“He was twenty-one. I was twenty-four.” Roman’s hands grip his coffee cup. “Old enough that I should have—” He stops. “Sorry. You don’t need to hear about that.”
“Oh honey, I’m dying. Listening to your grief is the least I can do.”
She says it so matter-of-factly that Roman actually laughs, surprised.
“Your daughter gets that from you. The brutal honesty.”
“Someone has to keep you hockey boys humble.”
It’s easy. Natural. Like they’ve done this before. Which apparently they have.
I sit there watching them, trying to figure out when this became normal. When Roman started just showing up here. When my mom started expecting him.
“Marnie’s hovering,” Mom says without looking at me.
“I’m not hovering.”
“You’re doing that thing where you watch the monitors instead of participating in the conversation.”
She’s right. I am.
“How are you feeling?” I ask, deflecting.
“Like I’m dying.” She says it casually, then looks at Roman. “She doesn’t like it when I’m honest about it.”
“Would you prefer she lie?” Roman asks.
“I’d prefer she stop acting like I’m going to code if she looks away for five seconds.”
“I don’t?—”
“You do.” But there’s no heat in it. “I’m not dying today, Marnie. You need to go back to work.”
“I am working. I took the morning?—”
“You took two days off. That’s enough.” She looks at Roman. “Take her back to the facility. Make her focus on something that’s not me dying.”
“Mom—”
“I mean it. I’m tired. I’m going to sleep. And I don’t need you sitting here watching me do it.”
Roman stands. “Come on. I bet we can find Almardon and Rodriguez being idiots somewhere.”
“They’re always idiots,” I say.
“Exactly. Very predictable. A good distraction.”
Mom’s already settling back, closing her eyes. “Go. Both of you.”
At the door, I look back. She’s getting smaller every day. Fading.
“She’s right,” Roman says quietly in the hallway. “You need to work.”
“I know.” I don’t move. “What if?—”
“They’ll call.” His hand finds mine briefly. “Come on. Let’s go find those idiots.”
The facility feels wrong.Too normal. Too bright. Like the world didn’t just shift.
