Tethered (A BirthRight Novel) by Brandi Leigh Hall Read Free Book Online Page B

questions. Thank you, Dr. Gaslightwala.” She forces a smile, which doesn’t quite reach her pale-blue eyes.
    He nods. “Dr. Hashem will speak with you after Samuel wakes up. I’m here if you need anything.” Then he makes his leave towards the nurses’ station.
    We do our best to comprehend the news; the news that’s taken us all by surprise. Like naive children, we believed the surgery would be a complete success. We thought as long as he made it through the actual procedure, he’d be fine.
    How could we have been so ignorant to believe he’s impervious to this possible outcome?
    Cancer doesn’t discriminate.
    It doesn’t ask what other difficulties you may have in your life to be sure you’re strong enough to handle it.
    It doesn’t stop first to show you its ID to gain admittance.
    It doesn’t give preference to the physically fit, or to the out-of-shape.
    It doesn’t care if you’ve lived five years, or fifty.
    The truth is, no one’s safe from its life altering—or life-ending—invasion.
    Before today, we were worried about my pap. But now I see a collective fear on everyone’s face. The gravity of the situation seems to incapacitate us all with its ugly truth.
    We spend the remainder of the day waiting for Pap to wake-up. The sooner the oncologist can evaluate him, the sooner we’ll know what we’re dealing with.
    Not wanting Pap to wake up alone, the family decides to go home in shifts to sleep. Of course, Gram refuses to leave the hospital, period, so the nurses agree to set-up a cot in Pap’s room. But before the first shift begins, we convince her to have dinner with us in the cafeteria. Since everyone’s so tired, the only way she agrees is if we all go home together. Instead, we make a compromise that Aunt Morgan would stay here with her tonight, and the rest of us would come back in the morning. Even though our house is only fifteen minutes away, there’s still no chance we’d leave her here alone all night.
    The ride back to the house is quiet, but I’ve never been more thankful for the time to think. Dru and Dhelia must be just as drained as I am. Sitting around doing nothing somehow seems more exhausting than a day of shopping. Stress has a way of doing that.
    The moment my head hits the pillow, my mind shifts to an unfamiliar place. No matter how embarrassed I was this morning, nothing can change how alive I felt when I looked into Hunter Payne’s eyes. Regardless of the reason for my school-girl reaction to him, it’s exhilarating to feel something other than fear—or guilt. I honestly think I’d forgotten how to feel anything else.
    I’m sure I’ll never see him again, but I deserve to hold on to this feeling for a while. If nothing else, I can use it as a mental distraction when I need to escape the upcoming hours we’ll be spending at the hospital. It will give me time to figure out where I’d seen him before, since I’m positive I had. How could anyone forget those warm, molten eyes?
    As my body relaxes enough for sleep, I play back the entire day in my mind. It’s beyond surreal being back here with my family again. Even more unreal, is that my pap now lays in a hospital bed unaware he’s heading for the fight of his life.
    What I wouldn’t give to see my mother now. She’d know just what to say to make everyone feel better. She had an enduring strength which few possess. I wish I had even a tenth of it.
    My eyelids give up the fight, falling shut as a vision of my mother comes to me.  Had she heard my mental plea? For the first time in my life, I want nothing more than to stay in this vision forever.
     
    My mother stands before me with a smile so warm—so lifelike.
    “Mom?” I rush up to her, wrapping my arms around her tighter than I thought possible.
    “My darling, Chloe...I’ve missed you so much.” She’s an angelic vision with her flowing, dark-as-night hair—her glowing skin making her more beautiful than I remember.
    “I’ve missed you, too.”