What We Do in the Night (Day to Night #1) - Stylo Fantome Page 0,11

so hard to see her the way she was now.

A week after Val had moved to Illinois, her grandmother had taken a nasty fall. She'd always been a sure footed woman, so it had seemed strange, her tumbling down the porch steps. Valentine had taken her to the doctor, where several discoveries were brought to light.

It hadn't just been a fall. Gam-Gam'd had a stroke. While the staff at the medical clinic had arranged for her transfer to a large hospital in downtown Chicago, her grandmother's doctor had filled Val in on some other health issues.

Eugenia Parker had early on-set dementia. She'd been diagnosed the previous year. It had been recommended to her multiple times that she should move into a care facility – it would help to already be there as the condition progressed. She'd refused, and even when her doctor had begged her to at least tell her grandchildren, she'd still balked at the idea. She didn't want to be a burden to anyone.

Val had been petrified at the thought that her move had caused the stroke, but she'd been assured it was a long time coming, and it would've happened regardless of whether or not she'd moved to Chicago.

No, Val should be worrying about the important things. Taking care of her grandmother would be no easy matter – Eugenia had been smart in that after her dementia diagnosis, she'd set up a trust for Valentine. On top of that, she'd had a will drawn up, leaving everything to Val in the event of her death.

But the lovely woman had unfortunately been totally clueless when it had come to health care. She'd never gotten long-term-care insurance, and by the time she'd found out she'd be needing it, her “preexisting condition” had disqualified her from getting it.

So now she would have to pay out of pocket.

Thankfully, a neighbor had been interested in her property for a long time, so selling the farm had been a quick and easy matter. Paying off back medical debt had been the first task, and then setting up the necessary care for her current state had been the next. The stroke had hit her hard, and had exacerbated her dementia.

Gam-Gam would need a lot of care, and she'd need it virtually round the clock.

The woman Valentine had grown up with was gone. The money for school was tied up in more important things. She'd left a bad situation in New York, and was now in an overwhelming situation in Chicago. She was only twenty-two, christ, what could she do?

What could she do!?

She pushed up her sleeves and she got to work, that's what she did. Lucid or not, Eugenia Parker was still her grandmother. Still Gam-Gam. So at the end of August, Valentine put everything aside and made a request to defer her classes until January – which was granted. Then she took what little money her grandmother had set aside in the trust for her and she rented out a tiny townhouse in an okay neighborhood.

Next, she found a nurse that could work a twelve hour shift while Valentine was at school and running errands. Most of Gam-Gam's money went to those payments, as well as the multiple doctor and ER visits.

Val also put out an ad for a roommate – rent would be free on the condition the person would be available Wednesday through Saturday nights to sort of babysit Gam-Gam after nine o'clock. Bailey had been the third person to respond to the ad. Somewhat of an agoraphobe who did all her college courses online, she'd been the perfect fit. And thankfully, in all the time they'd been living together, there'd yet to be any night time incidents. Once she was asleep, Gam-Gam would blessedly stay that way all until morning.

It was hard. It was rough. Seeing a cherished parental figure like that was tough enough, but then having to be the adult? Having to make all the decisions? Sometimes, it had felt like Val was drowning, and like no life line was going to come. She'd spent many a night crying, pacing up and down her small bedroom.

So many young people, they long to be “real” adults. To be in control. Valentine now knew better, and she wanted the opposite. She wanted her parents back. She wanted to stop being in control. Being the person in charge, the person responsible, the person in control of the fates of everyone in her orbit – it was torture. The pressure. The stress.