AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I step closer, voice low. “How bad is it, Evelyn? What are the doctors saying?”
Evelyn’s face falls. “Your mother’s strong, but in her condition… an infection like this…”
“Can’t they give her something? An antibiotic or something?”
“At this stage, anything they give her is just to make sure she’s comfortable. I’m afraid…” Her voice trembles. “… there’s nothing they can do at this point.” Evelyn clasps my arm, tears swimming in her eyes. “She’s going to be so happy to see you, honey. Go on in.”
My lungs are tight. It feels like there are cement blocks strapped to my feet as I hand over Nina and then shuffle past her and through the door.
A bright bouquet of flowers on the bedside table catches my eye before I see her in her bed, a maze of tubes and needles weaving in and around her. She’s facing an open window that looks out on a green space, but her eyes are closed and her hands are folded over her chest.
She looks peaceful. It seems a shame to wake her up.
But it’s been so long, I can’t help myself.
“Mom…?” I whisper, edging towards her bed.
She smiles slightly, but she still doesn’t open her eyes. Not until I put my hand over hers. Then her eyelids flutter open, her jaw dropping in shock. “Laila?”
I swallow down the sob lodged in my throat. “Who else calls you ‘Mom’?”
“I thought I was imagining it,” she admits. “Sometimes, I swear I can hear your voice in quiet moments.”
And that’s about all it takes to set me off. Just like that, I’m blubbering all over her, doing exactly what I told myself I wouldn’t do.
“Honey.” Mom strokes my hair the way she used to when I was a little girl and would wake up with nightmares. “Don’t cry, please. It’s okay.”
“Figures,” I sniffle, wiping my nose on my sleeve. “You’re the one in the hospital bed and you’re still taking care of me.”
“Ridiculous, isn’t it?” she teases. “You’re stealing my thunder here, love.”
Laughter fights its way through the tears. Mom makes room for me on her bed, and I slip under the covers beside her. She wrapsher arms around me, and I try to ignore how fragile she feels. How thin.
“I’m sorry,” I breathe.
“For what, honey?”
“For not being here all this time. I should have been the one taking care of you. Not Evelyn.”
“Don’t apologize for that, Laila. The last three months were ones to miss, for sure. Don’t get me wrong—I’m glad you’re here—but part of me wishes you hadn’t come back. I told him to keep you where you were for a little while longer.”
She says the last part almost to herself, and I nearly fall out of the bed. “You wanted me to stay away?”
“I thought it would be for the best. But he insisted that with the threat gone, he couldn’t justify keeping you in Vermont anymore. Even if the alternative is to bring you back so you can watch me die.”
“Mom, stop. You don’t mean that.”
“I’ll admit,” she continues as though I haven’t spoken, “I was upset with Arsen the first few weeks after he sent you and Nina away. But then I began to see the silver lining in all this.”
I can’t believe what I’m hearing. I’m tempted to check the back of her head for some kind of implant—a microchip that might explain why she is siding with Arsen.
“He robbed us of our last few months together! How can you possibly defend that?”
“We’ve had a lifetime together, sweetheart. And we’ve filled it with the best memories. I want you to hold on tothose. Notthese.” She lifts her arms weakly, then drops them back onto the pale blue hospital blanket. “I didn’t want you to have to watch me fade away. I wanted to spare you that.”
“That’s not up to you to decide. It’s not up to anyone but me.”
Mom takes my hand. “I love you, Laila. And I also know you. You hate being helpless. And my case is as helpless as they come. There’s nothing you can do now.”
