Shattered Dreams [EDITING] - Chapter 51: Chapter 51

COREY'S POV:
Nadia fell asleep pretty soon after she put her head on my lap and I am proud of her for how much she has managed to do today. She got up, had a massive meal and socialised with my family and she did really fucking amazingly at it as socialising brings her battery down quicker than usual.
I like this, her lying with her head in my lap and me stroking her head as if to get rid of any negative thoughts she may be having as she sleeps. I feel myself growing tired but I keep myself awake for as long as possible so I don't disrupt her sleep with my snoring. I pull out my phone from my pocket with as little movement as possible in hopes that the bright screen will keep me alert and awake.
I see multiple texts from my coach asking if I will actually turn up to the next training session and I roll my eyes, not bothering to reply to him as he knows I will be. He is also being dramatic because I have only missed one session, unlike Willem who has missed multiple this week, he better not have lost his touch on the ice. Speaking of Willem, I have a couple of missed calls from him and I become more alert as it makes me feel like something is wrong, or about to go wrong.
I try to call him back but I get no reply so that makes me even more anxious over the situation. I look down at Nadia's peaceful face and know that even if I move it won't wake her up, especially considering the day she's had today. I lift her head with my hands and sit up from underneath her, trying my hardest not to wack her on the head with my leg. I am successful in not knocking her out with my hip so I place a pillow down and then slowly lower her head down onto it, hoping the cushion will be comfier than my legs were for her.
Ellie comes sniffing around the living room and then jumps up onto the sofa by Nadia's feet, being careful not to lie on her legs. It's like she knows that something is not right with them.
I've always been fascinated by how clever dogs actually are because they can tell when something is wrong before the person with the issue actually can. I remember Nadia telling me a few weeks back that Ellie wouldn't leave her alone and was constantly whining around her just before she came down with tonsillitis and then she has been like that ever since. Ellie has stopped with the wining now but she has been clingy to Nadia, as if she wants to protect her from everything bad.
I think about whether I should disturb Nadia by carrying her upstairs to bed but my argument with myself is cut short when I hear the front door burst open with Willem speaking in a raised voice.
"I'm just saying we shouldn't tell her about any of this."
"Do you think that's really fair?" Willem's dad replies.
"Is it fair that we all went behind her back and did the one thing she told us she didn't want?" Willem bites back, earning silence from his dad.
"Will you both pack it in? We're home now and we can figure out what to do." His mum warns them, closing the door behind her as she walks in.
I have to say that I have no idea what they are talking about but I am getting concerned because they are talking about keeping something from Nadia. I walk out to the doorway but stay back slightly so they can't hear or see me so I can overhear better, also just in case they decide to lower their voices at all so no one can hear them.
"I think we should at least tell her where we went, obviously missing out a few details and let her make the decision on if she wants to be seen or not." His mum suggests and I don't like the sound of this at all.
"She won't want to go to a mental health hospital." Willem denies and I feel my body go into shock.
"We can discuss her options with her." His dad tells him.
It all clicks in my head what they are talking about. They don't believe there is anything more they can do for Nadia to help her out so they went away to talk to therapists about maybe putting Nadia into a hospital for her mental health. Nadia's mental health is not the main issue here, it's her physical health so why can't they see that? Do they not understand that if her physical condition improved then so would her mental? I feel myself begin to get angry so I walk out into the hallway, making myself known to them by letting out a subtle cough.
"Corey, I didn't think you'd be awake at this hour." Mrs Marsh says to me, acting as if nothing is wrong when it is.
"I didn't expect you to be back so soon, sounds like you've had a busy few days," I tell her sarcastically. I genuinely am shocked to see them back so soon as I thought they wouldn't be back till the daytime. Willem must've called me earlier to tell me that they were on their way back earlier than anticipated. I wish I would've heard the call, but I've had it on mute all day, as it would've been nice to prepare for their arrival. If they weren't arguing when they came through the door then I might have never heard them arrive, which could've been dangerous with the position Nadia and I were in on the sofa.
At least they weren't going to find us naked in bed together, there would be no amount of excuses or stories that could cover our tracks with that one.
"The house looks lovely, thank you for decorating it." Mrs Marsh thanks me, trying to change the subject.
"It was no bother," I dismiss and when I finish talking it creates an awkward bout of silence. "How was the business trip?"
They all look at each other with wide eyes and then Willem is the one to answer me because he isn't afraid to stand up to my bullshit. "Just ask what you want to ask, Corey, cut the bullshit."
"Where did you guys actually go?" I ask apprehensively. "I just overheard you talking as you came in and it didn't sound like a business trip."
"It's not any of your business is it, Corey?" Mr Marsh speaks out in a stern tone and I almost back away from the situation but this is about Nadia so I don't.
"Richard," Samantha warns him by just saying his name. "We went to look at different places we found online that could maybe help Nads."
"And the only option you found was to send her to a mental institute?" I query and she sighs as Willem glares at me for questioning it.
"It's our only option at this point," Willem begins. "Every test has come back saying nothing is wrong. Every doctor is saying that it's her head telling her this. She has been diagnosed with depression so we need to start looking at treating it."
I am surprised these words come out of Willem's mouth because he has always been Nadia's number one supporter so to have him not believe a word that comes out of her mouth must mean that no one does. I believe her though, if she says something is happening to her body then it is happening I don't care what the doctors think.
They can't put her in a hospital ward without her consent but if they found a way to do it then I will break her out of it myself, not caring about the consequences.
"What do you mean there's nothing wrong with her? All you have to do is take one fucking look at her to know that what she is telling you is true!" I almost shout at them but hold myself back in an effort not to wake Nadia up.
"Calm down, Corey," Samantha warns me now before explaining everything. "We took Nadia's hospital notes to multiple specialists and each one of them was saying there is nothing medically wrong with her. This is their words, not ours so how are we supposed to get her medical help when there is nothing to be helped?"
"It felt like our only option," Richard speaks calmly to me this time.
"Why did you keep your visit from her?" I ask them all but look towards Willem as I say it.
"We didn't want to scare her about everything and we didn't want to think she wasn't being believed. They told us not to tell her because it might send her into even more of a depressive episode." Willem explains to me.
I understand why they kept it from her and I understand that they went intending to try to help her. But you're telling me out of all the people they have seen that not one person has any fucking answers for her?
"So, what's going to happen now?" I ask them.
"We are going to go and check on our daughter and discuss the options with her." Samantha informs me with a small smile.
"How has she been whilst we were away? I see you found the decorations." Willem asks me, trying to settle the awkwardness between us down a little.
"Yeah, we put them up earlier," I respond. "She's been okay, she was in quite a lot of pain yesterday but it settled today I think, or she was just hiding it."
"Most likely hiding it," Willem comments.
"Yeah." I laugh in response.
"Mentally?" Samantha questions and I sigh before answering.
"Mentally she's been okay, yeah," I begin. "My brother and sister came over earlier and we had an early Christmas together. She seemed to enjoy it."
I don't want to tell them too much about our time together but I don't want to be too vague that I make it sound suspicious. I hope they don't start asking any more questions because I will not be able to hold back on how much fun I have actually had spending time with her. They don't even know I considered it spending time with her, they think it was just me looking after her. They seem to forget that she doesn't need looking after, just support.
"You are sweet for doing that for her." Samantha coos and Willem rolls his eyes. I can't tell what he is thinking and if he's suspicious or not.
We all mutually end the conversation there and Samantha makes her way for the stairs, thinking Nadia is up there in bed. "She's in the living room," I tell her and all three of their faces fill with shock because they think she is awake. "She's asleep on the sofa."
Relief floods through their features and they all make their way to the living room with me following behind them.
"She's not in here." Samantha panics, looking back at me in distress.
"She's probably just gone upstairs to bed." Richard suggests in an unsure tone but I shake my head to myself causing Willem to look at me in confusion.
Richard follows Samantha as she rushes upstairs to check on Nadia as I whisper to Willem. "She won't be up there, I left her asleep on the sofa when I came out to greet you guys. We would've noticed her go upstairs."
"Well, I didn't see anything," Willem comments.
"She's nowhere up here, can you check downstairs?" Samantha says frantically as she checks around upstairs again.
Willem goes towards the kitchen to look for her and I go to the study to see if she is hiding away in there reading a book or something. I feel hopeful but I only find it empty. I go to the downstairs bathroom, trying the door to see if it's locked but it's already wide open. I rush back towards the stairs just as Willem comes out of the kitchen shaking his head in defeat. "She's not out in the garden either."
Samantha and Richard come downstairs hopeful that we have found her but they can tell by our expressions that we haven't. I wasn't worried before but I certainly am now because I have no idea where she could be. She was most definitely asleep when I left her on the sofa and Willrm and his parents were facing the living room door when we were talking so they would've noticed her walking out of it.
Willem pulls out his phone and dials Nadia's number, only for it to continue ringing until it reaches her voicemail and we all sigh in defeat. So she is nowhere to be found and not answering the phone. She should know that with how she is she shouldn't just run off without an explanation as we are all shitting ourselves with worry here.
"Corey, you try her," Samantha suggests, giving me a knowing look.
"Yeah, you seem to have a way of getting to her unlike we do," Richard adds, unknowing that me and Nadia are actually a thing, unlike Samantha. "You know how she's always had this weird crush on you."
"Let's all stop talking now and try Nadia's home again." Willem cries out in disgust and looks at me pointedly, silently telling me to ring her up.
I do exactly this and phone her, but again it rings until it reaches her voicemail and I am startled that she didn't answer me of all people. If my assumptions are correct then she left the house because she overheard the conversation we were all having in the hallway so she shouldn't be mad at me for it, but this is Nadia and when something happens then it all piles on top of each other. She will shut out everyone in her life and try and deal with everything on her own.
When Archie first died it was in the winter break and before we were just back at school again after Christmas and the new year, she locked herself in her room for the rest of the holiday, not answering to anyone and barely eating. She didn't even go skating for those few weeks. She came back to college and didn't speak to anyone, only sitting with Maddy and Jasper, where she would watch Archie's empty chair with no expression on her face as Maddy and Jasper spoke to each other around her.
She's a strong girl but she is also weak as she needs to realise letting people into her suffering so she doesn't have to go through it alone is also her being strong.
"Is her car still here?" I ask them and they rush to check. "Because realistically she can't get very far on her legs at the minute."
"No, it's not on the drive," Willem says, getting his keys out of his pocket but I stop him, showing him mine.
"I'll drive you guys, you've been driving around all day and I should probably go home after this anyway," I explain and they do not object as they make their way to my car.
I hope I find her.