Farrah Rochon - A Forever Kind of Love

“Well, her blood glucose levels were extremely high—”

“But she’s okay now?” Maureen cut the doctor off.

The doctor nodded.

“Thank you, God.” Mya collapsed into the chair nearest the door. Elizabeth was the one who usually favored dramatics, but relief that she would not bury both grandparents within a week was so overwhelming, it knocked Mya’s legs right from under her.

“Can we bring her home today?” Aunt Mo asked.

The doctor’s eyes darted around the room. “Can you all follow me?” she asked.

Anxiety thrummed through Mya’s veins at the seriousness she sensed in the doctor’s voice. “What’s wrong? Is she really okay?”

“Yes. Yes. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to alarm you. There are a couple of things we need to discuss regarding Mrs. Dubois’s care, and patient confidentiality prevents us from discussing it here in the waiting room.”

Mya accepted the explanation with a nod, but still walked on shaky legs as they followed the doctor to a room two doors down. The square plaque next to the door had Privacy Room embossed on it in raised letters.

“Is my mother going to die?” Elizabeth asked as soon as the door closed.

“Not anytime soon,” the doctor answered. “If she continues to take her insulin and monitor her blood sugar levels. However, we did see an abnormality on her initial blood scan. We want to keep her to run a few more tests.”

“What type of abnormality?” Maureen asked.

“I don’t know enough yet. Any time flags are raised on the blood tests of a diabetic, we take it seriously. I’d rather be overly cautious than miss something and see her back here in a few weeks.”

“Do whatever you need to do,” Mya said. “As long as she’s okay.”

“Absolutely,” the doctor answered with a smile. “I’ll send a nurse to the waiting room to let you all know when you can see her.”

The morning had been an emotional roller coaster, but at least they now had the doctor’s word that her grandmother would be okay. Mya welcomed the muscle-relaxing flood of relief that rushed through her body.

“Well, I guess I should call myself a cab. It’s time for me to get out of here,” Elizabeth announced.

The muscles in Mya’s neck and shoulders instantly tensed. “What do you mean it’s time for you to get out of here?”

“My plane leaves in three hours. I’m running late as it is. It’ll take me at least an hour to get to the airport, and I wanted to stop in New Orleans for a few things before I fly out.”

“Mother, are you seriously leaving while your mother is in the hospital? Before even going in to see her?”

“Don’t be so dramatic, Mya. I swear you should be on the theater stage instead of designing costumes for other actors.”

Mya turned to her aunt, who stood at the door to the privacy room, her hands crossed over her chest. “Did she just call me dramatic?” Mya asked.

“Just let it go, Mya. Let her go.”

“Yes, please, let me go,” Elizabeth said. “It’s time for me to get back to civilization. I swear I don’t know how you people in Gauthier can stand it. There’s not even a Starbucks.”

Anger simmered beneath Mya’s skin. She had been just as anxious to get back to New York, but there was no way she could leave with her grandmother in the hospital. Apparently, Elizabeth didn’t share the same sense of responsibility.

“You will never change,” Mya huffed with a disgusted snort. “I don’t know why I expected anything different from you.”

“Well, I certainly won’t stand here while you look down your nose at me.” Elizabeth stalked over to the door in her high-heeled sandals. “Tell Mama I’ll see her next time I’m in town. And take better care of her, Maureen.”

“You have the nerve—” Mya started, but her aunt raised her hand, cutting her off.

“I will take better care of her. Now go on. You’ve got a plane to catch.”

Elizabeth nodded and, without another word, turned and walked out of the privacy room.

As soon as she was gone, Mya stomped up to her aunt. “Why would you let her talk to you that way? As if it’s your fault that Grandma is in the hospital.”

“Haven’t you learned that the best way to deal with your mother is to say whatever is necessary to get her gone?”

“But Grandma is just as much her responsibility as she is yours,” Mya pointed out. “I hate how she treats you, Aunt Mo. And the way she walks around as if she’s better than everybody? It just sickens me.”

“Mya, your mother has been that way since she was a little girl. She has always been too good for this little town and the people in it. I learned a long time ago that the best thing to do as far as Elizabeth is concerned is to just ignore her. Just let her go,” her aunt stressed.

Mya clutched her hands at her sides, trying to release some of the pent-up anger coursing through her blood. Aunt Mo was right. Letting Elizabeth get on that plane was the best thing for all of them. Now they could focus on her grandmother.

“You have your own plane to catch, don’t you?” Aunt Mo asked.

“I’m not going anywhere until I know Grandma is okay. I can spare some time off,” Mya continued when she saw her aunt about to protest. “I’m between shows right now, and anything else I need to do can be accomplished via email.”

Maureen shrugged her shoulders as they exited the privacy room. “I won’t waste my time arguing. Lord knows you’re just as stubborn as Elizabeth.”

Mya gasped. “You would compare me to that woman?” She put her hand to her chest as if covering a wound. “Now that’s just mean, Aunt Mo.”

As soon as they reentered the waiting room, Corey shot up from his seat. “Is everything okay? I came back from Drusilla’s and you were both gone.”

“The doctor took us to another room to update us on Mama’s status,” Aunt Mo answered. “She’s fine, but they want to keep her to run additional tests.”

Mya saw the way his shoulders wilted with relief and she was struck again by this complete one-eighty. Fifteen years ago, Corey Anderson was enemy number one in her grandmother’s eyes. She’d claimed he was only after one thing and had forbidden Mya to see him. It hadn’t stopped her, of course. Mya had been intrigued; she had craved the taste of trouble.

As a cocky seventeen-year-old, Corey had done everything he could to live up to her grandmother’s low expectations of him. He’d encouraged Mya to sneak out of the house at all hours of the night. He’d snuck liquor from his daddy’s liquor cabinet and gotten her drunk on more than one occasion.

And let’s not forget the biggest trouble of all—her brush with the stork.

Corey had never learned of the pregnancy and, as far as Mya knew, her grandmother still thought the two nights Mya had spent in the hospital was from a vicious stomach bug that had been going around. Aunt Mo was the only one who knew about the baby she’d miscarried at seven weeks. She doubted her grandmother and Corey would be so chummy now if either of them knew about that little incident.

Mya pushed back against the wave of shame that threatened to crash through her whenever she thought of the child she’d never told Corey about, and the heartache it still summoned. It was too long ago to even matter anymore.

Corey’s cell phone trilled. He held up a finger and answered. “Yeah?...Tell me you’re lying.... Damn.” He pocketed the phone. “I need to go.”

“That’s fine, honey,” Aunt Mo said, giving him a hug. “Thanks for bringing Mya.”

Her aunt turned to her. “They’ll probably put Mama in her own room soon, so I’m going to run back to the house to get some clothes, and then come back here for the night. They’ll only let one family member stay, though.”