Instead, I had been in bed with a woman who only gave a tenth of her heart.
No.
I shoved thoughts of Michelle away before I could follow that spiral, clearing my throat.
I reached out, squeezing Logan’s shoulder. “Do you need to get some fresh air?”
“Not yet.” His voice was hoarse. “Angela’s coming to chat with us in a bit. I want to be here for that.”
He put his head in his hands, his breaths coming slow, measured, forced.
Then he whispered, “I feel so fucking helpless.”
I know.
I knew it so well it ate at me every single day.
“What do we do on the day she finally forgets us?” His voice cracked, and my chest ached with the sheer weight of it.
“How do we cope with that? We can’t leave her here alone, but if we’re strangers to her, what do we do?”
I took a slow breath, forcing my voice to stay steady.
“We talk to her,” I said. “We tell her we’re family friends. Volunteers. The kids of another resident. We figure out a way to be in her life—even if she doesn’t remember who we are.”
I turned toward him, my throat tight as hell.
“She loves flowers and storms. Thrillers and crosswords. We bring her those things. We keep her world familiar, even if her mind isn’t.”
Logan lifted his head, his eyes glassy.
“How do you know this?”
I exhaled. “Because I’ve been researching whether she’d be better off at home with one of us, with a live-in nursing staff.”
His eyes widened.
“How would that even work?”
“I don’t know yet,” I admitted. “I’m gone six months of the year with the team, so it would fall on you, and I can’t ask you that.” I swallowed past the hard lump in my throat. “But after this latest episode, I don’t think either one of us could handle it alone.”
The words rang like truth in the quiet room.
“She has better care here.”
Logan sat motionless, taking in the reality of it.
Finally, he nodded.
“Twenty-four-seven care,” he muttered. “And she knows the place. The people.” He looked down at our mother’s peaceful face, his jaw tightening. “I love her to death, Brooks. But I can’t do what happened last night again.”
Neither can I.
“She needs to stay here,” I said.
He nodded again. “Are finances an issue?”
“Not one bit.”
