Heavenstone 01 - The Heavenstone Secrets

and intelligence to be a CEO, it was surely Cassie. I had to give her that.
    If it was what Daddy wanted in the end, she would do it, I concluded. She lived to please him.
    We’ll be all right. The Heavenstones will be just fine.
    Strengthened by my own theories and projections for our future, I walked into the hospital with Daddy and Cassie unafraid. I told myself that we would help Mother recuperate, and things would soon return to normal. Why, this could all make us even tighter as a family. We’d care more for each other, be more considerate to each other. Pretty soon, I’d be chanting aloud like Cassie: “We’re the Heavenstones.”
    The sight of Mother looking shriveled and small in her hospital bed plugged up my gushing optimism quickly. It was as if she were lying on a mattress full of her own tears. The dark circles around her eyes, the pallor of her complexion, and the weakened appearance she presented practically nailed my feet to the floor. I had to press myself to move to herbedside. Daddy rushed to take her hand. She opened her eyes, and almost immediately, her lips began to tremble.
    “Please don’t cry, Arianna. We need you to get well and come home,” he said, and leaned over to kiss her cheek.
    Her lips stopped trembling, but she didn’t speak.
    “The girls have been terrific. They’re taking good care of me, and they’ve been working on the house, too.”
    Mother nodded and looked at us and shook her head, again looking as if she would cry.
    “You’ve got to get yourself well, Mother,” Cassie said, moving beside Daddy at her bedside. “There’s so much to be done for the new store opening. We’ve got to mend and become the Heavenstone family again.”
    She stood looking down at Mother, who simply looked up at her as if she didn’t know what Cassie was talking about. I hurried to her bedside and kissed her. She smiled finally, but she had yet to say a word to any of us. Instead, she simply closed her eyes.
    “She’s still under some sedation,” Daddy said in a voice just above a whisper. “I’m going out to speak with the doctor. I see he’s at the nurses’ station. You two keep talking to her.”
    Cassie waited until he was gone and then looked at me and at Mother and shook her head.
    “Mother, we need you to stop this and get better,” she said. “It’s not the end of the world. Other women have had miscarriages and rebounded quickly. Besides, you were taking a chance gettingpregnant this late in life. Surely, you knew this might happen.”
    “Cassie!” I cried.
    She ignored me. “Daddy is devastated, too, but he has to recover and deal with his responsibilities. The quicker you get better, the less pressure there will be on us all.”
    I looked down at Mother. She didn’t open her eyes, but her lips began to tremble again. I couldn’t stand it. I walked away from the bed and looked at the floor, with my back to Cassie. She came up beside me.
    “Stop behaving like an infant, Semantha. This is how you deal with people in her state of mind. You force them to snap out of it. You don’t cater to their self-pity.”
    “How do you know what to do? You’re not a doctor,” I snapped back at her.
    “I’ve read about this. In fact, I studied up on it last night. I did a great deal of research on my computer. I’m not doing anything to hurt her or be mean. I’m trying to help her. I’m surprised you would think anything else. In fact, I’m a little hurt, Semantha. I would hope you’d think better of me. I’m always looking after you, aren’t I?”
    “It sounds very cruel.”
    “It’s called tough love, and it’s a proven technique. I’ll show you articles on it when we get home.”
    I nodded, but I still didn’t like it. She returned to Mother’s bedside and continued to whisper her tough love. I stood back, watching, until Daddy returned and she stopped talking. Cassie shook her head to indicate that there was no change.

    “I was right. She is still under sedation,” Daddy said. “We should leave and return after lunch. She’ll be more alert then.”
    “Whatever you think, Daddy,” Cassie said.
    Just then, Uncle Perry appeared in the doorway.
    “How is she?”
    “Resting … sedated,” Daddy said.
    Uncle Perry nodded. He came in and looked at Mother and then at us. “Sorry, girls,” he said.
    “We don’t want to dwell on it,” Cassie said. “Especially in front of Mother. She might still be able to hear us, sedated or not.”
    Uncle