The Last Maharajan (Romantic Thriller/Women's Fiction) (18 page)

She smiled but blinked with heavy lids at Euly. Euly mouthed the word
okay
.

“Mom? Can I ask you something about what you told me?” Just as Euly asked, Belle became unsettled and seemed to struggle for air and then began to cough.

“Mother, are you okay? Mom?”

But, the cough persisted to the point that Euly had to call for a nurse. "Mother, I'll be right back with help." Euly ran into the hospice. Her voice echoed through the halls as she screamed for a nurse to help her.

CHAPTER FORTY

Had she ever wished for anything this hard? Once. She thought maybe one time before but the wish felt distant and unattainable. So Euly dropped it like a feather and watched it drift off until it was out of her mind. They were making her
comfortable
now, as they put it, adjusting her sheets and pillows, wiping her down with warm wash clothes, swabbing her mouth and putting a rolled towel under her neck to keep her chin up so she could breathe easier. The clock was speeding out of control.

“She’s sleeping now. I’ll be home later when I know she’s stable. I don’t know when that will be, Geoff. If it’s too late, I’ll call, okay?” Artis came in to check on Belle. Euly ended the phone call with Geoff.

“She seems quiet now, darlin’.” She tried to reassure Euly. “She gave you quite a scare didn’t she, honey?” Euly nodded and continued to watch her mother. She’s been having these fits for the last few days but you wouldn’t know that would you, now? That sweet husband of yours, what’s his name again, Geoff, is it? Well, he was very helpful. He stayed two nights, when she was particularly bad, until morning. Yes sir. He’s a fine man. Good lookin’ too. My, my. He sure is. He’s got the entire second and third shift in a tizzy. He’s a good one. The girls been flirting with him. But, why not, right? The man is fine. See, the other night your mama was coughing to beat the band, she was. He fretted about her. You could tell.”

“He didn’t tell me.”

“No, I suppose he didn’t. He’s not like that, now, is he?” Artis continued to check the monitors, prop Belle’s pillow, tug on her blankets and check her catheter as she talked to Euly. “Now, look. Your mother is doing just fine, right now. If anything changes, I’ll call you. Why don’t you go home and get some rest. You’ll do her no good at all if you don’t have some energy.”

“Thanks, Artis, but I think I’d like to wait a little while longer.”

Artis patted Euly’s shoulder and looked consolingly at her. “If you need anything, you just ask me, okay? Pillow, blanket, anything. Are you hungry?”

“No, but thank you.”

Artis looked at her and tipped her head. She went to a cupboard and pulled out some bedding. She set it on the recliner.

Euly could see Belle’s condition was getting bad. They’d aspirated her lungs. They put her on an IV and intubated by inserting a tube down her throat to supply the oxygen she needed to breathe. Artis left momentarily but came back in with a syringe.

“What’s that for?”

“Something to make her sleep better, darlin’.”

“What is it?”

“Morphine, honey.”

“Morphine? You can’t give her morphine, it will kill her!”

Artis looked at Euly with a deadpan face. “Who ordered this?” But Artis’ face didn’t change. “Tell me! Who ordered this?”

“Honey, your mother asked when she got to this point to give her morphine so she wouldn’t feel any pain.”

“When she got to what point?”

“Honey…” Her voice trailed off with a lilt intended for Euly to understand, like she was supposed to ‘get it.’

“What! It’s not time yet. She’s not dying. My sister isn’t coming until tomorrow.”

Artis set down the syringe and faced Euly and grabbed both her hands but Euly pulled away. “No. You can’t make this better by coddling me. You can’t do this.”

“Euly.” Artis grabbed her hands again and Euly broke down. “Honey. It’s what your mother wants. It’s between her and God now.”

“It’s not supposed to be this way. She’s supposed to stay longer.”

“Shh. Come on sit down.” Artis helped Euly back to her chair. “You know, let me tell you something. In all my years here at Madrona Gardens, I’ve never met a more amazing woman than your mother.” Euly nodded her head. “She loves you girls so, do you know that? She brags about you girls day and night. She tells us you’re a writer, that you’re writing a book or something. Is that right?” Euly nodded again and then looked over at her mother. “And your sister. She sounds like a dear woman. How many kids does she have again?”

“Three.”

“Three kids. Ain’t that the best? She a good mother?”

“She’s a great mother.”

“Takes after your own, does she?”

A smile crossed her face and spread to her eyes, “I suppose she does.”

“Now see ain’t life funny, darlin’? She always told me you were the spittin’ image of her.” Artis looked deeply into Euly’s eyes and nodded her head.

“She used to tell me that I was just like dad.”

“Probably a little of both, don’t you suppose?”

“Yeah. I guess so.”

Artis grabbed Euly’s chin so she would look into her own eyes and smiled.

“Oh, Artis, why is this so hard?”

“It always is, honey. It always is.” She stood up straight and cocked her head at Euly. “Now, let me do what your mother wants.”

“Can you give us a few more minutes together? Five minutes, Artis. That’s all I ask, just five more minutes.”

“Of course, honey. I’ll leave you two alone.”

CHAPTER FORTY ONE

“Did I wake you?”

His voice scratched out the word, no. “How’s she doing?”

“Not well.” She couldn’t talk.

“Honey, I’m sorry. Do you want me to come?”

She sniffed before speaking again. “No. No, it’s okay. Come in the morning. Early.”

“Are you sure? I can come right now.”

“No, honey. You need your sleep. Artis told me.”

“She needed company. It was no big deal.”

“It was huge.”

CHAPTER FORTY TWO

When she woke up an orderly was checking the drain bag. Its scanty level of urine rose up only an inch from the bottom. He keyed in the amount on the Belle’s chart and walked out. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the clock. It was a quarter after three in the morning. Her mother looked content lying there in bed and Euly wondered if she was smiling. She sat on the edge of the bed and grabbed her mother’s hand.

“Mom.” The first time was quiet. “Mom.”

The second time she tried to revive her mother was louder but ineffective and she wouldn’t awaken so she yelled to her. “Mom!”

It was no use. Belle was unresponsive. She put a hand to her mouth. She looked around the room for help. She stood then she sat. She stood once more and went to the phone and dialed her sister. Euly got her answering service. “I don’t know where you are, sis, but if you can you need to hurry.”

She hung up still watching her mother lie there. Belle seemed thin and weak – thinner than she had before Euly left for Phoenix. She felt a wave of guilt flood her body and she sat down and reached out for her mother’s hand.

“Mom, remember those games you used to play with us? We had fun, didn’t we?” Euly laughed as if her mother were whispering a joke into her ear. “Yeah, remember those treasure hunts? Weren’t they a blast? You had us going for hours looking for little gems, up the stairs, in the bushes, under pillows, everywhere! We didn’t need TV when we had you. You were so smart. You knew what you were doing – sending us off in search of a token or something, keeping us busy so you could paint. You know, mom, you were everything to us. You were the best.” Euly put her head down on the bed by Belle’s arm and cried but stopped and wiped off her face. Her mother still smelled like she always had – a mix somewhere found between
Jergen’s
and that indescribable but distinct essence of Belle. Euly thought for a moment she could make out a trace of linseed oil but dismissed it, figuring she was playing tricks on herself, tricks into imagining it. She pulled back Belle’s covers and sat on the edge of the bed. It felt firm but soft. Then, she slipped her legs under the sheets and laid on her side next to her mother. It felt familiar and natural. She wrapped her arm around her mother’s waist and whispered to her. “Hey. I just want you to know all that stuff about Micaiah and Sandy. It means nothing, you know? I don’t care. I understand now, mom.”

CHAPTER FORTY THREE

She didn’t hear Artis come back in. “Honey?” Artis woke her. It was five thirty.

“Oh, yes.” Euly sat up in the bed and tried to gather herself.

“This will only make her sleep better, honey. She’ll hang on for a little while longer.”

“But, my sister’s not here.”

“She shouldn’t become agitated at this point honey. I have to.”

Euly cupped a hand over her mouth as Artis injected the drug into the IV’s drip line. When she finished she looked at Belle.

“There darlin’, sleep well my friend.” She looked up at Euly. “I’ll miss her too.” She nodded and then walked out.

It was then and there Euly realized how many lives Belle must have had. She wished, at some level, she could’ve been more of a friend to her than a daughter. She wished that she could’ve been more mature in accepting her, like Aunt Moon, who would listen to her stories and not judge her, and even if she did, she wouldn’t say – that sort of friend, the very best of people, someone who would just listen.