need to set her own issues aside to support him.
Two hours later, an eternity for Alex, the call came. To keep the boys distracted and to pass the time, she had helped them with their homework, found something to fix for dinner. She’d also called her dad to say she didn’t know when she’d make it home or what for sure was going on, but she thought it might be Maria’s final trip to the hospital. Dad had told her gruffly that he’d get his own dinner, and lifted her spirits a bit with their running joke. “Assuming there’s something besides leftover fish.” Alex seldom fixed fish for her dad, since he hated it, but she often joked that was for dinner. It was their way of saying they loved each other.
When Dylan finally did call, she was trying to persuade Juan to get back into the bathtub so she could rinse the shampoo out of his hair before bathing Davi. Juan insisted he was too old for her to see him in the tub, and he’d done a fine job of rinsing. The mass of sticky, suds-tangled hair at the crown of his head in back told her a different story. She was a little out of breath when she answered the phone.
“Alex, it’s Dylan,” he said, his voice hollow. She put her hand over her mouth and prepared as best she could for his news. “They say it won’t be long now. Maybe tonight. I hate to ask…”
Dylan knew she had school tomorrow. “I can stay the night, Dylan,” she said. “I’ll get them to school before I go, and then you can pick them up there, when… when… ” His soft sobs were audible over the line, and her heart hurt for him. She was so attuned to his emotions that tears started to roll down her own cheeks.
“Thanks, Alex. I’m… ”
“Are you going to be okay, honey? Should I call Dad to come over and then I can come to you?”
“No, no. Stay with the boys. I’m fine. Ange is here.” Ange had been his mom’s caregiver for the last year of her life. Ten years older than Dylan, she was like a big sister to him. Alex felt an equal pull of relief that she wouldn’t have to witness Dylan’s pain and envy that she wouldn’t be the one to hold him and let him cry as much as he needed to. Just then, a naked Davi raced past with Juan in hot pursuit.
“I love you, Dylan,” she said. “But if I don’t grab Davi he’s going to put on a show for the neighbors. Call me later, okay?”
A sharp bark substituted for his laugh. “That boy is a nudist, I’d swear it. Okay, go catch him. I’ll call you when…”
Alex’s attention was on Davi, who’d almost managed to get the front door open. “Okay, bye.” She’d have time to regret the abrupt end to the call later. Right now, she had a little naked kid to restrain. “Tackle him, Juan!”
~~~
At the hospital, Dylan took a moment to compose himself. He didn’t understand where all this emotion was coming from. He’d had months and months to prepare, from the first phone call that he was needed at home because his mother was sick to the shock of learning the truth about her illness. He'd thought her alcoholism was at the root of it, but after speaking with her doctor, he'd learned she was dying from breast cancer, and only expected to live six months to a year. He'd never planned to return, but the news of his mother's illness and the fact that his brothers, Juan and Davi needed him had left him no choice. That had been nine months ago.
An overhead announcement paged a doctor with an unpronounceable name. Green cards were available to physicians from foreign countries who would spend a year or two in communities that couldn’t otherwise attract qualified health care providers. How ironic that this one was from India—an Indian in Native American country. Dylan’s own heritage was a mystery entangled within the Tohono O’odham tribe, whose reservation was on desert land to the east.
He shook himself out of his stream-of-consciousness thoughts as his mother’s doctor emerged from her room. With brows raised, Dylan realized he probably looked as if he held out hope for a miracle, but to tell the truth, he was sure he’d used all the miracles he had coming to him already. The doctor stopped abruptly