Loving Mr. Cary

Chapter 9 : Mom… don’t go.

*Cary*

After driving for a short while, I arrived at James's mansion. I drove into his compound and parked the car. Looking over at Delila, as I switched off the engine and saw she was totally knocked out. I heaved a sigh and stared at her face.

'Why did you have to drink so much? Is that school not safe for you anymore?' I questioned myself in worry. I didn't want to ever see her in such a sad, depressing state ever again.

She deserved way better than what she was going through.

Rounding the car, I opened the door next to where she sat, carefully reaching for her arms and lifting her off the seat, letting her rest on my body.

Grabbing her by the waist, I held her firmly so she wouldn't slip out of my arms. Her full weight was on my body, and I took a few minutes to adjust to her weight. While pulling her bag out of the car to bring it inside.

“Della, can you walk?" I asked, even though I knew I wouldn't be getting a response from her.

Carrying her in a bridal manner, and I balanced her whole body in my arms so that she wouldn't fall. She moaned softly and adjusted her head, placing it against my chest, and continued sleeping.

As I approached the door of the mansion, I found out it wasn't locked. Grabbing the doorknob, I pushed the door open and walked in.

The door closed behind me with a swift kick from my foot. When I got to the base of the stairs, I took a deep breath before I began to ascend, holding Della very close to my body to make sure as I stepped up, it didn't affect her.

When I reached the top floor and headed down the hallway that led to her room, my eyes fell on her pretty face, making sure she was still sound asleep.

All thanks to my constant visit to the mansion, and James, who always loved to show me new things in his house, I was quite familiar with where Della's room was.

Soon, her room was in sight. Opening the door and walking in, the aroma of fresh lavender filled my nostrils. My eyes unconsciously fell shut, and I exhaled deeply. The scent somehow seemed to relieve me of the day's stress. Her room was painted pink; there was hardly anything that wasn't pink.

Her bedspread, her mirror stand, her couch, her pillows, her closet, her laptop… all were pink.

Proceeding to her bed and slowly laying her on the duvet, I knelt on the bed with my left knee to stay balanced. After I laid her down, I pulled her pink duvet over her body and gazed at her face again. She was still looking so pretty even after drinking.

“Be good, Della." My finger found her cheek and caressed it softly, in a way that wouldn't disturb her sleep.

She moved her head and rubbed it against my finger even more. The smile on my face slowly faded as a series of emotions came rushing through me.

I was quite surprised that she was conscious of what I was doing. I gradually moved my hand away from her face and stood up.

Turning to look at the door, I began to hear her moan and groan. She sounded like she was in discomfort when I looked at her again. She grabbed her top like she wanted to rip it apart.

“Della, are you hot?" I asked as my eyes scanned the walls of her room for the air conditioner. I found the remote hanging next to it.

Rounding her bed to get to where the remote was, the air conditioner turned on with the click of a button. When it came on, I looked at Della again to watch her reaction to it, when all of a sudden she raised her head from the bed and lowered her face to the bed. No one needed to tell me she was feeling nauseous.

“Della!" I called and rushed toward her. She covered her mouth with her hand, groaning as she tried to hold in her puke.

“Let's get you out of bed. You can't do this here," I muttered as I tried to lift her from the bed. I almost succeeded in getting her off when she let go of her mouth and vomited right on the bed.

“And it happened," I muttered. I stared at the bed that was stained with her puke tiredly. I couldn't just leave her bed like that.

Della fell back asleep immediately after she was done vomiting, resting her head on my shoulder. Fortunately, she didn't puke on the top she had on.

My right hand grabbed her waist, wrapping her arm around my neck, which allowed me to guide her to the couch and lay her down. I placed her head in a way that it wouldn't hurt her neck. Letting out a sigh of relief, I looked at the messy bed again.

Pulling off the duvet, along with the bedspread, I threw it upon the floor before checking her closet for another one. Thankfully, there was another set that was clean, which allowed me to quickly remake it. After remaking the bed and picking up the dirty ones from the floor, I opened another door in her room, and as I had guessed, it was the bathroom.

The washing machine was in a corner of the bathroom and I threw in the sheets, turned it on, and set a timer.

Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, I stared at my face. Taking some water in my hands, I rinsed my tired face with it, hoping I'd feel a little better.

Afterward, I walked back into the bedroom to find Della still sleeping peacefully on the couch. I couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if I wasn't there to save her from those men, or if I wasn't around to help her clean up.

Living all by herself in this house isn't the best idea for her, especially now that she isn't herself.

Squatting in front of the couch, I stared at her pretty, perfect face. The breath that came out of her nose smelled of whiskey.

“Della, I will move you back to the bed now, okay?" I said, without expecting a response from her. I lifted her again and laid her on the bed.

Tucking her under the duvet, I brushed off the strands of hair that lingered on her face. I was still trying to make her more comfortable when my phone began to ring.

Stepping a few inches away from the bed, I pulled out my phone from my breast pocket. Checking the caller ID, I see it's Dave.

“Hello, Dave," I answered.

“Hi, Dad! Are you on your way home? It's late," Dave answered.

“I know it's late, Dave, and I'm sorry I'm not yet home. Something came up," I responded, turning to look at Della again.

“Oh really? That's sad. I made dinner for us. I got back from school quite early and thought I should make use of the kitchen since you never use it."

I chuckled and nodded. “True. That is so thoughtful of you. I should be back soon. But don't wait for me, I don't want you eating dinner so late."

“Okay. Stay safe, Dad. I have to go now."

“Wait… can I ask you something?" I hastily asked before he disconnected.

“What?"

“James' daughter is in your class, right? You know James? My best friend."

“Yes, I do. She is in my class. What about her?"

“Is everything good with her at school? You know, I'm just curious, now that my friend isn't in town."

“I don't think all is well with her. The drama in school seems to be a lot for her. It's a long story. I'll tell you more when you're home," Dave said.

“Okay. But can you do me a favor and keep an eye out for her, please."

“Sure! It will be my pleasure. You don't have to worry."

I smiled and said, “Thank you, Dave. I have to go now. See you soon."

The call came to an end, and walking back to the bed, I sat next to Della and gazed at her face again. Her eyes were shut very tight again like she was in discomfort.

“Della?" The thought of her throwing up the second time, on the new sheets terrified me.

“Mom…" she moaned in discomfort.

“Della, are you okay?" Touching her face to check her body temperature, she swiftly grabbed my hand and gave it a very tight squeeze.

“Don't leave me again, Mom. Please," she cried. Seeing her this way broke my heart.

She thinks I'm her mom.

I wasn't sure how to tell her I had to leave because my son had already made dinner for us. Won't this put her in a very bad state?

“Please, Mom. Don't go," she cried further, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“It's okay, Della. I'm here," I answered. She kept her grip on my hand, and I was scared to let her go too.

I don't think I can leave her in this state. Pulling out my phone again, I sent a text to Dave.

'Dave, I won't be able to make it home tonight. I'm so sorry. Eat up and go to bed early. We'll talk tomorrow, okay?'

After texting him, I placed my phone on the drawer next to her bed and didn't bother to see if there was a reply from Dave.

I kept my hand in hers as I leaped onto the other side of the bed, causing little noise. My eyes peered down at her face to see if I had disturbed her, and lucky I found out I didn't. I lay next to her and was pretty close because she held my hand against her chest.

As we lay facing each other, our faces were inches apart, and I could feel her breath on my lips. Della looked so peaceful that I didn't want to disturb her sleep, so I stayed put. My eyes moved from her closed eyes down to her lips constantly until I began to feel sleepy too.

“Good night, Della," I uttered in a whisper and shut my eyes, letting nature take over.