Anytime Soon (28 page)

Roscoe was sober, but he probably needed a drink.

We sat around for a while after dinner and talked until it was time for Mom to go to bed. She was better, but she was still low on energy.

When Sophie came back from her meeting, she went straight to the computer in my bedroom. I didn't have much privacy, with her sharing the bedroom with me, but I preferred the coziness to being worried about her.

“Are you going back to school?” I asked.

“I don't know,” she said, yawning. “I didn't like school. I was almost flunking out.”

“What do your parents say?”

“Nothing.”

“What do you wanna do?”

“I thought about going to a trade school for fashion design and starting my own clothing line.”

“Really?” I was shocked, because I had never heard her even mention a dream career before.

“I don't know if it would work. But I love clothes, and I've always wanted my own line.”

That certainly made me sleep better, to know that Sophie had a passion for something. The next day, she kept me company as I drove around inquiring about jobs at several of the surrounding schools. We stopped at a local community college with fashion design courses, and Sophie eagerly brought back a course list. But when we returned about four, Sophie and I found Mom passed out on the kitchen floor, not answering our pleas to wake up. I called 911, and an ambulance arrived in less than five minutes.

When they arrived, I was down on the linoleum with Mom. “Step back,” ordered one of the paramedics. As Sophie and I watched from a distance, I was scared but didn't cry. Sophie was sobbing.

“It's gonna be okay,” I said, holding her hand.

Mom was quickly brought to consciousness. The paramedics carried her out to the ambulance, and we followed them to the hospital. On the way, I called Roscoe and Aunt Marie on my cell and told them to meet us there. Sophie and I were in the waiting room for twenty minutes before a doctor came out to talk to us. He didn't look worried.

“Miss Goode?”

“Yes?” I said, standing up.

“Your mom's going to be fine. She overexerted herself. She must take it easy. Don't allow her to do housework or anything strenuous.”

“Okay,” I promised.

“We took some blood tests and are waiting for the results now. They should be in soon.”

“Will she have to stay here?” Sophie asked.

“We have to see the results to make that determination, but I'm sure she's fine. If everything pans out okay, she can go home tomorrow morning.”

“Can we see her?” I asked.

“Of course,” he said.

When Sophie and I went in Mom's room, we saw that she was sitting up in bed with a scowl on her face.

“I'm not in the mood for this,” she fussed. “I wanna go home.”

“Mom, you will go home, as soon as they get the results of your blood test.”

“I'm
tired
of waiting for results. I wanna go home now,” she wailed.

Roscoe and Aunt Marie arrived ten minutes later. I saw the doctor talking to them out in the hallway, and that conversation lasted a lot longer than the one he had had with me.

When Roscoe came into the room, I gave him a hug.

“Where's Merle?” Mom asked.

“Getting you some ice,” he said.

“I'll be right back,” I said, and I searched for Aunt Marie out in the hallway. When I saw her coming toward the room, I asked her, “What did the doctor say?”

“Ah, honey, just talking about the results. They wanna keep your mom a little longer.”

“Why, what's wrong? Isn't she getting better?”

“No, honey, she's not. The test results aren't helping them figure out where the fatigue and lack of appetite are coming from. They're gonna do a colonoscopy tomorrow, and if she still isn't eating, they're gonna probably put her on a feeding tube.”

I felt as if the wind had been knocked out of me. Colonoscopy? Feeding tube? How did Mom's diagnosis go from having menopause to possibly having something intestinal? I looked in the room and saw Roscoe talking to Sophie. Mom had her eyes closed, but she was awake. She did that a lot lately, complaining that her eyelids were heavier than usual.

“Does Mom know all this?” I said, starting to get scared.

“They tried to talk to her, but your mom is stubborn. She thinks she needs to go home to rest. It's gonna take a lot more than just rest, though.”

Just then, Catie walked up and gave me a big hug.

“Hey, girl, how's your mom?”

“She's doing okay.”

Aunt Marie, Catie, and I walked into Mom's room, where Roscoe was telling Sophie a fishing story. Mom was smiling at the memory, but she had her eyes closed.

Catie went over and kissed her on the forehead.

“Hey there, pretty girl,” Mom said, opening her eyes to look at Catie.

“Hi, Mom.”

When Mom took her hand, I saw Catie blink, fighting back her tears.

“How you been, Catie?”

“I'm good! Just living life and having fun. You know me.”

“I know you. You take care of yourself, Catie, you hear me? Respect yourself and demand respect from others. You're a beautiful girl, inside and out. Take care of yourself.”

Catie lost it. She reached down to hug my mom and cried like a baby.

“I love you,” she told my mom.

“I love you, too, baby. You promise me you'll take care of yourself?”

“I promise, Mom.” Catie stood up, wiped away her tears, and fixed Mom's short bangs. Mom had gotten a haircut a few weeks ago. It was a really short haircut, which wasn't Mom's style. It looked really nice on her, though.

“You like?” Mom asked.

“Actually, I do. Short hair looks good on you.”

“I agree,” Aunt Marie said.

Mom's nurse walked into the room. “We need her for about an hour,” she said. “Gonna take a little blood from her, and get her all cleaned up.”

“I'll call Allen and have him pick Ava up from the house,” Aunt Marie said. “She should be home from school by now, right, Ny?”

I nodded.

After Aunt Marie called Uncle Allen, she and Roscoe went down to the cafeteria, while Catie, Sophie, and I went to the lobby to get a change of scenery and sit in more comfortable chairs.

I rested on a small sofa and laid my head back. “I'm exhausted,”

I said.

“Ny,” Sophie said, “you need to go home and rest. I can stay here with Mom and Roscoe.”

“Yeah, you wanna go get a massage?” Catie suggested. “My treat, of course.”

“That sounds like a good idea, Ny,” Sophie said. “You should go.”

“No, I'm gonna stay.”

Just then, Uncle Riley and Miss Troy walked in.

“Ny-Ny,” Uncle Riley said, hugging me. “Are you okay?”

“I'm okay.”

“And Anita?”

“I don't know, Uncle Riley. Tests and more tests. I really don't know what's going on.”

“What happened?” Troy asked.

“She passed out at home.”

“Where's Ava?” Uncle Riley asked.

“Uncle Allen's gonna bring her up here.”

“Can Anita have visitors?”

“Sure, but not for a little while. They're taking some blood and cleaning her up right now. We were just about to leave to get some fresh air and some food. You guys are welcome to wait here until Mom's back in her room.”

Catie had been digging in her purse for her car keys, but she shot a look up at Troy when she heard her voice.

On the way out of the hospital, Catie asked, “When did your uncle start dating transvestites?”

When we came back, Mom was sitting up in bed. Uncle Allen and Ava were there.

“Good thing you have a room to yourself, Mom, and don't have to share,” Ava said.

“Yeah, there's a lot of sick people in these hospitals,” Troy joked, a little too loudly.

“Don't get us kicked outta here,” Uncle Allen said.

“Well, if they kick y'all out, they gonna have to kick me out, too,” Mom said.

We all laughed.

After a while, Uncle Riley, Troy, and Uncle Allen left.

“No more visitors,” Mom said. “Tell folks to come see me when I'm home.”

“Mom,” Ava said, “people are here to support you.”

“She's grumpy 'cause that's how Venus responds to a change in body function,” Aunt Deb said, as she walked into the room.

I hugged Aunt Deb.

Mom sighed. “Deb,” she said, “no palm readings today. I'm not in the mood.”

“Hush, Anita, you need the favor of the gods right now.”

“Aunt Deb,” Ava insisted, “she only needs the favor of
one
God.”

“Well,” Deb acquiesced, “whether it's multiple gods or one, she needs a favor.” She walked over to the bed and hugged Mom.

“Deb,” Mom shook her head, “what am I gonna do with you?”

Deb shrugged. “The stars don't lie, Anita. Your house of health is being challenged for some reason. We have to get that balanced out.”

Ava rolled her eyes. Aunt Marie chuckled.

Mom's nurse came to the door and motioned me outside. “There's a young man at the nurses' station, asking for you,” she said to me. I left the room quickly before anyone could ask questions.

When I looked down the hallway, there stood Carl with his hands in his pockets. I was glad to see him. I walked slowly toward him, wondering what my hair looked like. I hadn't tried at all to look cute.

“How are you?” he asked, putting out his arms to hug me.

“I'm okay,” I said, hugging him longer than I ever had before. There were a few moments of silence. I wasn't quite sure what to say or why he was there.

“Do you want to go to the waiting room?”

“Sure,” he said, with a tender look on his face.

“I wasn't expecting you,” I said.

“I know. When you texted me that your mom was in the hospital, I wanted to come and check on you. How is she?”

“She's weak. She's awake and talking, but she's not herself.

They have more tests to run, so we hope they'll have an answer for us soon. It's a lot, but it's going to be fine. I know it is.”

He held me close again, and that felt good.

“Thank you for coming,” I whispered, and I started sobbing.

“It's gonna be okay, Anaya.”

“I'm scared.”

“I know.”

We stayed in the waiting room for a while, with Carl doing his best to comfort me. When we were there, Aunt Deb came in to say goodbye.

“And who is
this
young man?” she asked.

I introduced them.

“Ah, Carl. One of my favorite authors is named Carl . . . Carl Jung. He once said, ‘The sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.' That man was a genius . . . It's a pleasure to meet you, Carl.”

“You, too, ma'am,” he replied politely.

“Oh, don't ma'am me. I'm much too young for that. ‘Aunt Deb' will do just fine.”

“Okay, well it's nice to meet you, Aunt Deb.”

“Oooh, your intercosmic vibes are so strong!” She turned to me and winked. “I can feel them from here!”

“Thank you,” Carl said tentatively. Surely he had no idea what Aunt Deb was talking about. I certainly didn't.

“Well, I better be going,” Aunt Deb said. “I have to get home and feed my cats. They get upset when I'm late to feed them. Ny, I will be back tomorrow. Call me if you need anything, you hear?”

“Yes. Thank you, Aunt Deb.”

“Take care, you two.”

After Aunt Deb left, I looked at Carl and shrugged my shoulders. Before he could respond, Catie walked up to us.

“Ah, the Hershey bar from the festival. I remember you. What brings you here?”

Carl blushed.

“He's here to see me, Catie.”

“Aw, handsome
and
supportive. Good for you. What's your name again?”

“Carl.”

“Carl, yeah, that's right. Well, I hope you're giving my friend some. It's been ages, and she's turning into an old maid.”

“Catie!” I exclaimed.

“What? It's the truth. You got cobwebs in that coochie of yours.” She laughed. Then, seeing that she was the only one amused, she said, “Okay, I'm outta here. I'll be back tomorrow. If anything changes with Mom, or you need me, call.” She gave me a hug and a big kiss on the cheek. “Carl, it was very good to see you.” She winked at him and walked out.

As if on cue, Roscoe walked into the waiting room. I introduced them.

I was trying to spend a few minutes with Carl, and it had turned into a family reunion.

“I've heard nothing about you,” Roscoe started. “Who are you?”

Carl tensed up, but he didn't say anything.
That's the way to
charm a perfect stranger, Roscoe.

“He's my friend, Roscoe,” I explained.