Placing my hand over Grace’s, I leaned my head into her hand. “Thank you, Grace.”
Giving me a wink, Grace quickly kissed me and then dropped her hands and went back to cooking.
Walking out of the kitchen, I slowly made my way back to my mother. Stopping right outside the door, Angela looked at me. “If she falls into a coma, she’ll still be able to hear you. Don’t be afraid to talk to her. We find with most patients they wait until their loved ones say goodbye. Once she knows you’re going to be okay, she’ll move on.”
Move on.
Balling up my fists, I closed my eyes. I didn’t want my mother to move on. She needed to be here watching as my relationship with Grace grew to something more. Marriage. A family.
She needed to be here.
“Noah? Are you hearing what I’m saying to you?”
Nodding, I pulled out my phone and found Emily’s number. “I’ll be right in. I’m calling my sister.”
Angela nodded and opened the door. I peeked into the room and saw my mother sleeping. She looked like an angel. You’d never be able to tell that the cancer was destroying her a little bit more each day.
Hitting Emily’s number, I held my breath and waited for her to answer.
“H-hello. Noah, is everything okay?” I knew every time the phone rang Emily was on edge. Each time I’d delivered a normal update. This time I had to tell my baby sister that our mother was going to die soon.
And only God knew when.
Grace
Sitting on the sofa in the living room, I rubbed the palms of my hands down my jeans again. Noah and Emily were in with their mother. Lisa had held on for another few weeks, but had taken a drastic turn for the worse. Every time I left for school, I prayed that Noah wouldn’t be here alone if it happened. Each night I came home, Noah took an Ativan and slept for a few hours. I was scared to death at the little amount of sleep he was living on. Plus the fact that I wasn’t sure how long he had been taking the Ativan. The longer he stayed on it, the worse it would be to stop taking it.
Glancing over to my right, I looked at all the boxes I’d brought with me from College Station. I’d gone back to College Station this past weekend to help Alex and Will pack up the house. It was Thanksgiving break and after that, it was two more weeks of school and then finals. Commencement was December eighteenth. After that, I had no idea what I was going to do. Did I stay here with Noah and wait? Or did I go to Mason and start helping Alex with our new flower nursery?