Page 177 of The Sweetest Obsession

Holy crap.

Should I call the nurse? Should I—

Then Mom lets out a low, tired moan.

Her eyes flutter open, dim slits of faded color rolling around aimlessly before they land on me.

She’s aware.

She’s awake.

The soft gleam of recognition in her eyes nearly sends me spiraling into tears. Behind the mask, the shadow of a smile flits across her lips, her voice coming in a thready whisper.

“O-Ophelia,” she whispers. “Hi, baby girl.” Then she turns her head. “Nell Faircross? Hi, Nell.”

Nell lights up, the prettiest picture of all the bright, hopeful feelings flapping around inside me.

“Hi, Miss Angela!” She holds up her unicorn. “Mr. Pickle came to see you too!”

Mom lets out a shaky laugh, weak but there, even if it trembles her body in ways that look painful.

I’m flipping speechless.

I choke out a tearful laugh, too, pressing a hand over my mouth so it doesn’t sound like a scream.

Jesus, please.

Please let this mean she’s coming out of it.

Please let this mean she’ll be okay.

“Mom?” I venture. “How... how do you feel?”

Her weary eyes slide over and stop on me. Even that small movement looks like it takes a terrible toll on her.

“Tired,” she admits. “H-how long have I been...?”

“Out of it? Not too long,” I answer, and her smile fades. “You slipped away the day I got back. Around the time they started the next phase of your meds.”

“Oh, my,” she says. Her hand tightens in mine. “It’s bad then?”

My lips press together.

How do I answer that?

Realistically, her odds are somewhere between surviving a shark attack and winning the lottery even with the new drugs, but dammit, I don’t care.

She’s still in this.

She’s still here, alive and conscious and fightingfor me.

“It’s progress, Mom. The doctors are doing everything they can. Your last MRI came back with less than before. They brought back the specialist from Minnesota to help monitor the next phase. It’s all so experimental, but very promising.”

Yeah, supposedly.

I hate being so vague with her, passing off this keep-calm-and-blindly-keep-hoping speech a nurse would give, but I don’t want to scare my mother into losing her fight.

It’s like she knows, though.

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