To My Dearest Roseanne- Chapter 34
As usual, Roseanne did the household chores and visited her mother in the afternoon. That Friday, however, the girl was shocked to see that Liz was accompanied by a stranger.
"Oh, come in, sweetheart. Let me introduce you," Liz said.
Liz did the honours, and in this way, Roseanne met Kate, a girl her age who was treating her eye. But she didn't wear the hospital gown. Kate was dressed in a hoodie and sweatpants, holding a sports bag in her hands.
"I'm leaving the hospital now," said Kate. "Thank you for the conversation yesterday and I wish you good health."
"It's not a problem and I wish the same to you. Good luck with your boyfriend." Liz smiled.
Kate looked at Roseanne and her mom one last time, slightly nodded her head and exited the room in a very rushed, unconfident manner, with a hunched back and eyes peeled to the floor. Roseanne sensed the stranger girl must have been struggling with personal problems.
"I see you're so bored out of your mind that you began making friends here," Roseanne remarked.
"I just wanted to grab a smoke and one word led to another. The whole thing turned out by itself." Liz moved from the bed onto a wheelchair. "Honestly, I feel sorry for the girl. She reminded me about my first romantic adventures."
"Oh, really? How come you never told me about those?"
"You know... I could ask you the same question, Rosie."
Roseanne grabbed the wheelchair from behind and waved her hand in the air, as if demonstratively pushing away an invisible thing.
"I've never had adventures, Mom. Just a string of derailed mistakes."
***
Roseanne took her mom to a physiotherapy session, during which both worked hard. Liz did not only undergo muscle-strengthening exercises. She was also hooked up to a safety harness and practised standing up while supporting herself with a walker. Still, she had significant trouble doing this.
Nevertheless, Doctor Michalski assured Roseanne that her mother was in good condition and would be discharged on Monday. The physician hoped Liz would respond better to intense physiotherapy, but Roseanne wasn't mad at him, even though she still hated all the physicians in the world. What mattered to her was the general well-being of Liz. She could always deal with her mother's wheelchair, she got used to it, but she wouldn't stand watching her mom lose consciousness again.
On her way back home, her phone was littered with Messenger notifications from Natasha and Isa. Puzzled, Roseanne read dozens of congratulatory posts loaded with emojis, trying to figure out what exactly happened at school today.
She messaged Emily, but the friend didn't even read her post.
Driven by curiosity, Roseanne decided to also check the school's official Facebook page as well as the school log. The first had no new information, but the latter contained a private message from Mr Orville:
Dear Roseanne,
Once again, allow me to thank you for your outstanding performance today. You amazed everybody, including me, and I sincerely hope this success is just the beginning.
Most importantly, I thank you wholeheartedly for the beautiful contest essay which you shared with me. I believe it was for the best that you didn't give me your homework back then. Sometimes we need real-life experience and a fortunate set of circumstances to make us reach the sky of creativity and dine with the gods.
I look forward to future essays penned by you.
PS Give my regards to your dog!
With best regards,
Orville Lawrence Holloway
Having read the message, Roseanne was more confused than before. A contest? An essay? What was going on?
I am going to have a long conversation with Cho, that's for sure, she thought.
***
Unfortunately, the apartment was empty when Roseanne returned in the late afternoon. Enzo was waiting patiently in the dark shade of the setting sun, but there was no sign of her alternate self.
Roseanne became concerned. She checked the time. Classes finished well over two hours ago. Perhaps Cho's bus was late? She opened the metropolitan app signalling potential traffic jams or accidents in the city, but there was no information about recent events. So, what happened to Cho?
Roseanne messaged Cho, but there was no reply. She messaged Emily again, but there was no reply as well.
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