Judy sat holding the frail, limp hand of her long time husband of fifty years. That’s when Julianne burst through the door.
“Mom-mom! What happened?”
The elderly woman shifted in her seat, replaced his hand by his side and collected herself.
“He took a turn for the worse, as they say. He probably won’t last the night.”
Her grandfather had been in the hospital for over a week now, but this morning when she visited him he was wide awake; they even played a game of cards. She won, but had the odd feeling he let her win. Tears began to form, which frustrated her because she’d purposely promised herself she’d cried her ducts dry in the cab so she could be strong for her grandmother.
“I don’t understand. He was fine this morning.”
“You shouldn’t have made a fuss, I know you had plans tonight with your friend and that man.”
She’d confided in her mom-mom that she had a crush on her friend’s personal assistant ever since he shared his ideas on how he would redo the cityscape one night when his boss was passed-out drunk. He’d offered to show her some of his designs but had yet to actually make the move and ask her out.
She shook her head; this was no time to be thinking about him. She walked over to the other side of the bed and looked at her grandfather’s aged, sleeping face. It broke her heart to see him like this, but it was even worse to look at her grandmother trying to be strong but Julianne could see right through her façade.
“Go back to your friends, Julianne. He’ll be okay.”
“I’m just as worried about you, mom-mom. We’re all we have. I’m here for you, you’re my family. Want me to stay and you can go home?”
At that a male nurse entered the room. “Time for his meds and bath,” he said to the two women. Julianne stood.
“I’ll wait outside.”
“Honey, just go home. It’ll be okay. I’m fine. You need a good night of sleep. Fashion Week is coming, I know how busy you are right now.”
Jul looked at her watch and knew she should be working on some touch ups. She’d planned on leaving Bobby’s right after she ate, but then all this happened. But could she possibly get any work done while her grandmother slept on an awkward hospital chair waiting for her husband to die?
She grabbed a blanket gave a stern, no-backing-out look to her mom-mom. “I’ll take a quick nap on the bench in the hall. Come get me when he’s done.”
If you enjoyed this story, stay tuned for more stories of connection! Will it be the orderly, or someone totally new? Come back soon to find out…
