Mrs. Bix quietly hummed as she was preparing Carmine's homemade late-night chocolate cubes.
After finally packaging 12 chocolate pieces neatly into a wood box and leaving it on the dining table, she took a step back nodded proudly to herself at her work.
She was an overly doting parent who wanted nothing but the happiest life for her daughter and did everything in her power to make that so.
Of course, the mother still kept Carmine in check so that she would not lack modesty and become conceited. She engraved her daughter the morality of the world and made sure that she would at least consider them in her everyday decisions.
But Carmine had not come home yet.
She had told her mother that she was out to a graduation party at one of her friend's houses. She allowed her daughter to attend but was very reluctant to do so.
Her daughter did tell her that no man was attending, except for a friend's little brother who lived there, but the mother still considered him as a possible liability.
Worst, there was alcohol. The mother told Carmine to not drink too much, but that was jinxing a disaster.
Just as the mother picked up her phone to check up on her daughter, a call came. She recognized the name of the caller and answered.
"Uhmm . . . Is this Mrs. Bix?"
"Yes."
"I'm Danna, a friend of Carmy, wait no, Carmine . . . Your daughter . . ."
The mother furrowed her eyebrows. It was the voice of a girl who sometimes came over, and for some reason, she sounded anxious.
For a moment there was silence before it was broken by another person. The mother could faintly hear out the details.
'Hurry up and just say it!'
'It's her mother!!'
'Dragging it out longer will just make things worse!'
The girl gripped her phone, bracing herself, and yelled into the phone, "Carmy got into a car accident!"
'Why do you act like you're scared of her?!'
'She's not scary, it's just-'
"Where is Carmine right now?"
"Oh, uh, she's in the hospital emergency department right now. We're here in the reception area."
"Okay. I'll head there right now . . . Do your parents know about this?"
"Um, yeah I'll contact my parents now."
The mother hurriedly closed the call and immediately headed to the car.
The drive wasn't long, it only took her a few minutes to reach the emergency department.
After parking, the mother got out of the car and headed inside the department.
The hospital was dull and empty with a row of chairs. There were only 3 people in the room, the receptionist and 2 young women who looked restless.
One of Danna who called, and the other was Alice, the mother tried recalling.
When Danna saw the mother, her eyes lit up and she waved over. "Mrs. Bix!"
"Is that the lady you were talking about?" The receptionist couldn't help but stare at the beautiful woman in front of her eyes.
"Yes."
The receptionist nodded. "Although I don't know the exact details, your daughter is currently in the operating room."
The mother sighed, though the three did not know what she was feeling. "I'll make the necessary payments."
"Oh, no! You don't need to!"
"I know it was my daughter's carelessness, so I will pay."
Seeing the lady's determination, the receptionist didn't argue.
The mother was handed a form and she sat on one of the chairs to review it.
Danna nervously approached the mother. "Umm . . . Please don't blame Carmy. It was our fault for coaxing her into drinking some alcohol . . ."
The mother's expression changed subtly, she was quite surprised. She saw them to be kind friends and didn't mean any harm, so naturally, she didn't put any fault upon them directly.
"I won't blame Carmine," the mother said curtly.
After all, how could she possibly ever come to blame her daughter?
She chuckled at that thought and began humming a lullaby she used to sing to her daughter to get the little girl to sleep and started filling out the paperwork.
The three people in the room faced the humming woman. Her legs were elegantly crossed as she smoothly wrote on the paper.
The tune especially caught their attention as their minds slowly blanked. They began feeling extremely relaxed, all their anxiety they forgot for that moment.
They all gazed at the woman until Alice's phone rang. She picked it up and held it to her ears.
"My parents are here, so we'll be leaving . . ."
The two girls walked toward the exit, the mother didn't pay any attention to them.
"Miss. Bix, I hope that Carmy gets better!"
The mother looked up and nodded to Alice.
She wasn't paying attention to the paperwork, it was already complete, but her mind was on something else.
The mother was considering her options and finally decided on one after dwelling on it for a while.
She stood up and handed the paperwork to the receptionist.
The receptionist glanced at the paper and saw that everything was filled out. "Thank you."
The mother ignored her and went back to her seat.
About just an hour later, the door a few meters next to the receptionist's desk opened.
It was a middle-aged man who was dressed in a navy blue surgeon outfit.
He had a short conversation with the receptionist lady and glanced at the sitting woman before walking up to her.
He extended his arm for a handshake for formality.
"Hello, Miss. Bix, I am Dr. Harrison James. Are you here for your daughter?"
The mother nodded and accepted the handshake. "Yes."
"We had Carmine moved to one of the recovery rooms. Please follow me."
The mother stood up and followed the doctor.
While they entered a clean hallway, Dr. James told the mother about the situation. "It's fortunate that Carmine didn't sustain too serious of injuries. The driver probably slowed down the truck substantially. If Carmine was hit at full speed her injuries would be a lot more severe."
"That is very fortunate. Thank you doctor for helping my daughter's injuries."
Dr. James smiled and nodded. "Do you want to know what her injuries are?"
"Yes."
"There was a small fracture in her humorous and scapula on her right arm. Second-degree road burn that covers an entire face on her left arm. I do also suspect a degree of concussion but we had to tend to the other injuries first."
The mother nodded after hearing this. It certainly was on the lighter side of injuries being hit directly by a large vehicle. With this, the driver was safe . . .
"Carmine's condition is stable right now, but please refrain from contacting her injuries."
With that, the doctor opened a door for the mother to where Carmine was and entered.
"I will be taking my leave now. There is a red button on the wall next to where the patient is. Please press it if anything odd happens."
After seeing the mother's nod, the doctor closed the door and left the two alone.
Carmine was laid on a hospital bed which was situated in the middle. To the left were empty counters and cabinets probably filled with medical equipment, and on the other side was a neat couch that ran along the entire side of the wall with a small round table.
The mother stared at her daughter as she sat on the chair next to the girl.
She silently observed her.
There was a cast wrap that went across the entirety of her left arm, and a cast that wrapped around her arm and shoulder.
Seeing her daughter's pitiful state, the mother frowned. She extended both of her hands and gently grasped her left arm which was closest to her.
The mother wasn't looking at her daughter's external injuries, but her internal self.
Her pitch-black eyes glimmered, staring straight into the light of her sleeping daughter.
She saw slight tears and scratches.
Thinking over her decision that she made preemptively previously, it was now confirmed.
Smiling, the mother said softly whispered, "This world is no longer safe for you. Don't worry, my precious daughter, I'll finally send you to your true self and home."
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