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Other than a handful of friends, Aunt Meg and Jeremy were all I had. I’d already lost my parents, and the idea of losing her was unfathomable. I couldn’t—wouldn’t—accept it.
* * *
It was a long night. Thankfully, after the bottle I’d given him at home, a diaper change, and then the ride in the car to the hospital, he’d fallen asleep and was still asleep. It was nearly seven in the morning, and here in this noisy emergency room, secure in his stroller, he slept longer than he ever had at home.
A doctor had seen Meg hours ago and confirmed that she’d had a heart attack. How bad it was and whether or not she would be okay was still up in the air. They were waiting for a cardiologist to see her, and they would decide from there. She was in serious condition, but stable for now, and there was nothing for me to do but wait. And it was driving me insane.
I’d called Denise a little while ago, and she was on her way to pick Jeremy up. She’d lived next door to Aunt Meg even longer than I’d lived there, and they were good friends. I’d always been busy with school and work, so I didn’t know her that well, but if Aunt Meg trusted her to watch him that other time, then I had no choice now. The hospital was no place for the baby, and I couldn’t focus on Aunt Meg if I was busy with him.
“Good morning.” A man in a white coat and glasses came in. “I’m Dr. Shanahan.”
“Doctor.” I quickly got up. “I’m Margaret’s niece, Presley. How is she doing?”
“Well, there’s good news and bad news.” He smiled at me before glancing at Aunt Meg. “You were very lucky, Mrs. Forrester. The heart attack was mild, but you have some blockages. I’d like to do surgery to put in some stents.”
“What does that mean?” I asked worriedly.
He gave us a somewhat detailed explanation of what happened when the arteries in the heart had blockages, how the stents would open them up, and some other information that made my head spin. What it boiled down to was that the stents would help keep blood flowing from her heart to the rest of her body, and that was the most important thing. It sounded like a routine procedure, and he promised she would be good as new, maybe even better, in no time.
“How soon can you do it?” Aunt Meg asked.
“I’m putting you on the schedule for tomorrow.” The doctor gave us some more basic information before leaving, and I sighed in relief.
“It’s going to be okay,” I said, reaching for her hand. “Can you tell me what happened? I was scared to death when I found you on the floor like that.”
“I’m so sorry, sweetie.” She met my gaze. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Don’t worry about me. Just tell me what happened?”
“I felt off,” she said slowly. “I wasn’t sure what was wrong, but I just felt odd. Something had been going on all night, so instead of taking the baby upstairs, I put him down in the bassinet. I had a feeling it might not be a good idea to carry him up the stairs. Around one-thirty I was dozing on the couch and felt a weird pain in my chest. It wasn’t sharp, but it was enough to wake me. I got up and went to the bathroom and by then Jeremy was stirring. I figured I’d make his bottle while I was up, but the moment I got into the kitchen I knew something was really wrong. Before I could think about grabbing my phone, everything kind of went blurry and all I could do was slide down. I didn’t want to fall and hit my head or something.”
“Oh, Aunt Meg.”
“And I figured you’d be home any minute.”
“I hate that happened,” I whispered. “I wish I’d been there.”
She met my gaze but gently shook her head. “It’s okay. Now, you’ve had a long night. You should take the baby home.”
“Denise is coming to get him.”
“There’s nothing you can do for me here. I’m just going to sleep.”
“I don’t want to leave you.”
“I know.” She smiled and squeezed my hand. “You’re a good girl, Presley. If I couldn’t have a daughter of my own, having you in my life has more than made up for it. You know that, don’t you? I love you like you’re my own.”
Tears stung my eyelids. “I love you too. You’re much more than an aunt to me. I lost my mom, but then I got another one.”
“And now you made me a grandma, too.” She managed a small grin. “Now take that beautiful baby and go home. Take a nap and rest. You have to work tonight.”
“You think I can work while you’re in the hospital?” I demanded incredulously.
She nodded. “You can. You will. Let Denise watch him. Once you tell her what’s going on, she’ll be happy to help. Don’t be stubborn, Presley. This is what friends and neighbors do. Especially since we don’t have anyone else.”
“But I want to be here with you.”
“There’s nothing you can do. You can come tomorrow for the surgery, but today I’m truly too exhausted to do anything but sleep. And you need to sleep too.”
