Page 68 of Summer Light on Nantucket

Holly ran into Blythe’s arms. “Is she dying? I don’t want her to die!”

Blythe hugged her daughter tight. “The doctors will know what to do.”

Everything passed in a blur. Blythe and Holly watched the EMTs lift Celeste onto a stretcher, strap her in, and carry her out the door and over the lawn to the ambulance waiting at the curb.

Blythe and Holly watched as beautiful, humorous, wise Celeste lay, a tiny helpless creature with an oxygen mask over her face. The ambulance doors shut. With a shriek of the siren, it raced off.

Holly was shaking. Blythe’s brain was on high alert.

“Let’s find Grandmother’s purse. They’ll want her Medicare records.”

“I know where it is!” Holly led her mother to the front hall where Celeste’s book bag hung. Blythe reached inside, found the wallet, and put it in her own purse.

“Great, Holly, thank you, you’ve really helped. You are so brave. Let’s go to the hospital.”

Holly nodded. She settled in the passenger side of the car, and as Blythe fastened her own seatbelt, she realized that this simple act was calming. It was something they could do, something organized and rule-driven during this chaotic time when they couldn’t control anything and didn’t even know what to control.

The hospital parking lot had plenty of free spaces, and the emergency entrance was quiet. Blythe’s hands were shaking as she presented Celeste’s medical cards to the clerk, and when the clerk accepted them, Blythe felt a sense of accomplishment sweep through her, as ifshewas doing something to help Celeste.

Never before had Blythe realized how much she needed Celeste. For so many reasons she needed her to be okay.

“Someone will be out to talk with you soon,” the clerk said.

Blythe sat on a folding chair next to her daughter. “We have to wait. Tell me, sweetie, what was Grandmother doing before this happened?”

“Nothing.” Holly’s eyes were wide as she spoke, but she was calmer. “We were at the dining room table, and she said she felt funny, she needed to lie down, so I said I’d come back later, and I was gathering my stuff and she grabbed her chest and groaned. She fell on the floor. She was awake, her eyes were open, but she didn’tseeme. Then I called you.”

“You were a smart girl to call me, Holly. And you were so brave to stay with Grandmother. It must have been scary for you.”

Holly whispered, “What’s wrong with her? Is she going to die?”

“I don’t know, Holly. We’ll have to wait for the doctors to tell us.” Blythe wrapped her arm around her daughter and pulled her close.

A woman came in with a red-faced wailing baby and was taken into the inner sanctum of the ER.

Holly whispered, “I have to pee.”

“Of course. You know where the bathroom is.”

Holly went off. Blythe took out her phone and called Aaden. When she got his voicemail, she tried to be concise, even though she was shaking. She was worried about Celeste, of course, but she was sad to be missing a trip to see Aaden in Boston. She really liked Aaden even if she didn’t know if she loved him, even though she kind of thought she was falling in love with Nick. She needed to see Aaden to let her heart tell her the truth. How would she feel when she saw his face again? When he kissed her? For so many years, their love had been like gold buried in the deepest part of her heart.

Or had it not been gold but mica, fool’s gold, its shine destined to crumble?

She said, “Aaden, I can’t come to Boston. Celeste, my mother-in-law, well, my ex-mother-in-law, had a stroke or a heart attack,something bad. I’m at the hospital now. We’re waiting to find out how she is. How long she’ll be here.”

Holly was walking down the corridor from the bathroom. Hurriedly, Blythe said, “I’m so sorry, Aaden. I love you.”

As she slipped the phone into her pocket, she was glad she’d told him she loved him. Right now, life seemed so precious, and love seemed to be the only answer to any question.

She put her face in her hands and wept.

“Mommy?” Holly put her hand on Blythe’s shoulder. “Grandmother will be all right, Mommy. Don’t cry.”

Blythe raised her head and sniffed back her tears. How crazy was she to be crying about a man she hadn’t seen in years and might not ever see again?

But her tears were not only for Aaden. They were from fear for Celeste and concern for her youngest daughter and all her children, who would be confused and devastated by their grandmother’s hospitalization. And what would they do, what would theyalldo, if Celeste died?

Blythe couldn’t control that. Right now, it seemed she couldn’t control much of anything.

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