Chapter 4

1 week later

Mariah watched TV trying to amuse herself. It was the middle of the afternoon. None of the good TV shows were on until later in the afternoon. Right now, all the cheesy soap operas were on and Mariah didn't particularly like them. She sat on her bed flipping through channels, trying to find at least something that would interest her. Then there was a knock at the door.

"Hey Mariah..."

Mariah turned her head and looked astonished at what she saw.

"Jake? Wh--h-how did you know I was here?"

"Well, your mother called before she left on her trip. I thought I might come and visit you. Is that a bad thing?"

"No, no, of course not. Come in."

Jake walked in the room and gave her a kiss on the forehead like he always did. Mariah was surprised. She didn't think he would act like this if he found out that she had cancer. Mariah never told him. She was going to, but then changed her mind, thinking it was better that he didn't know. At least not yet.

"So...how've you been?" said Jake with concern. "Everyone's been wondering where you've been, but I wouldn't tell them. Your mom said that you didn't want them to know."

'I didn't want you to know either.' thought Mariah.

"I've been good," replied Mariah. "Could be better though. I hate it in the hospital. Everything's so gloomy and there's nothing to do. I'm bored out of my mind. I just wish that everything could go back to normal."

"Well, looks like your cold's better," said Jake.

"My what?" asked Mariah, not knowing what in heck he was talking about.

"Your cold. Your mom said you were really sick and the doctors decided that you should stay in the hospital for a while. Isn't that why you're in here?" asked Jake with confusion.

Mariah sat there paralyzed. Now she knew why he came and saw her. He thought she was having a cold, and yet he waited a week before he even came and visited her. Her anger was building inside, but didn't want to let it show.

"Um..yeah, that's why." answered Mariah.

"You don't sound too sure of yourself," said Jake.

"Oh, it's nothing. I'm just really tired, that's all. Slow reaction. You know me."

"Alright. You sure you're okay?" Jake asked with genuine concern for Mariah. Mariah just nodded and assured him that everything was all right. They talked a little longer, but the whole time she just wanted Jake to leave. She realized that she couldn't stand him anymore. Sure, he was concerned, but even with a little cold, he had waited a week to come see her after he knew what was wrong. She felt bad about feeling that way, but she couldn't help it. She thought he loved her, but obviously he didn't care as much as she thought.

Soon, Jake grew tired and left, promising that he'll be back in a day or two. Mariah wouldn't be surprised if he didn't show up until next week. Jake had kissed her forehead, said good bye and left. Mariah said good bye, and said good bye to him in her heart too.

Later that night, after dinner was over and things had slowed down, Mariah sat and wrote in her journal. She sat looking out her window. This was what she did every night. It soothed her in a way. Mariah wrote about what had happened that day with Jake and poured out her feelings, but she never shed a tear. She realized she had let go of him a long time ago. Not that she wasn't happy with him, she just didn't see him the way she did before. Suddenly, she heard a child crying. At first, she ignored it, but the crying continued and wouldn't stop. Mariah went into the hall wondering what was going on.

"Sheesh, where are all the nurses when you need them.' thought Mariah.

She walked into the hall. She heard the soft crying and followed the sound. Mariah stopped in front of the ice machine room. It was two doors down from her room. The boy was crouching in the corner. He couldn't be more than 5 years old. Her heart went out to him.

"Hey, there. What's wrong? asked Mariah. "You're lost aren't you?"

'Duh,' Mariah thought in her head.

"Let me take you back. I'll help you find your mom."

The child just looked at her and continued crying. His cries were getting a little louder each time. Mariah reached out for him, but the boy backed away. Mariah cautiously approached him, taking slow and small steps. She sat next to him and just looked. The boy stopped crying and looked back.

"You know," said after a while Mariah. "I've been lost many times before, but I always ended up finding my mom. It's okay, you don't need to be scared. I'm the Mom Detector. I can find anyone's mom." Mariah knew it sounded absurd, but hey, the boy needed some comfort.

The boy's face looked at her in awe.

"Really?" said the boy in a soft voice. Then he gradually got louder. "Wow, that's so cool. I wish I could be like that."

Mariah smiled. "It's an okay job. It's better staying with my mom though. I got lost so many times I had to find my way back, that's how I became the Mom Detector, but you don't want to be lost that many times do you?"

The boy then paused and thought about it. "I guess not."

"That's right. So, what's your name?"

The boy brightened up a bit. "My name's Carter and I'm six and a half years old." he replied proudly.

Mariah just smiled, remembering how important it was to add that half in the end. Even adding a quarter mattered.

"Wow, six and a half," replied Mariah, making sure that she added that half. "That's real neat. You're a big boy now, aren't you?"

The boy nodded his head with a big smile on his face.

"Well, Carter, how about we go find that mom of yours?"

"Yeah!" replied Carter with enthusiasm. "You show me how to become a Mom Detector."

"Deal." replied Mariah.

They both got up and walked out of the supply room. Not even after 10 steps a woman's voice yelled out Carter's name. She rushed over and hugged the boy so tight that Mariah thought that the boy's eyes was gonna pop out. The boy didn't seem to notice though.

"Mom, Mom!" Carter exclaimed. "Guess who this is?" Carter pointed at Mariah. His mother asked who, glancing up at Mariah. She was too busy checking if the boy was hurt or not.

"She's a Mom Detector and she's good. The minute we walked out of that room, she found you!" Carter looked so excited that he was jumping up and down.

"A Mom Detector, huh?" replied Carter's mom with a smile. "Well, Mom Detector, thank you so much for...um...finding me. It's greatly appreciated. I was real worried about this boy here. Sometimes, he's just too much." Carter looked up at his mom with a big smile.

"No problem," replied Mariah. "It was no trouble at all. He's the cutest kid!"

Once again, she thanked Mariah and gave Mariah her name and phone number. She then quickly hurried off with Carter's hand tightly in one hand. Carter just turned around and waved bye with his free hand, and a big smile was plastered on his face. Half way down the hall, they met up with someone who was in a wheelchair. The person looked at Mariah, smiled and went off with the lady and Carter, who was busy talking.

Mariah sighed. 'What a night,' she thought and went back to room to get some rest.