Kathy found Holly asleep on the couch in the morning. She worried about her daughter, and what she would do when she was gone. Bringing her back here had been a good thing, she wasn’t sure she would find her way back to Maggie at first, but was relieved that she had. Kathy knew that when she passed, her daughter would need someone to help her through her grief. Even if she lived far away. Kathy busied herself with a coffee pot, the cancer had robbed a lot of things from her, her taste being one of them, she no longer drunk coffee for that sweet burnt caramel flavour she so often craved, but for the calming ritual. She placed a cup down on the table for her and got one down for Holly and poured her a drink too. She walked over to where her daughter rested on the couch and gently shook her by the shoulder until she woke. “Good morning.” Kathy said as she swept the hair from her daughter’s face. What a beautiful face her daughter had. She was going to miss those blonde curls and big b
Holly took her mother home and tucked her straight into her bed, she was worried about her as she wiped the thin veil of sweat from her mothers forehead. She had a temperature and it was only getting higher. “Are you sure you don’t want to go to the ER?” Holly pleaded her mother one more time. “Holly, I’m fine, I just overexerted myself, I just need some sleep.” The last place Kathy wanted to be right now was back at the hospital. It was awful, loud, cold and sterile.“I know, I would just feel better if someone could take a look at you.” Holly was a nurse, she could do it herself, but her mother refused her help. Kathy didn’t want Holly to look at her like a patient, it was undignified. Seeing her like this was bad enough as it was. “Holly, I am immunocompromised because of the cancer and the failed rounds of chemo, I am in more danger there, than I am here.” Kathy said flatly. Holly knew that what Kathy said was true. The ER was full of sick people. Feeling like she was unable to
Holly was so exhausted that her eyes hurt and her body was sagging, but the doctor would surely be on his rounds soon and she wanted to ask him how her mother was so she continued to fight the need to rest. It had been a long night in the Hospital. Kathy had to receive plenty of fluids and would need to spend some time on oxygen, but was otherwise okay. If she had not choked on her vomit, she likely would have not needed to come in. How much longer she had to stay in here entirely depended on how long she needed to on oxygen for. She had called Maggie a little over an hour ago and asked her to relieve Lincoln. She appreciated his help more than she could say, but she was worried it would cause him issues at home. She was just about to call Maggie again and ask how things were at home when Maggie sent through a photo. To her surprise it was a photo of Eve and Lincoln. They were smiling at each other over a plate of pancakes. Of course, Eve talked Maggie into that one she thought.
The first thing Holly seen when she woke up was the text message from Maggie. She must have read it a thousand times and she would probably had to read it a thousand more before she grasped it. He thinks his relationship just ended? Did he break up with her? Did she break up with him? Are they going to work it out. She needed more information than that. ‘Is he okay?’ She texted Maggie back. Hopefully, she wouldn’t have to pry to get the information out of her. Maggie liked to make you work for it sometimes and it was infuriating. ‘I don’t know the full story yet, he hasn’t told me what happened, he is inside with Mom and Dad. I thought it was best to keep away from all that drama while Eve is with me, but I will tell you as soon as I know, I swear.’ Maggie’s text back was quick, but frustratingly lacked any real information. Seeing how late in the afternoon it was, it was best that Holly collected Eve now anyway, she did not want to miss their visiting hours. If she did she wouldn
It was already dark when Lincoln finally woke. He turned on his phone and to his surprise there were no texts or missed calls from Sasha. She had gone quiet. His tummy rumbled; he had not eaten since Maggie had made him chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast this morning. He hoped his mom had saved him a plate. He walked downstairs to find Maggie sitting alone in the kitchen. She had a smile on her face and was vigorously texting away. “You talking to Holly?” He asked. Maggie jumped in her seat; she had not heard Lincoln come in. He laughed, he didn’t mean to surprise her. “No.” She put her phone face down on the counter so Lincoln could not see. “Ohohoho a boy perhaps.” He teased. Maggie was a pretty girl, she had no trouble getting dates, but she did have trouble maintaining interest in anyone. “Shut up!” Maggie actually liked this guy; she didn’t want to spoil it yet. She wanted him to remain a secret just a little while longer. “Ah, so that is a yes.” Lincoln chuckled. It wa
It started to rain as he walked, but he did not turn back. He had no destination in mind, all he knew was that he felt restless. Before he knew it he was standing in Holly’s drive way. He could see her threw the kitchen window washing dishes. When Holly looked up, she was surprised to see Lincoln standing in driveway watching her with an indecipherable expression on his face. He was dripping wet. She rushed outside to greet him. “Lincoln, what are you doing?” She shouted. Even he did not know, he shrugged back at her. It was so late he was surprised that she was awake. Little did he know, she was struggling with her own demons tonight. What her mother had said to her at the hospital was torturing her. She was right, she was punishing everybody to save herself. The guilt was awful. “Get inside.” She ordered him. He listened to her and walked toward the house. She stared at the man in front of her utterly bewildered. “What on earth are you doing here ?” She sputtered. “I don’t k
In the morning, Holly visited her mother in the hospital room, she was improving but her oxygen levels still hadn’t quite returned to normal, so they were keeping her in for one more night. Holly tried to sit with her, but Kathy was tired and wanted to rest. Holly promised her mom that she would be back in the evening and went home with Eve to get ready to go to Lincolns house for lunch. Holly pulled out her phone and texted Lincoln. ‘Does your family know I am coming over for lunch? What did you say to them?’ She was excited to go and see them, but she did not know how to explain the situation to them.Lincoln texted back quickly. ‘Hey, beautiful. I was just thinking about you. Yeah, I hope you don’t mind, but I kind of told them I bumped into you this morning while I was at the store and invited you over. I am happy to tell them, if you are, I just didn’t know if you would be ready for that.’ Holly thought about it a moment, no, she defiantly was not ready for them to know ju
When Holly parked her car at the hospital, she checked her phone out of habit. The first one was from Lincoln. It just said wait up for me tonight. Did that mean he planned on coming over again? She hoped so. And the second one was from Maggie. ‘Is something going on between you and my brother?’ Her eyes almost popped out of her head when she read it. Had they been that obvious? Until now she thought they did rather well at hiding it.Holly did not know how to respond to Maggie’s text. Did she deny it? She wasn’t ready to spill the beans, but she didn’t want to lie to Maggie either. They just started being friends again. Deciding it was best not to say anything at all, Holly slipped her phone into her hand bag, ignoring both messages. She would get to them later. For now, she wanted to see her mom. Her mom was awake when they walked in there. “Hey, Mommy, how are you feeling?” Holly greeted her mother with a kiss to the cheek while she used the back of her hand to check her moth