ailing appearance on Lydia’s face had to be the migraines; she had to make her a doctor’s appointment.
The traffic started