Gage stands up next to me, ignoring my father’s remark.“Isn’t it a little soon to be planning his legal career, Dad?”
“Never too soon.I can tell that boy is going to be a lawyer, he’s a fighter.”
“I’m not going to argue with that, he is strong like his mother,” I agree.
“She’s going to wake up,” my father says.
I nod my head.“Thanks for being here.It’s late, you guys should go home and get some rest.It’s been a long day full of unexpected events.Thank you for being here for Cat, Jace, and me.”
“That’s what family is for.We come together in times like these.”Ava hugs me, and I hug her back.“I’ll be back bright and early tomorrow—it’s already tomorrow, I mean in a few hours, to see my godson and Cat.”She sniffs and steps back.“Who’s going to drive me home?I’m too much of a mess to drive.”
“I’ll give you a ride,” Chris offers.
“Thanks, but I don’t want to take you out of your way.”
“You’re not taking me out of my way, come on.I need a distraction, I’ll be up for the rest of the night.”
Chris and I say our goodbyes and he walks out with Ava and the rest of my family.
One mother to another
Two mothers sitting together ina hospital waiting room.One scared for her child’s life.The other there to support her son in whichever way she can.
“Candice?”
“Yes.”
She jumps up from her seat, jittery, wiping away her tears.I hold out my hand and tell her to sit.“Are you all right?”
“No, I’m most certainly not.”
She sits up straight, brushing her hair back, struggling to look like her usual put-together self.I look around, not seeing her sons or husband.
“Is there someone I can get for you, your husband or one of your sons?Chris was on his way down here?”
“My husband went outside to talk to Chris.Jay is taking Kate home with him so she’s not alone.”
I can see she’s hurt.I’m not one to kick a person when they’re down but…I would hate to think she had a part in what happened to Cat and my grandson.
“I couldn’t even tell them how many months along she was.I didn’t know anything about my own daughter.I have a grandchild, my first grandson, whom I’m not allowed to see.”
She closes her eyes and puts her head down.Her voice breaking.
“He won’t let me see her.I’m her mother, I should be with her!She needs me.”
“I understand how terrible that must feel.”
She looks at me, eyes watering.“What if she doesn’t wake up?”
I put my hand over hers and hold them still.I feel for her, as a mother.“It’s a terrible thing to think you could lose your child, no matter if they’re seven minutes or twenty-seven years old.They’re still your child; you will always see that picture of them in your head.I’m not saying my son is right for not allowing you to see Cat, but he’s loved her for a long time.Since she was a little girl, before either of them knew what love truly was.He wants to protect her.”
“From me.”
“He’s scared.Scared of losing her.When people are scared, they are not rational.Love and fear are two emotions that run deep and can be extremely intense, deeply emotional.They turn you up, down, every which way, like you’re in the middle of the eye of a storm.Love and fear by themselves can be utterly exhausting.Together they are explosive, they tear you apart and shatter your heart.Do you know how that feels?”
She wipes away another tear and nods her head.“I can remember a time or two I felt that way.”
“This should be the happiest time in their lives; they have a beautiful newborn baby boy.Instead, the love of his life, the mother of his child, is fighting for her life.He doesn’t know if she is going to wake up.He doesn’t know what to do, who to believe.”
