Page 18 of For Fox Sake

“She’s lost a little bit of weight, she’s sleeping more often, and she’s been having quite a bit of itchiness, bad enough that she’s scratching until she’s breaking the skin.”

“What does it mean?”

She offers a sympathetic wince. “It could be symptomatic of the ESRD progressing.”

I nod. “Right.” My stomach sinks.

“We’ve been treating it with hydrocortisone.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll let you feed her lunch, and I’ll be right down the hall if you need me.”

“Thanks for the update.” I squeeze her shoulder before she exits the room.

I move over to Mom’s bedside, kissing the top of her head and breathing in the sharp, astringent scent of the hospital underlined with the strawberry shampoo we bring in for her. “Are we starting with chocolate pudding?”

“We should always start with dessert.” Mom smiles up at me.

Ari’s eyes widen. “Do you hear that, Momma? Always start with dessert.”

I purse my lips. “How about sometimes start with dessert, like special occasions?”

She swirls the spoon in the pudding. “Like birthdays? My birthday is next week.”

Mom swallows the bite of pudding Ari feeds her and then asks, “Are you having a big party?”

“Yes. And we’ll come see you too,” Ari assures her. “I’m sorry you can’t come to the party.”

Mom reaches out and cups her cheek with one hand. “My Mia. So sweet. And getting so big. Don’t run around too much with your friends and overtire your heart, okay?”

“Okay.” Ari feeds her another spoonful of pudding before launching into a story about a field trip she went on with her summer camp.

Mom listens and eats, her eyes bright and interested.

It’s a good day. A good moment.

Yes, my mom is dying, I owe the hospital more money than I can pay, and my life is mostly chaos, but at this moment, everything is okay enough. I can hold on to that.

Chapter Six

Jake

“I know you think you need to do this alone, but you should call Finley. At the very least let her know you’re okay,” Dr. Dana says, her eyes narrowing at me, the shrewdness of her gaze slicing through me via video call even though she’s on the other side of the country.

I sigh. Damn therapist, always calling me out on my shit and being all logical and reasonable. “I will. I left her a note, it’s only been a week, and I talked to Oliver last weekend. He knows I’m okay. He won’t let them freak out.”

Well, he won’t let Piper freak out. Finley though, who knows? He and Finley have a sort of love-hate relationship, even though they are business partners and very close to being in-laws.

“I still think you should have told them,” she says.

“Noted.”

She taps her pen on the pad of paper in her lap. “Have you talked to Ryan since you saw her at the hospital?”

“No.” I shake my head. I only saw her from a distance when I got home from work last night. She was in her yard, playing with her daughter.

I’ve already explained the sheer panic that filled me when Ryan asked me about the job and the temporary rental earlier this week. I didn’t think I would run into her at the hospital. I didn’t know her mom was there.

---