Tara was walking through a beautiful park with Anne and her husband when Patrick shook her awake.
"Mom, Daddy is on the phone!", he said as he handed it to her. She tried to brace herself for the verbal beating she was sure was coming. Instead, when he began to speak, she realized it was Jake, not Dan, on the phone.
"Jake! Why are you calling? Is something wrong?"
"I just heard about Anne. My cousin works in the ICU, and could be in trouble for telling me, but she knew how close we all used to be."
Tara sat up, coming fully awake with the realization that Anne really was dying. She began to cry, and Jake just let her. He kept saying, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.." over and over while she just let years of pain wash over her. All the things that had happened with her family, Anne's illness, Dan's abuse, and many, many other painful things she had been through just overwhelmed her, and she just couldn't stop crying. Patrick was crying, too. She knew she was scaring him with her sobs, but she just couldn't stop. Finally, after several minutes, Jake said, "I will call you back later. I am so sorry if I upset you".
Nearly an hour later, Tara had calmed down enough to reassure Patrick that everything was going to be okay. He knew "Auntie" Anne was sick, and he was starting to understand that she might die eventually, but seeing his mom crying so hard, he thought she had already died. Tara told him that Anne was going to die soon, and that she was going to Salt Lake to say goodbye. He begged to go with her, and she realized that he needed it as much as she did. "Besides" she thought, "Dan wasn't thrilled with keeping him".
Fifteen minutes later, she was packed, Patrick had gone to the bathroom one last time, the baby was changed and fed, and they were out the door.
"Mom, Daddy is on the phone!", he said as he handed it to her. She tried to brace herself for the verbal beating she was sure was coming. Instead, when he began to speak, she realized it was Jake, not Dan, on the phone.
"Jake! Why are you calling? Is something wrong?"
"I just heard about Anne. My cousin works in the ICU, and could be in trouble for telling me, but she knew how close we all used to be."
Tara sat up, coming fully awake with the realization that Anne really was dying. She began to cry, and Jake just let her. He kept saying, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.." over and over while she just let years of pain wash over her. All the things that had happened with her family, Anne's illness, Dan's abuse, and many, many other painful things she had been through just overwhelmed her, and she just couldn't stop crying. Patrick was crying, too. She knew she was scaring him with her sobs, but she just couldn't stop. Finally, after several minutes, Jake said, "I will call you back later. I am so sorry if I upset you".
Nearly an hour later, Tara had calmed down enough to reassure Patrick that everything was going to be okay. He knew "Auntie" Anne was sick, and he was starting to understand that she might die eventually, but seeing his mom crying so hard, he thought she had already died. Tara told him that Anne was going to die soon, and that she was going to Salt Lake to say goodbye. He begged to go with her, and she realized that he needed it as much as she did. "Besides" she thought, "Dan wasn't thrilled with keeping him".
Fifteen minutes later, she was packed, Patrick had gone to the bathroom one last time, the baby was changed and fed, and they were out the door.
No comments:
Post a Comment