“And how long will she be in the hospital?”
“She will be here at least another week. After that she will need to recover at home and that can be up to six weeks, depending on how she does. Is there someone at home that can stay with her? She won’t be able to care for herself for quite a while.”
“No, there’s no one. I live in England at the moment.” The familiar guilt took up residence in my gut. I had left my mother alone. What kind of daughter was I?
“Then you will need to look into hiring someone for the interim. It’s very important she have someone around.”
“And how much would that cost? Is it covered by insurance?”
“I’m not sure about all that. You’d have to contact her insurance company. But I can tell you that the cost for in-home care varies. But it’s not cheap.”
I looked back at my mother sleeping relatively peacefully. A lump formed in my chest. I couldn’t leave her. That was obvious.
But that would mean I’d have to stay in Virginia. I couldn’t go back to England.
“Okay, thank you,” I said to Elaine.
I kissed my mother’s forehead before gathering my things and leaving her room.
I couldn’t go back to the UK. Not yet.
I had to stay here. I had to take care of my mother.
As I left, my heart began to break for too many reasons.
IWENT BACKto my mother’s house to get some sleep. Nothing had changed. Not a cushion. Not a picture.
My room was just as I had left it.
There was something equally sad and comforting about that.
I needed to call Lucas and let him know I had made it. I dialed his number and listened to it ring. It went to voicemail. I looked at the time. It was nine in the morning in England.
“Hey. I’m at my mother’s. I’ve already been to see her. She’s not doing well at all. I’m not sure what I’m going to do. I…” I paused, trying to get my raging emotions under control. “Thank you for everything you did to get me here. I can’t tell you how much it means to me. I love you, Lucas. I really do. I hope your game went well yesterday. I hate that I missed it. And I hate that I missed meeting your mom. And I guess I just want to hear your voice.” I gripped the phone, trying not to cry. “Call me back.”
I hung up and set an alarm on my phone to wake me up in a few hours so I could call Mr. Richardson. Then I climbed into my old bed and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
The alarm on my phone roused me what felt like only a few minutes later. I checked the time and saw that it was after one in the afternoon UK time. I also saw that Lucas had texted me.
Call me when you can. I’m glad you got there safely. Xx
My heart lifted slightly to see his message. Then it crashed back down to the ground at the thought of not seeing him for a while.
First things first though, I had to call work.
“Mr. Richardson, hello. I presume you got my message?” I said after my boss answered the phone.
“Yes. I hope everything is all right.” Mr. Richardson sounded bored. That annoyed me. He could at least pretend to be concerned about his employee. We had never meshed. I didn’t think we ever would.
“That’s actually why I called. I took a late flight to America last night. My mother had a massive heart attack and is in the hospital for the next week. I have to figure out her care for after her release.” I was talking quickly, so I tried to calm down.
“I’m sorry to hear that, Morgan.” I could hear him typing in the background. Bastard wasn’t even giving me his full attention.
“I was wondering how much time I could take off. I’m not sure about policy when it comes to sick family members. My mother will be in the hospital another week then will be recovering at home for up to eight weeks. I’m not sure about home care at the moment. I was hoping I could stay here for a time and look after her, but I’m not sure that will be possible.” I was rambling. I couldn’t stop. Was he even listening to me?
“Well Morgan, you get two weeks of paid time off. But I think we should talk about a few things first. I know you need to focus on your mother. Family always comes first. But a problem has arisen. I had planned to speak to you in the office but I think it’s best we address the issue now.”
“Issue? I don’t think I understand.”
