Coming home,back to the humidity and looming reality of what we have to do, is daunting.
At least Lincoln isn’t pushing for us to go over to my parents’ house and tell them right now. It has to be the perfect moment to break news like this… I just have no clue what that moment looks like.
Maybe when we’re over for dinner one day we just stand up and announce that we got impulsively married in Vegas and they need to learn to deal with it if they want us in their lives. It makes me feel guilty.
I suppose it’s not newfound guilt. I feel like I owe my parents everything, not that they ever act like I do. They constantly give and give and I feel like all I do is take, and this will be just another moment where they have to deal with me being a disappointment of a daughter.
I’m quiet as Lincoln opens his apartment door and we head inside. He parks our luggage in the foyer and empties his keys as I go and sit at a stool under the island.
“Would you…”
“What?” he asks.
I go to open my mouth to speak, and my phone vibrates on the counter. I furrow my brow when I see my dad’s name, but pick it up.
“Hey Dad.”
“Oh thank God,” he says on a sob.
“What’s wrong?”
“Your mom is in the hospital.”
I stand up off the stool and pace. “What happened? Is she okay?”
“They think she had a mild heart attack. They don’t know if she’ll need surgery or what the next step is. Could you grab some things from the house and bring them to the hospital?”
“Of course, is she okay? Is she awake?”
“Yes,” my dad sniffles. “I’m sorry to scare you by calling you like that. She’s alert, in some pain, but she’s getting the care she needs.”
“Okay, text me everything you need. Lincoln and I will be right there.”
I hang up the phone, and Lincoln’s arms are wrapped around me in an instant. My heart is racing and as much as I hate myself for thinking it, it somehow feels like this is my fault. How did I not keep better tabs on her cholesterol? I’ve been so lost in what’s going on with me, I haven’t even asked about her health.
“Hey,” Lincoln says, forcing my eyes to meet his. “We’re going to get into the car, drive to your parents’ place and get what they need, and then we’re both going to the hospital to see your mom.”
I nod and try to even my breathing.
“She’s going to be fine. I’ll call my mom as soon as we get to the hospital and find out what’s going on.”
I handmy mom her iPad as soon as we get to the hospital room and she automatically pulls up one of her online card games.
“Thank God. I was getting so bored I thought I was going to die.”
“Jesus Christ, Holly,” my dad grates out from his visitor’s chair.
“Oh calm down. I swear he didn’t even listen to the doctor. He said I need to work on maintaining a lower blood pressure and work on lowering my cholesterol. Avoiding stress, eating better, and adjusting to my new medication. It was minor, Tim,” my mother tells my father like he’s being dramatic.
My dad rubs the bridge of his nose and glances up at me.
“Mom, this is still really serious.”
“Serious as a heart attack,” she whispers under her breath as she plays solitaire. “You know, you all not talking about it would be really great for my blood pressure.”
I glance over at Lincoln and he just shakes his head at my mother’s antics.
“Should I call my mom?” he asks her and my mother huffs.
