I Stopped Waiting and Started Loving novel Chapter 51

Bonnie Hayes returned to the county town and headed straight for the hospital.

But when she reached the ward, the bed was empty.

The nurse informed her that once the toxins in her mother's body had been suppressed and her vitals stabilized, she had insisted on an early discharge and returned to her rented house on the outskirts of town.

Bonnie hurried toward the suburbs.

Before she even stepped into the yard, she spotted a hunched figure in the vegetable patch from a distance.

Jillian Hayes was bent over under the early summer sun, struggling to weed the vegetables with a small hoe.

Seeing her mother's back, which looked as frail as a sheet of paper, Bonnie choked up.

Ever since Jillian had been hospitalized, she had constantly thought of ways to ease her daughter's financial burden.

During the worst of her illness, she had even secretly stopped taking her medication and attempted to end her own life.

Bonnie had saved her just in time, scolding her fiercely through tear-filled eyes.

After that, Jillian never dared to attempt suicide again, but she rented this cheap single-story house and a small plot of land on the outskirts of town.

As long as the toxins didn't flare up, she couldn't sit still. She always wanted to grow fresh vegetables to sell at the local market.

Bonnie tossed her canvas bag onto the grass by the dirt road.

She rushed into the patch in a few quick strides and snatched the small hoe from Jillian's hands.

"Mom, let me do this. Go rest on the side!"

Jillian jumped, but when she turned and saw her daughter, her heavily wrinkled face broke into a massive smile.

"Bonnie? What are you doing back!"

She was thrilled, though her eyes instinctively darted toward the dirt road behind her daughter.

"Why are you alone? Didn't Parrish come back with you?"

The fingers gripping the hoe's handle tightened, Bonnie's knuckles turning slightly white.

In the past, every time she returned to town, Parrish would follow along and help with all the heavy lifting.

"You child, sometimes you're just too stubborn. Like a stubborn mule."

"I can see that young man treats you really well, and he's more handsome than anyone for miles around. Don't always pick fights with him over trivial things."

Looking at her mother's caring gaze, Bonnie felt a suffocating lump in her throat, but she forced a bright smile anyway.

"Mom, I promise we didn't. We're perfectly fine."

She took her mother's hand and swung it playfully. "Let me tell you some good news. I recently got a new job. It includes room and board, and the pay is amazing."

"Look, haven't I put on some weight?"

Jillian leaned in and carefully inspected her daughter's face.

Indeed, her previously hollow cheeks now looked a bit fuller.

Bonnie naturally had a charming, round face, and when she smiled, her eyes curved beautifully.

But over the years of trying to pay for medical bills, the girl had worked herself to the bone. She had lost so much weight that only her large, round eyes stood out, a sight that always made her mother's heart ache.