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Chapter 1 - Xavier
Life didn’t have to be cruel. And in the crisp chill of the health wing in which I sat, it didn’t have to be biting either. Life was just life—though currently, the damn thing was receding behind the cloudy eyes of the woman in the bed who could barely lift either one of her arms.
That woman was my mother.
Sane, salty, and silly—this woman had raised me by herself. She’d granted me life tenfold, once by her womb and many times more by the food she set on the table. To watch her wither made my heart ache. To watch her struggle with her arms grated my very soul.
Still, she persisted, as life often did. That faded spark always found a way, and in her, I could witness it in her frigid blue eyes and wrinkle-lined face. A smile quirked her lips up ever so slightly, just enough for me to notice.
I took her hand. “Hi, Mom.”
Her lips trembled. Too weak to talk, but too excited not to try. As was her way, she let her eyelids droop, a sort of silent recognition of my presence. Affectionate currency in the form of quiet communication had been part of our lives since I was old enough to understand what was happening to her body.
With a sigh, I kissed the back of her hand. “Was Leo good to you?”
She squinted.
That meant yes.
Nothing else could have produced the sunny grin it inspired on my face. “And Etta? Is she being good?”
The witch snorted from the doorway, revealing her presence and the teal scrubs she was wearing today that contrasted her typical flowing skirt style. Around her neck hung multiple talismans that tangled with the front of her shirt. She adjusted them while floating around to the other side of the bed, haloed by the soft light from the lamps set in every corner of the room.
Overhead lights in places like these were usually reserved for operations or close examinations—or worse. But I wasn’t keen on focusing on what would be considered worse in the present moment. Mom just had a spell, that was all. And Etta’s spells would surely get her back to better functioning.
My confidence diminished.Unless what I tell her causes another fit.
“I’m being fantastic,” Etta teased with a wink. She reverently held my mother’s wrist and checked her pulse. “I hear Bethany does a fine job too.”
“I’d hope so.”
She smiled. “She’ll be coming in shortly after finishing her lunch.”
“Tell her to take her time. She’s been by my mother’s side for so long. Another fifteen minutes will be alright.”
“You need rest too. You’ve been here for three hours already.”
I glowered at the clock. “Come on, it’s barely been thirty minutes.”
She tapped her wrist where a watch must have sat recently by the look of those tan lines. “Three hours, Xavier. You need to rest.”
“So does this queen,” I said, gesturing to my mother. She looked like she had shrunk about two inches since I last saw her. Perhaps that was the radiation treatment. “I just want to make sure she’s resting.”
“She’s resting,” Etta stated firmly, hinting at some playfulness behind her words. “You should take a cue from her.”
I sighed. “When do I not?”
Mom hiccupped. Such a faint sound must have been an attempt at a chuckle or some such. And I thought I saw a hint of a smile in her eyes. Another gentle squeeze to her hand eased her muscles visibly and she closed her eyes while cocking her left ear toward me.
Well, this was unavoidable. Perhaps if I delivered the news as carefully and cautiously as Etta was delivering care, then things would be okay.
Things just had to be okay at some point. I was tired of this restless hope dwelling inside my body. “Sorry, Mom. I should have come home sooner. You know how the guys get.”
She cracked one eye open.
I laughed. “Spencer wanted to fly around the world. So sue him.”
The corners of her eyes crinkled. There was that lovely smile of hers coming back to life.
