It Will All Work Out (Intersex gxg)

Chapter 44

It was two days after Shay's birthday, and I was rolling and storing the yoga mats in the storage room after a class when Owen rushed in, almost dragging me out of the closet. "Come on, your mom woke up! I'm taking you to the hospital."

I almost stopped short in a panic. "Is she okay?" I asked as I stumbled after him. "Do you know?"

"All I know is Harper called. She's already on the way down, and all you have to do is be there to see your mom and make sure she's holding up okay. Don't tell her anything about what happened, just reconnect. Harper will explain everything to her. You just go see mom and give her the love she needs," Owen explained with a heavy hand on my shoulder.

I looked at my watch and realized that Shay would still be in her online presentation for one of her summer classes. She may be taking remote classes during the summer, but there were still times that she had to be live on a Zoom call, and this was one of them. Luckily, when she turned 18, she'd finished the purchase of her first vehicle from her boss, Nick, so she could meet me at the hospital when she was done. She didn't get much, just an old Chevy pickup truck that was older than she was, but she had fixed it up at the shop, and it wasn't expensive, so it worked for us.

I sent her a quick text, making sure she knew to not leave until her presentation was over, and that I would see her at the hospital. "Okay, I'm ready to go." I let out a deep breath and prayed that my mom was going to be okay.

Owen's motorcycle was a beast, but I loved it. I would never own a Harley myself, I thought it was too big and heavy for me, but I loved the feeling of it between my legs when I hung on behind him. I still had plans for my own bike, and I knew I'd probably need it when I got to college because Shay was still planning on graduating while I would still be entering my sophomore year. That meant three years of me going to school on my own, and visiting Shay wherever she got a job, and that meant I needed a ride. We already knew that it didn't matter where she got a job, we were going to make the long distance work. There was no chance I would give her up after everything we'd gone through to be together.

It took only 20 minutes to get to the hospital, and Owen dropped me off there before heading back to the gym since he was still on the clock. I didn't mind, since I knew Shay would be my ride home, or Harper could be in a pinch. I signed in at the visitors' desk, and then made my way to my mom's room in the ICU. I stuck my head in the open door, and saw her sitting up, the breathing tube disconnected, but still looking frail and weak. Her eyes were closed, so I went in quietly and sat in the chair next to the bed. I knew she had to still be exhausted, so I didn't want to wake her up.

I sat there for about 15 minutes, before a nurse came in. I'd hoped it was Karen, just because I could have used a friendly face, but it wasn't. I idly wondered if Karen and Maddie had already moved, not that I'd been in touch. She did give me a kind smile, and then started writing down information as she pressed various buttons on the monitors. That woke up my mother, who gasped, and looked around the room in confusion. When her eyes settled on me, she gave me a weary smile, and I felt better immediately.

"Hey, mom. Good to see you up." I rushed over, giving her a gentle hug and hoping it didn't hurt.

"Amber, I'm so tired." Her arms wrapped around me, feather light, and I just held her for a moment.

"It's good to see you up, Mrs. Atkinson," The nurse interjected after a moment and causing us to break and look at her. "I'll let the doctor know, he has a few things to go over with you."

I nodded to the nurse, and then gave mom another light hug. She felt like skin and bones, and I was terrified that this would be the best hug I could give her for a while. "I'm so happy to see you!" I couldn't help but tear up, but it was okay. She was okay. We were going to make it through this.