After a few minutes, he started bouncing his legs again.
“Are you still anxious that we won’t get there in time?”
“Yeah. It’s pretty much all I can think about.”
“Have faith, Wes. It’ll work out. Every second that passes, we’re one step closer to being with your grandma.” I held out my hand, and he took it.
The feel of his fingers intertwining with mine sent a burst of awareness through me. He squeezed my hand. Touching him felt so natural now. After about a minute, I reluctantly let go. Though I’d felt like I needed that contact, too.Why am I so damn anxious to meet Wes’s mother if our relationship is a sham?
It still felt meaningful somehow. Wes meant a lot to me, even if I couldn’t express to him how much.
***
After we landed in Newark, we picked up our rental car and headed to the Jersey Shore as fast as we could. The drive to the shore from the city was about an hour. Thankfully, we didn’t run into too much traffic.
I’d never been down to the Jersey Shore, which was pretty crazy considering I’d grown up in nearbyNew York and had been to Jersey many times. When I was younger, we’d always gone out to Montauk or East Hampton during the summers. Like many, I supposed, my ideas about the Jersey Shore came from that old MTV show I used to watch when I was a preteen.
It was around seven thirty PM when we finally got to Wes’s grandmother’s house.
The moment the hospice nurse let us in, Wes raced to his grandmother’s room where a hospital bed had been set up. Religious statues surrounded it, and some rosary beads lay on the table next to her.
“Hi, Grandma.” He ran to her and broke into tears as he laid his head on the edge of her bed.
The relief I knew he felt in that moment was tangible.
We made it.
She reached her hand out and placed it on his head.
And he wasn’t the only one relieved. I finally felt my pulse calm a bit. I’d assured him that everything would turn out okay, but the truth was, there were no guarantees. It was only by the grace of God that my promise to him had come true, and I couldn’t imagine what it would’ve been like if she had died before we got here.
His grandma could barely open her eyes, but at one point, she did. “Wes,” she whispered.
“I came all the way from Italy when I found out you weren’t doing well,” he told her. “I love you so much. And I’m not going anywhere.”
“My Wes,” she murmured.
I stayed in a corner of the room and watched as Wes held her hand and whispered to her. Understandably, she wasn’t saying much, since it was a struggle for her to breathe, but she managed a few words here and there.
At one point, she opened her eyes and turned toward where I was standing. “Who’s this?” she said in a raspy voice, barely audible.
Wes turned to me and smiled before returning his gaze to her. “That’s Juliette.”
Her mouth curved into a smile as she looked at me for several seconds. “Let me guess. You’re Romeo?”
Wes and I smiled at each other and laughed.
“You’re beautiful,” she added, looking over at me.
“Thank you, Rose,” I said, grateful that I’d asked Wes for her name, since I couldn’t exactly call her Grandma.
She didn’t say much else after that.
I stayed standing in the same corner of the room, not wanting to interrupt Wes’s time with her. I was happy that she knew he was here and that he was able to tell her over and over how much he loved her.
My heart clenched. If only everyone got that privilege before a loved one passed.
***
