AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She shook her head and cast her eyes down.
“Which hospital did they take her to?”
“How the heck should I know? Do you think I know everything around here?”
Yes, I did think that.
“Did they take her to Mount Sinai?” I asked.
“No, St. Joseph’s would be closer,” she said, then snapped her finger at me. “Oh, I see what you did there.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” I ran past her and the elevator, knowing it would take me less time to run down the stairs than wait for that blasted thing.
Hoping in my car, I typed the hospital’s address on my phone and found the shortest route there. I made it in less than fifteen minutes.
“I’m looking for a patient with the last name Sweeney?” I asked the receptionist. Clicking her tongue, she searched for the name on her computer.
“Room 1204,” she said.
“Thank you.”
Another elevator and another heap of patience as I waited in the crowded space for visitors to exit on every floor. By the time I reached the twelfth floor, my hands shook and the back of my neck burned from rubbing it so hard.
But everything came to a standstill when I turned the corner and saw her. She had pulled her black hair into a ponytail, but several pieces fell through. She wore black tights and an oversized red sweater,her arms crossed against her chest.
She gasped when she saw me and my heart leaped when she dropped her arms and ran toward me. She was only a few feet away, yet it felt like an eternity until she reached me.
As she neared, I noticed her eyes were as red as her sweater and swollen, too. Seeing her in distress, pain shot through my chest. She slammed her body against mine and I pulled her into my arms. I held her against me until her heartbeat synced with mine.
Running my hands over her hair, I lifted her head to look at me. Her eyes were bloodshot and sunken as though she hadn’t slept in days. “What happened?” I asked.
“My mom,” she cried. “She’s in an induced coma. Her left kidney is not functioning at all and her right one is failing hourly. Her meds haven’t been working for a while, but I thought I still had time.” She let out a sob that ripped my chest open. “It’s really bad, Luke. I don’t know if she’ll make it through the night.”
“Shh,” I tried to calm her down, but her shoulders shook violently.
“She took care of me my whole life. She never missed a day of work to raise me on her own, and still she made time for me. I wanted to pay back everything she’d done, but I couldn’t do it. I messed up. I worked hard and I still didn’t get the promotion. I couldn’t pay for what she needed. I failed her. I failed my mother.” Her voice bounced off the walls in the empty, sterile hallways, and her sobs echoed in my ears as though they were gunshots firing at me. I felt every inch of her pain and wanted to carry it myself.
As I held her, my eyes searched for a nurse, or a doctor, anyone that could explain to me exactly what was going on. I didn’t want to put Grace through repeating all the details to me.
A woman walked up to the nurse’s station, wearing a white lab coat. There was no one else at the desk as she wrote inside a white file folder. I felt conflicted, as I didn’t want to let Grace go, but I wanted to help her. When Grace’s arms tightened around my waist, I knew I couldn’t let her go.
“You did everything you could, Grace. You didn’t give up on her. This isn’t on you.” I couldn’t help thinking that perhaps it was on me. If I hadn’t walked away from Grace all those years ago, I could have done something to help her mother these past ten years. Maybe her illness wouldn’t have gotten this far along.
“Have you had anything to eat?” I asked, rubbing her back.
She moved her head back and forth across my chest. I took that as a no. “What about sleep? When was the last time you slept, Grace?”
“I closed my eyes last night on this chair. I’m okay.”
“I’m calling Laura and Theo. One of them will stay here and relay any information to you regarding your mother as you get something to eat and a few hours of sleep.”
“I can’t,” she said, shaking her head.
I lifted her chin with my finger and stared into her brown eyes. They were drowning in tears and I could hardly breathe.
“You don’t have to be a martyr, Grace. I will make sure your mom receives the best care possible. I promise you.”
The words rumbled in my chest; the promise hung between us. I waited to see if she would trust me. “I know your mom is the most important person in your life. I will take care of her as I will you.”
