Foolish Notions by Aris Whittier Read Free Book Online

of you
will get through this.”
    “I hope so.”
    Samantha took a deep breath, eager to
comfort the woman. “I’ll stop by from time to time and
check in on you. I’ll give you my number. You can call me
anytime if you have any questions or just need someone to talk to.”
She hoped her consoling was working. She took both of Marie’s
hands in hers. “You can do this, I know you can.”
    Marie’s demeanor didn’t
change. “You know what they are going to do to me.”
    Samantha nodded.
    “I don’t want a stranger
taking care of me. I don’t want some stranger to hold my head
up when I’m being sick or bathing and dressing me when I’m
too weak to do it myself. James doesn’t understand how I feel,
but I know you do.” She looked directly into Samantha’s
eyes. “You understand, don’t you?”
    Tears caused Samantha’s eyes to
gloss over. She cared deeply for Marie. They had been good friends
once. Marie had been like a mother to her. It was killing her inside
to see Marie like this. “I understand,” she said softly.
    “Do you?”
    “Yes, Marie, I do.” It was
one of the truest statements she had made while she was there. When
she had been in nursing school she had to spend time in a cancer
ward. The pain that cancer patients went through was insufferable.
Sometimes the cure made them sicker than the disease. She knew what
Marie had ahead of her. “But that doesn’t mean this kind
of arrangement would work.”
    “If you’re referring to
James, he is never here. You know how much he works. And
since—well—you left, that’s all he does. I’m
asking you to do this for me, not for James.”
    “If it were that easy I’d
do it in a minute. But it’s not,” she said.
    Marie coughed into a Kleenex before
speaking. “I don’t know what happened between you and my
son; that is between the two of you. But I need your help to get me
through this.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “I’ll
beg if I have to. You can’t even begin to understand how
important this is to me. Honestly, I’m afraid of the treatment,
but I’m also afraid that we’re not going to find someone
to take care of me. It’s all approaching so fast. We only have
two days to get everything in order before my first treatment starts.
I’ve depended on James too much as it is. I need someone to
help me. I feel so helpless, I’m not sure what to do.”
Marie paused for a moment. “Samantha, if it’s the money,
you know I can pay—”
    “For heaven’s sake, Marie,
it’s not the money. How could you ever think it’s about
money?”
    “Then what is it?” Her hand
pressed against her chest. “Is it me? You just don’t want
to work for me? If that’s the case just tell me.”
    “Of course that’s not the
case.” Samantha stared at Marie in the huge bed as she
considered the situation. She raked her teeth over her bottom lip and
took a deep breath. She couldn’t allow Marie to think it was
because of her when it wasn’t. God, what kind of nurse was she?
What kind of nurse refused to help someone because they didn’t
want to see their ex-boyfriend? She should be ashamed of herself. And
to think she always prided herself on the fact that she went the
extra mile as a nurse, and as a friend. “Two days until your
first treatment?”
    “Yes.”
    “That doesn’t give me much
time to get everything done.”
    Marie cried as she pulled Samantha to
her. “You won’t regret this. I promise.”
    Yeah, right, Samantha thought, as she
held the woman in a tight embrace.
    “I’ll never be able to
thank you enough.” Marie sobbed in her ear.
    Samantha pulled away. “I’m
going to need your doctor’s name and number so I can talk with
him. And I also need to call my work.”

Chapter Five
    James didn’t even bother to take
his briefcase into the office or hang his jacket in the closet when
he walked into the house. Sheer exhaustion drove him to let the items
fall to the floor in a heap in the foyer. He would worry about