A mother's fear

PART 2

Nancy's POV

Sitting at the table watching the birds peck at the bird feeders and drinking coffee has always been a relaxing thing for me. It's why I chose to first move here over 20 years ago. Well that and my partner of course. I was always drawn to nature and this place didn't disappoint. Our little community was tucked away in the trees. It was a perfect place for us to spend our remaining years. It actually came as a surprise when Colleen moved across the street last summer. I prefer being closer to my grandbabies anyway. Although her new husband is someone she could live without.

Nancy let out as heavy sigh as she took a sip of coffee and brought her mind back to reality and checked the clock..... 7:05AM.

Nancy slowly got up from her chair and headed to the coffee pot to refill her cup. it's not as easy for her to get up like it once was. She needed to do every moment with ease because of the pain from the cancer spreading, causing her to lose an substantial amount of weight and causing other health issues mixed with being old. Other than her partner, not a soul knew.

"Colleen's suppose to stop by sometime this morning," I casually say to my partner as I settle back in my chair.

"Yeah? what's she need?," she sarcastically replied, knowing full well that Colleen doesn't come by unless she needed money.. Something we don't agree with but it's the only way we can see our grandchildren anymore.

"I'm not exactly sure honestly." she waves her hand. Just as Nancy turns towards the table to talk more in depth, her partner swiftly got up and walked away.

This was one of the sore subjects and often the cause of many arguments. So she let it go and got up to go watch her television shows.

As soon as Nancy settled on the couch and found the channel she was looking for, she glaced out the bay window to see her two grandchildren, Samantha and Mandy heading off to their bus stop. Bringing her focus back to her show, Nancy immediately fell asleep.

Nancy was awaken from the sound of the phone ringing. Groggy, Nancy rubbed her eyes and stretched lazily before picking up the phone.

"Hello," Nancy asked as she looked at the time. 9:42AM. wow, I must have been tired she thought as she rolled up the sleeves on her shirt.

"Nancy, It's Bill. Have you spoken to Colleen recently?" the voice on the other end asked.

"Not since last night," she says as she tries to pinpoint the exact time she talked with her daughter. "why do you ask?"

"I tried to call her a few times this morning," he pauses. "Morgan answered the last time and said she's asleep and not waking up." the voice says with urgency.

Nancy sat a little straighter. It isn't unusual for Colleen to sleep late in the day, but she confessed her worries to Bill a few months ago when she married Jay. She was worried Colleens mental health was going downhill, but that all seemed to have changed when they moved across the street.

"I hope it's alright, but I'm on my way to check on her. I figured it would be better than calling for a well check and getting the cops involved. just incase my gut feeling is wrong." he says.

"That's alright Bill, I can walk over there---"

"I don't think that's a good idea Nancy. It might cause an unnecessary argument if you go. This way I can say it's a social visit and talk to her for a bit." he says before he hangs up.

Curiously, Nancy dials her daughters number.

no answer. Wondering if Bill is right, Nancy gets up with the intentions to go check on her daughter.

Upon entering the dining room, Nancy notices her second oldest granddaughter, Tina is finally awake and walking to greet her.

"Tina, I'm going to walk across the street," she says as she's gathering her shoes. "You might have to make a fresh pot of coffee."

"Ok grandma." Tina yawns as she helps her grandmother with her socks and starts tying her shoes.

"mom won't be up yet I don't think," Tina says as she finishes tying Nancy's shoes. "She was up late talking with me because her and Jay were arguing again." she states as she offers her hand to help Nancy stand up.

Nancy nods undeterred and walks towards the door and exits.

The sun kisses Nancy's face when she steps out onto the porch. The spring wind makes her shiver slightly and she fastens her coat and starts to walk down the stairs and towards her daughters house. Just as she makes it to the front porch of her daughters house, Bills car pulls into the driveway.

"Nancy, hold on," Bill yells as he hops out of the car and waddles toward where Nancy was impatiently standing.

Once he's next to her Nancy proceeds up the porch with Bill in tow, and knocks..... No answer. This time Bill knocks but a little harder..... this time the door opens to reveal a 4 year old little boy with tear streaks on his cheeks and red puffy eyes... Nancy's grandson.

The little boy looks up at his grandmother and an unknown man standing outside the door way and hugs Nancy for dear life.

"I'm hungry nana." he cries "but mommy won't stop sleeping." he cries harder and guilt grips Nancy's heart. she should have came up and checked and made her grandson something to eat.

"what do you mean when you say mommy won't stop sleeping," bill gently asks. "Show me where mommy is, can you do that," Bill instructs and Nancy gives an approval nod as her grandson opens the door wider and points to the horrific scene.

Bill rushes forward following the little boy before Nancy could comprehend what was going on. she was stuck still in shock. She wanted to rush forward but her legs wouldn't move.

It wasn't until she heard Bill shout was when she found the courage to move forward.

The smell hit her first. whatever that smell was it was horrid. almost like a decaying animal or something.

"NANCY!....NANCY! CALL AND AMBULANCE NOW!" Bill shouts as she looks over to see him giving CPR to her daughters lifeless body.

Her daughter..... what happened to her daughter....

her worse nightmare. Her biggest fear... something happening to her daughter ... her baby girl.

"NANCY! NOW!" Bill shouts again being her back to focus and with a surge of adrenaline, Nancy immediately starts frantically looking for Colleen's phone.

It would have been almost impossible to find it in the piles of trash and clothes if Bill didn't point out that her grandson still had it. Nancy looks over at her grandson, who was in shock, and takes the phone and calls 911.

As Nancy is on the phone with dispatch and answering their questions she stares at her daughter while Bill continues CPR.

She notices the blue tint to her daughters ears, and lips. Nancy looks over at her grandson who, is crying uncontrollably and decides to take him outside. he's seen more than he needed to. That should have been the first thing she did, but she was in shock when she seen her daughters body.

with that she guides him outside, places him on her lap and together they cry while she rocks him.

None of this seems real. It can't be, they talked just last night. It felt like hours to Nancy before the ambulance and officers arrived. The paramedics and Rescue went inside to assist with Bill and the officer pulled Nancy aside with her grandson asking what happened.

With Morgan being so young he wasn't able to tell them much other than "mommy said she was going to sleep, and that he couldn't wake her up."

Hearing that Nancy instantly start crying. The officer suggested she take her grandson back across the street, to get him calmed down and that they will talk to her very shortly. A suggestion, Nancy didn't argue with.

She grabbed her grandsons hand and headed across the street, up the porch and inside into the kitchen.

"What's going on Nancy," her partner asked as she turned towards Nancy, careful not to bump Tina who came forward to pickup her grandson.

"Something...." she stuttered..."Something happened to Colleen." she started to say.

"what do you mean" Tina asked concern growing in her voice.

Nancy explained the recent events, leaving out specifics, to her partner and granddaughter. "We are not to go up there," she sternly stated mainly pointed to Tina. "they will send someone down very soon, and we will know more then." she reassures them. "Bill is up there. We need to let them do their job." she said more to herself than anyone else