Olivia fell asleep in my bed. It wasn’t a restful sleep. She kept tossing and turning, keeping my up for the rest of the night. I sat at my desk and fiddled with a pencil that sat there, and then tossed it aside. Every time Olivia would toss and turn, I could hear small words escape her mouth.
Dawn came and I put my clothes on and made my way downstairs. I started brewing the pot of coffee when I felt the phone in my pocket vibrating. It was Lena texting me. She was were on her way to pick up Olivia, Mia, and myself. Gregory was staying home with the girls. They were sleeping. Lena was picking up David because he’d been at the hospital all night, and my mom told him to go home and get some sleep. He shouldn’t be driving.
I got Olivia and Mia out of bed and ready to go.
“Is moma home?” Mia asked sleepily as I helped her pull on her coat.
“No Mia.” I said to her, “But you’re going to go play with Eliza and Rosie. You’ll get to spend the day with Lena.”’
“Where will you be?” Mia asked me, I knew she wanted to go see mom and dad.
“I’ll be with Sara.” I replied and helped her buckle her coat.
Olivia was groggy eyed, and she was still very tired. It was obvious to me the she was expecting the worst case scenario once we arrived at the hospital. Lena didn’t come in, she took Mia, and they went back to Sara’s house to stay with the girls.
Olivia curled up next to my dad, and couldn’t stop staring at Sara. I couldn’t read her expressions. My sixteen year old sister looked so much like a child in that moment.
Sara was sound asleep, and my mom was out of the room.
“Where’s mom?” I asked my dad, who looked like he could fall asleep at any moment.
He looked at me for a moment, almost surprised to hear someone talking. It had been a long night, and they were probably too emotional to say anything. Both of my parents were quiet people. My father especially.
“She went to get coffee; she’ll be back any minute now.”
I sat on the window sill. I felt the air from the vent hit me on the back. “You two should go home and get some sleep.” I urged him. “Olivia and I can stay with her.”
“I think this one needs to go home and get some sleep too.” He motioned to Olivia who was fighting to keep her eyes open.
“Alright. I’ll stay with her.” I said to him. “The three of you should go home and get some rest.”
Suddenly my mom came in the door.587Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlGcWMAYeG6
“Oh hello Violet.” She said.
“The doctor will come and give us the news soon. We’re going to stay until that happens.” My father said.
“What are ya talking about?” Mom said as she handed dad his coffee.
“Violet thinks we should go home and sleep.”587Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP3wjhQhw1x
My mom sighed and said. “Not yet.”
Sara woke up briefly. She looked around and then fell back asleep. According to my mom she had woken up various times during the night. The medicine she had made her mostly drowsy.
There was a lot of silence for the next few hours until David came back. He looked like he didn’t sleep at all.
“Did you get some sleep at all?” My mom asked David.
He sighed and shook his head. “I couldn’t. My thoughts were all on her.” David was quiet. He sat on the chair, arms resting on his legs, and he looked at the ground.
Sara’s doctor came in, and I moved to stand up, but I leaned on the wall.587Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDsk7reUFwh
“Good news first.” The doctor said. “We can start the discharge process, and Sara will be able to go home today.”
“And the bad news?” David asked the doctor. He was sitting upright now.
The doctor looked around at us, and then said. “If I may, I’d like to have a word with Mr. Hughs.”587Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjUB22jU32C
I followed my mom and dad out of the room.
My dad and I leaned on one of the walls, and my mom paced back and forth. I looked at my phone and saw a message from Sam, it said that I should call him when I get a chance.
“I’ll be right back.” I said to my parents as I turned and left.
“Hello?” Sam said as he answered the phone.
“Hey.” I said to him.
I could hear the smile in his voice. “Hi V.”
I was in the waiting room by this time. “What’s up?”
“Bri was wondering if you needed a dress for the thing tonight.” Sam said, I could hear the confusion in his voice.
I could hear someone in the background saying ‘give me the phone’.
“Okay, okay.” Sam laughed, and then another voice came on the other end.
“Hi! Violet!” The voice said to me. It was Briana. She was very upbeat.
“Hello Briana.” I tried to sound happy.
“Do you have a dress for tonight?” I could hear shuffling.
“Tonight?” I asked. “Oh. Oh yeah. No I haven’t had time to get one.”
“That’s what I figured. I have several at my house you can choose from. I won’t be there, but my room is open to you.”
“Okay. Great, thanks Briana.” I said to her.
“I’ll give you back to my brother now. Bye!” She didn’t give me any time to tell her ‘Goodbye’ before the phone was handed back to Sam.
I could hear him say something to Briana before saying “Hey V. How has your morning been?”
“Um. It’s been… Well it’s been a busy morning.” I tried not to give anything away. I didn’t want him to worry about me.
“Is everything alright?” He became alarmed. “Is Sara okay?”
“Yeah, yeah everything is okay. We thought it was a turn for the worse, but she gets to go home soon.” I shuffled where I stood.
“Are you going to want to spend time with her tonight then?”
I looked back at my parents who had went back into the room.
“No. No, I think it’s best if she goes home and rests without any disturbances or guests.”
“If you’re not up for it, you don’t have to go.”
I smiled. “No I’ll be fine Sam.”
“Are you sure?” He asked me concerned.
“Yes. Unless you don’t want me to go.” I quit smiling.
“No. I want you to go.” Sam was quiet.
“Okay. What time does it start?” I asked.
“Seven?” Sam said unsure. “I’ll ask and get back to you?”
“I’ll just be at your house at 4:30 to get the dress and you can pick me up at my house at six thirty.” I said, making the plans definite.
“Oh so now I have to pick you up.” Sam joked.587Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4EHsIWnkDQ
“Ha ha. I’ll talk to you later, I’ve got to go.”
We said our goodbyes and then I made my way back to Sara’s room.
“Hospice?” I heard my mom ask David. “They want to put her in hospice care?”
David didn’t say anything, he just looked out the window. “I know this is hard for you, Elizabeth. It’s hard for me too. I’m losing my wife. The only woman I’ve ever loved.” David didn’t turn away from the window, and his voice was still. “Putting her in the care of hospice would only benefit her as she leaves this world.”
“But surely we’ve got a little time.”
“Would you look at her. Does she look like she has time, Elizabeth?” His voice was still quiet, and a little cold.
“I can care for her.”
I turned out of the room, unable to bare anything else that was about to be said.
I sent a message to my dad that’d I would be in the downstairs lobby. I didn’t want to say anything else.
He came down soon after that, and found me sitting in a yellow chair, staring out of the very large window.
“You left them there to butt heads.” I told him.
He sighed. “I didn’t. They quit as soon as you left the room.”
“Good.” I replied, still not looking at him. “Can you imagine if Sara woke up to that. Why are they releasing her anyway?” I asked him. “It’s not like she’s getting any better.”587Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnf6kNSWWFR
“She wants to die at the house, and the doctor is respecting her wishes.” My dad was quiet.
“How long do they think she has?” I asked him.
“Christmas… If that.” Dad sighed moved closer to the window.
“I feel like mom thinks she’s the only one affected.”
That’s when I saw Cait rushing through the front doors of the hospital. Her hair was tied messy to the back of her head, and she was still in her pajamas.
“Dad.” She said and hugged our father. “Violet.” Cait said to me. “I’m sorry I couldn’t come sooner. What room?”
“Hi Cait.” I said quietly, but she was obviously not paying any attention to me.
My dad told her the room number Sara was in, and Cait rushed away.
“Do you want to go home?” My dad asked me.
“Yeah I do.” I admitted. There were too many people in the room as it was, and I was not going to hear more arguing.
I sent a text message to Sam asking if he could pick me up from the hospital. He was the only person who’d be available to pick me up.
I told my dad I’d let him know when I got home. Dad hugged me for a minute, and then he went back upstairs to Sara.
It took a little while for Sam to get there, but I was very glad when he did.
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