Wow, she thought, stable, normal, attractive, and able to dress himself. What more could I ask for?
Chapter Six
She
T he doctor finished relaying the results from the testing done on her father and laid down his clipboard.
"In a nutshell, he's going to need to change a few things and take better care of himself, but we have every reason to believe he's going to be just fine," the doctor assured them. "He will need a change in diet, some more exercise, and a little less stress."
"Oh, he's going to do all those things, or I'll kill him!" her mother exclaimed.
Laughing with relief, she reached out and hugged her mother. It had been a long afternoon and evening spent in the waiting room. With small breaks to go for a walk or do a coffee run, they had spent hours pacing the waiting room. Her sister, Rebecca, had shown up and taken turns distracting their mother with talk and pictures of her grandchildren.
Whenever her mother and sister weren't looking, she would check her phone to see if her husband had called. There was nothing until around 8 pm when she received a text saying:
"Sorry to hear that. Keep me posted."
"Keep you posted? Honey, I need you here."
"I'm at a friend's, and there is nothing I can do at the hospital."
"You can give me support – be there for me!"
After half an hour when he hadn't responded, she sent him another text.
"Are you coming?"
"I told you, I'm at a friend's, there's nothing I can do. I'll see you later."
She sat in the waiting room chair, stunned. She was facing one of the hardest days of her life and her husband, the man who was supposed to support her, to encourage her, hold her hand and be her rock, couldn't bother to show up because he was at a friend's? She knew things were bad, but he wasn't that callous, was he? Surely, he cared about her more than this?
Her worry for her father, coupled with the stunning realization that her husband had no intention of being there for her, brought her to tears. She struggled to keep them from falling so she could support her mother. She didn't want her to see her fall apart. She didn't want to have to explain to her mother that her husband was a complete ass.
"This sucks," her sister said, as she plopped herself into the chair next to her.
"You have no idea," She said; a bitter twist in her voice.
"Thank you for being here for Mom," Rebecca continued. "I would have been here sooner, but I had to wait for Jake to get home to watch the girls."
Rebecca and her brother-in-law Jake had two adorable one-year-old twin girls. The four of them made for a picture-perfect family, and she tried hard not to hold that against her sister. It was hard though, because every time she was around them, it seemed to highlight how much her own marriage was lacking. Where Jake and her Rebecca were obviously in love and worked together like a well-oiled machine, she and her husband were lucky to even be on the same page these days.
"Well, at least we know he's going to be okay," her sister continued. "How about we set up an alternating schedule to check in on them when he gets released."
"Check in on us?" their mother interjected, "What is this I'm hearing? Have we suddenly become old, and frail, and unable to take care of ourselves? Your father had a heart attack, that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with me!"
Seeing her mother and sister together, sharing good-natured ribbing back and forth, made her smile. They were so much alike, but neither of them wanted to admit it. Physically they were similar, as her sister shared their mother's aristocratic appearance and her ability to command a situation. While her sister's hair was a rich honey gold, it also appeared to be out of control most of the time.
"No of course not Mom," her sister said, trying to pacify her. "I just meant there may be extra work with his medicine and trying to get him to exercise and all that. We'll be there to help you."
"Oh, okay. I guess if it means I get to see you girls more often, I'm okay with that," their mother said with a small smile of concession. "And those grandbabies of ours! They'll have your father back on his feet in no time, if for no other reason than he's going to want to get back down on the floor and play with them!"
The three of them chuckled as they each imagined the scene. It wasn't unheard of for him to spend hours laying out on the floor, letting the toddlers crawl all over him.
"Well, why don't you two get along home now; you both have husbands waiting for you and Rebecca has kids to get into bed!" their mother insisted, all the while gathering coats and purses and ushering them towards the door.
"Glad to see you've bounced back from the stress Mom," Rebecca laughed. "Back to running things!"
"No point in wallowing," their mother responded with a smile. "Life goes on!"
Exchanging hugs and good-byes, the two sisters left their mother and headed for their cars in the parkade.
"I guess it's pretty clear where we get our resiliency from," Rebecca said with a smile, as they entered the elevator.
"Yup, nothing gets her down for long," She replied.
"Hey, are you okay?" Rebecca asked as she noticed the tears welling up in her sister's eyes. Wrapping her arms around her, Rebecca drew her close as the tears turned into sobs.
She buried her face into her sister's shoulder and let herself release some of the tension and despair of the day.
"I'm sorry, it was just stressful, and now finding out Dad is going to be okay…" She trailed off.
"I know, sometimes it's when the worst part is over that we fall apart. It's okay, let it out," Her sister soothed, patting her back.
The ding from the elevator caused her to straighten up, pull away from Rebecca, and compose herself.
"Thanks for being here today Rebecca," she said.
"Hey, what is family for?" Rebecca said. "If we aren't there for each other, who will be?"
She smiled wanly and walked slowly towards her car, her sisters parting words ringing in her ears. If she couldn't count on family, who could she count on?
Chapter Seven
Olivia
A s she drove away from the coffee shop, Olivia chatted excitedly with Terri, sharing with her every detail of her meeting with Luke.
"It sounds positive," Terri asserted. "How did you leave it?"
"After the visit, we just said good-bye and left," Olivia answered. "I'm not sure if he'll call me, or email or if I will even hear from him again. I mean, I think it went well, but who knows?"
Just then, Olivia heard a beeping noise come through on her Bluetooth speakers.
"Oh my god, oh my god, it's him!" she squealed. "It's Luke on the other line!"
"There you go!" Terri said with a laugh. "Now take a deep breath and answer it! Goodbye!"
Clicking through to the other line, Olivia said hello, hoping that her voice didn't sound too eager or breathless.
"Hi, it's Luke," he said. "I forgot to ask you before you left if you would like to go out for lunch sometime this week?"