It took about five hours to make the drive from Boston into Manhattan, which put Dylan at the hospital around one in the afternoon. She'd called Rio from the car as she waited for the parking attendant, assured him that she was safe and sound, then she headed into the lobby to grab an elevator to the cancer ward.
God, to think this could be one of the last days her mom might spend in this place. One of the last days she'd be sick. Dylan wanted that so badly, she was almost giddy with the thought as she stepped off at the tenth floor and walked through the swinging double doors that led to her mother's wing.
The nurses on duty were dealing with some kind of printer malfunction, so she just walked past the station without stopping to ask for an update or any news on the biopsy. Dylan paused outside her mom's room door, about to hit the hand sanitizer when she saw that a nurse was just coming out. The woman was carrying an armful of half-empty IV bags. When she saw Dylan, she gave a little nod and a rather sad-looking smile.
"What's going on?" Dylan asked as the nurse came out into the hallway.
"We're taking her off her meds and fluids. Shouldn't be more than another half hour or so before she's released."
"Released?" Dylan frowned, totally confused. "What happened? Did we get the biopsy results back or something?"
A mild nod. "We got them in this morning, yes."
And based on the flat tone, the results weren't good. Still, she had to ask, because she really didn't want to imagine the worst. "I'm not sure I understand. If you're taking her off fluids and medication, does that mean she's going to be all right?"
The nurse's expression fell a bit. "You haven't talked with her yet..."
Dylan glanced over her shoulder into the room. Her mother was sitting on the edge of her bed facing the window as she put on a sky blue cardigan sweater. She was fully dressed, hair combed and styled. Looking like she was ready to walk out of the hospital any minute.
"Why is my mother being released?"
The nurse cleared her throat. "I, um...I really think you need to talk with her about that, okay?"
As the woman left, Dylan scrubbed her hands with the alcohol gel and went inside.
"Mom?"
She pivoted on the bed and gave her a big, happy smile. "Oh! Dylan. I didn't expect to see you back so soon, baby. I would have called you later."
"Good thing I came when I did. I just heard they're letting you go home in a few minutes."
"Yes," she replied. "Yes, it's time. I don't want to stay here anymore."
Dylan didn't like the resignation in her mother's voice. It was too light, too accepting.
It sounded a lot like relief.
"Your nurse just told me the biopsy came back this morning."
"Let's not talk about that." She waved her hand dismissively and walked over to the table where the now opened box of chocolates sat. She picked up the candies and held them out to Dylan. "Try one of these truffles. They're delicious! Gordon brought them for me last night - in fact, he was here just minutes after you left. I wish you had waited so you could meet him. He wants to meet you, Dylan. He was very interested when I told him that you're going to need a new job - "
"Oh, Mom. You didn't," Dylan groaned. It was bad enough her mother had bragged to her boss about Dylan's story regarding the mountain cave, but to have her trying to find Dylan a job from her hospital bed was too much.
"Gordon has connections with a lot of important people in the city. He can help you, baby. Wouldn't it be wonderful if he could help you land something with one of the big news companies?"
"Mom," Dylan said, more forcefully now. "I don't want to talk about a job, or about Gordon Fasso, or anything else. All I want to talk about is what's going on with you. Obviously, the test results weren't good. So, why are you being released today?"
"Because that's what I want." She sighed, and walked over to Dylan. "I don't want to stay here anymore. I don't want any more tests, or tubes, or needles. I'm tired, and I just want to go home."
"What did the doctors say? Can we talk with them about the biopsy results?"