A mother's love

Chapter 45

Brian went to the hospital that evening with Brenda and waited in the waiting room with a book while she went in to see her mother. Meredith didn't look to be in an especially serious condition. When Brenda entered her room she was lying in bed under a blanket and was watching TV. Meredith turned to her right and the look on her face when she saw Brenda standing in the doorway to her room was not one of pleasant surprise but one of shock. Brenda said nothing about her mother's reaction to her unexpected appearance; they had other much more important things to discuss that she didn't want to compromise by getting them off on the wrong foot.

"Brenda; what are you doing here?"

"I called you at home and the phone just kept ringing, so I called Janice and she told me that you were in hospital; why didn't you call me and tell me?"

"Something happened to my cell phone and I lost all of my contacts, and when I tried calling you at your apartment they told me that you had moved out months ago."

"Nobody calls people on land lines anymore mom."

"Why did you move out of your apartment? Where are you living?"

"I'm in Seattle now."

"Why did you leave New Mexico?"

"I had to leave; things happened that forced me to leave."

"What happened?"

"It's a long story, I'll tell you another time; are you okay? How badly were you hurt?"

"I'm fine; they had to do a hip replacement, it was a routine surgery and they said I can go home in a week."

"Who's going to take care of you when you're at home?"

"Janice said she'd help; I don't need somebody with me twenty four hours a day."

"Yes you do, you're going to be bedridden while you're convalescing and are going to need round-the-clock care."

"And who's going to take of me around the clock?"

"I will; I'll come and stay with you and take care of you until you're better."

"Don't you have a life in Seattle that you need to get back to?"

"That doesn't matter; if you need me to be here for you I'll be here for you."

"I told you I'll be fine; there are things that I've had to figure out how to do alone ever since your father died and this will be no different."

"And what about the next time something like this happens? What if nobody becomes aware of it until it's too late? What then?"

"Why are you so concerned about me all of a sudden? I hear hardly anything from you in two years and out of nowhere you show up and subject me to this barrage."

"Maybe it's time you came to stay with me."

"I can't just pack up and leave San Diego for Seattle! All of my friends are here, all of my connections are here; and your father didn't work his whole life to pay off the mortgage on our house for me to just abandon it."

"All right then, I'll look for a job in San Diego and I'll move in with you."

"You can't move back into your parents' house at your age! People will wonder what's wrong with you."

"I'd be doing it so that I can take care of you, not because I can't take care of myself."

"And what happens when another situation develops like in New Mexico and you have to skip town again?"