The sharp stomp of my boots echoes off the pristine white walls as I make my way to my mother’s hospital room.
Jinzo’s head turns at each door, checking the room numbers as he keeps me from running ahead and disturbing everyone on the floor.
“233, 235…” He mumbles. Glancing at me from the corner of his eye, he hesitates. “Are you going to be all right?”
“All right?” I ask, my voice rising. “All right? What do you think?”
He slows down so he’s walking right next to me.
“I think I wasn’t sure an hour ago when you got the call. I mean, I’m still getting to know you and everything. But now I realize that icy silence is not what I thought it was.”
I stop dead in my tracks, and a nurse scuttles around us.
“I… am… so pissed off, it’s not even funny. We left funny on a deserted planet and flew away ten years ago. That’s how angry I am.”
Jinzo runs his hand over the short hair on his head and sighs.
“I don’t like being lied to,” I tell him and proceed down the hall.
“Technically,” Jinzo begins, running up to me, “it’s an omission. Your father has been radio silent for weeks, right? So try not to be too mad at them. They’re only trying to protect you.”
“Jin —” I begin, ready to tear his head off.
He rests his hand on my arm. “They’re being stupid parents. My mother and father do this to me all the time, too. And I’ve been as angry as you are right now.”
My anger cools ever so slightly.
“I’ll treat you to coffee and a croissant after this?”
I huff a breath out of my mouth and marvel at how he’s figured me out already. “Do you think you can cool me off with caffeine and sugar? Am I really that easy?”
He places his hand on the small of my back and moves me along.
“No comment. I do not wish to incur the Wrath of Vivian today.”
We pass a nurses’ station and come to room 243. A curtain is pulled over the door entrance, swaying in a light breeze. The smell of cherry blossoms knocks me back, and I inhale sharply.
Mom.
“Hello?” I call out as I move the curtain aside and walk into the hospital room.
My skin crawls as I take in the hospital bed, the screens on the wall displaying her vitals, and Mom’s pale face as she turns towards me.
I leave Jinzo in the doorway and cross the room to her.
Any residual anger melts away as Mom’s lips twitch into a smile, and my father stands up from the chair next to the bed.
“Hey, Mom.”
She lifts her hand from the bed, and I swoop right in to hold it in mine. Her skin is withered and papery, and I can see why. The bruises on her left hand where the IV is inserted show she’s been here for a while. Hospital air is as dry as the desert.
“Vivian, what are you doing here?” Mom asks, and her eyes dart to Dad. “Nuno, I told you not to bother her.”
He shrugs. “It was time.”
“I’ve been calling you both now for weeks, and no one has responded to me.” I glance from Dad to Mom. “How long have you been in here?”
Dad sighs as Mom presses her lips together. “She’s been in and out of the hospital since we moved into Tomu’s apartment. First, we thought she had food poisoning. Then it was her blood pressure. Now her heart is showing signs of stress.”
Stress.
I nod, my head bouncing to a slow beat. I’m sure my own blood pressure is off the charts, and some nights I barely sleep, which only makes the situation worse. But I’m young and can handle it. Mom is not a spring chicken anymore.
“Mom…” I coach my voice to give her a smile by imitating her from my childhood. “You have to be well or who will take care of Dad?”
Dad laughs, and Mom smiles. Mission accomplished.
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