Letting Go (Triple Eight Ranch) - By Mary Beth Lee Page 0,36
elevator Jed fished a piece of paper out of his pocket then pushed the floor’s number.
A few seconds later they were greeted by the whirring, whooshing and beeping noises of the critical care unit.
Clarissa had to hand it to Tammy Jo. Her acting must’ve improved quite a bit to get herself admitted to CCU.
She started to tell Jed she didn’t need him to walk back to her mother’s room, but Susie Dillon was there, her face a mask of worry.
“Thank goodness you’re here,” she said, wrapping Clarissa in one of her perfect hugs.
Clarissa didn’t have the heart to tell her she’d been used by an expert manipulator the past few days.
“The doctor will be back by in a few hours,” Susie said. “For now she’s stabilized, but she’s on multiple monitors and she’s dehydrated.”
Clarissa shot Jed a meaningful look, and he cleared his throat before speaking. “Uh, Momma, why don’t we let Clarissa and her mother have some privacy,” he said as they reached the room door.
Clarissa walked in the hospital room and blinked. Her mother was connected to an IV and a heart rate monitor. She looked horrible. Of course, Tammy Jo was an expert at looking terrible for a cause.
“Momma,” Clarissa said walking forward, but her mother didn’t acknowledge her presence.
Behind her she heard a nurse moving forward. “You can talk to her,” she said. “She can hear you even though it doesn’t look like it.”
Clarissa stopped moving and blinked. The room whirled around her and she looked again at Tammy Jo. Her mother was on a ventilator. She couldn’t fake that, could she?
“Why wouldn’t she be able to hear me?”
The question sounded perfectly normal, but Clarissa felt anything but.
“Miss,” the nurse stopped then moved forward efficiently, an iPad in her hand. “Your mother is in a medically induced coma for now. Her kidneys and liver shut down and that caused her heart to stop working earlier today. We have her on this floor because ICU is full.”
Clarissa blinked again and held on to the bed’s rail to try to right her world. “What?”
The nurse looked at her sympathetically.
“I have some literature that might help you understand what’s going on with your mother. Our patient liaison will be able to help also. The doctor is in the hospital, so I’m sure he’ll be able to visit with you shortly. Is there anyone I can get for you?”
No. Clarissa bit her lip. No, there was no one.
Tammy Jo wasn’t pulling a con job. She was sick. Bad sick. The kind of sick you don’t recover from.
She bent down over the hospital bed and listened to the machines, watched her mother’s chest move.
“She can hear me? You’re sure.”
The nurse smiled gently. “We have patients wake up from these states all the time to tell us they heard everything.”
Clarissa gripped the bed rail tighter.
“I’ll be right outside the room if you need anything, ok?” the nurse must’ve practiced that look. A perfect combination of sincerity and efficiency.
Clarissa nodded, then reached out to stroke her mother’s hair and whisper. “Oh, Momma, why?”
Less than an hour later the doctor explained just how bad Tammy Jo was doing. Her heart, liver and kidneys were failing. An infection raged throughout her body. She’d been unconscious since arriving at the hospital.
“If there’s anyone you need to call,” the doctor said, and Clarissa heard what he meant. In all likelihood Momma wasn’t making it home this time.
Footsteps sounded in the hall, and Clarissa didn’t have to look up to know the heavy strides belonged to Jed.
“Can I do anything?” he asked.
Clarissa looked at the monitors hooked up to her mother and closed her eyes. When she did, the years of life with Tammy Jo replayed across her memories leaving a trail of anger, then guilt at the first emotion.
“She would hate this,” Clarissa said. Tammy Jo couldn’t stand being trapped.
“I’m real sorry, Clarissa,” Jed said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. Clarissa resisted the urge to lean into him.
“I don’t know what I need to do, Jed,” she said, then she bit her trembling lips.
“We’re here for you, you know that, right?”
Clarissa knew she should take comfort from his words, but she couldn’t. They were so foreign.
“I thought…” she stopped talking, remembering the nurse’s words, afraid the truth would hurt her mother. “It doesn’t matter. I’d like to talk to her alone if you don’t mind.”
Clarissa kept her eyes on her mother’s white face. Tried not to see the machines. Tried to block out their constant