AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But he’d been someone else’s husband and father. And her memories tarnished like silver.
Mamá woke with a jerk. She sat up and pointed a finger at Carolina. “Did you find Poppy’s globe?”
“What?”
“Find it!” Her mother’s blue eyes were crazed. “Find it. Find it. Find it.”
Carolina swallowed and looked at the floor. She couldn’t tell Mamá she already had. “I don’t know where to look.”
“Don’t lie to me. You’re lying.” Her mother grabbed her hand. “It’s mine. Poppy brought it from Spain. Bring it to me.”
“I can’t.” She tried to pull her hand away.
“It’s mine.” Her mother’s fingernails dug into her skin. “I want it back.”
Her mother’s hand shook. Her head arched back, neck muscles standing out.
“Mamá!” Carolina pushed the call button. She yanked up the railing and rolled her mother to her side. “Mamá.”
Her mother’s body convulsed so hard the bed bounced on the floor.
Stroking her mother’s hair, she sang a lullaby, her voice breaking. “Please, come back to me.”
Teri rushed to Mamá’s bedside and checked her airways. “I thought we’d seen the last of these. How long ago did it start?”
“Right when I pushed the button.” Carolina didn’t trust her sense of time when her mother had a seizure. “Maybe two minutes?”
They waited. Finally her mother’s legs stop jerking. Her fingers unclenched. Her body loosened and the sharp smell of urine filled the room.
“We’ll clean that up later.” The nurse grabbed a towel from the bathroom.
Carolina tucked it between her mother’s legs. “I thought she was getting better.”
“I know, honey.” Teri moved to the computer and input information. “Do you remember what triggered this one?”
Carolina had. But she couldn’t confess to Teri that Mamá wanted her to steal. “She’d been plucking at the sheets, but calmed down and fell asleep. Then she jerked awake and started ranting.”
Teri pushed in the keyboard, came over and stood next to Carolina. “I’m sorry.”
Carolina wanted to turn her head into Teri’s shoulder and cry. But that would be reinforcing Sage’s image that she wasn’t strong enough to handle her mother’s illness. “Thank you.”
Her mother fell asleep.
Carolina helped Teri change the bedding and clean up her mother.
“She usually sleeps after an episode.” Teri hooked up a monitor. “I’ve got it from here.”
Carolina rubbed her forehead. If she was in the room when her mother woke, would it set off another seizure? “Would you call if something changes?”
“You know I will.” Teri touched Carolina’s arm. “I’ll watch over her.”
As she exited the hospital, the hot, humid air stole her breath. Guilt weighed down her every step. By not admitting she’d found the globe, Carolina had caused her mother’s seizure.
It couldn’t happen again.
* * *
SAGE SLID INTO Carolina’s car. “What’s wrong?”
“Mamá had another seizure.” Her fingers strangled the steering wheel as she pulled away from the curb. “I thought they were done. Apparently not.”
“I’m sorry hon—” He stopped himself. “Carolina.”
She gave out a weak, watery laugh. “You can call me honey. Teri, my mother’s nurse, calls me honey.”
He caught her hand and squeezed her fingers. “I mean it in only the best way possible.”
“It’s fine.” But Carolina didn’t look fine.
“Was it a bad one?” he asked.
She swallowed, her face drawn and solemn. “About the same. It lasted maybe four minutes, but it seemed like hours.”
He wished he could take some of her burdens and ease her sorrow. He wanted to help her, but what could he do? “Why are we heading to Tybee?”
“I’m grabbing the mail and checking the house. And I want to find one of Mamá’s dresses.” She sniffed. “I didn’t want to be alone.”
He squeezed her hand. “You aren’t.”
“Thank you.” Her inhale shook. “Take my mind off Mamá. How was your workout?”
“Limited.” If it helped to talk about something other than her mother, he could oblige. “I ran three blocks before I had to walk. My high school track coach would laugh.”
“He’d better not.” He liked the indignation in her voice. “Did you only run?”
“I lifted weights.” He shrugged. “I could lift about twenty-five percent of my normal weight.”
