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"Go ahead," he proainst the bright overhead lights, fu to press the button to answer She was too late, and her hands trembled as she redialed A person didn’t act as caretaker to three elderly wo a part of herthe worst
"Ruby," she gasped, hearing her aunt’s voice "What is it?"
Marlene felt the blood drain from her head She ended the call, met Sully’s eyes "It’s Ma She fell They think it’s her hip An ambulance--" She choked on the last words
Sully somehow had her in her coat and headed out the door before she knehich end was up "They’ll be taking her to Silver City Merateful not to have to speak Toate the streets of Silver City, pulling into the hospital lot She was on autopilot, grateful he was there to find the right attendant and ask the right questions, navigating them to the correct curtained room in the ER Her an Tiotten to the ER or had been sitting there her whole life
Ruby and Pearl showed up not long after the a driven themselves there in Marlene’s pickup She would’ve found it shocking, had she not already been so swah fro around, finding coffee--and she was struck by their calo, and she was the kid and they were the adults Snippets of memory returned in a flash, those times when herher dinner,her wash her hands and finish her schoolwork
Like sun shifting through a pris a different truth, showing their quibbles and tics anew She’d forgotten such large chunks of her childhood--the tiny details, the less daily trivia As the years passed, much of it had drifted frootten snippets came to her now, and she wondered, how had life passed so quickly? How had those memories slipped away? Weren’t those day-to-day details what life was about?
Sully had been gone, and he reappeared now, sitting beside her to take her hand He gave it a squeeze
She looked at their twined fingers His hands were so new to her, such an unexpected source of comfort She’d seen in his eyes that he had word fro it for another few moments "My husband never heldhim before he could deliver any more bad news
"Your husband was a fool," he said without hesitation
She squeezed this strange ht now? Her ex had never held her hand, never courted her, never taken her to fancy restaurants, and he definitely would never have tolerated a chick flick just because it hat Marlene had wanted to see
She lad you’re here, Torateful She was an independent worooman She’d raised a houseful of boys She was always the responsible one, including being responsible for her mother in a way Ma, self-reliant wo abreath "What did the doctor say?"
"Your , but that’s the Alzheiood physical shape"
She sed again and again, trying to dissolve the ache in her throat "Ma was always fit as a fiddle Mountain living"
"Soht, until her cold fingers were cocooned in Tom’s steady war But you’re going to have so back the tears "Can I see her?"
"Of course" He pulled her to standing "They’reinto the hospital rooet her er in her body, but the woly white and antiseptic hospital room--she’d want to be at hoe Farer Ma and angling for a picnic, even in the worst of weather<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>