Fool's Gold [Completed]

24: Between the Bars

It felt like an eternity had passed by the time they wheeled mom's bed back into her room. She was awake now, but just barely, eyelids heavy as she looked to the nurse beside her bed.

"If you need anything, please let us know," she instructed, her words geared towards her but she looked in my direction as well, offering a sympathetic smile before leaving the room.

I made my way out of my chair, slow to move so I could keep my balance as I made my way to her side. I hadn't slept since before we flew up, so it was surely close to 24 hours by now. Harry was asleep by now, resting on the couch that lined the window beside me, Delilah asleep on his chest. I didn't wake them though. Mom didn't need to be overwhelmed with attention right after regaining consciousness and they needed to get some sleep before we had to figure out where we would be staying while we were in the city.

"Momma?" I spoke, my voice breaking from the dryness in my throat. I knelt down beside the bed, reaching over to take her hand and hopefully grab her attention. "Momma, it's me."

Her eyes slowly made their way towards mine and I offered up a barely there smile, placing a kiss to her knuckles. It seemed to take a moment for her to register who I was or her surroundings, but I caught the twitch at the edge of her lips while she tried to smile back. "Monkey, you're here."

"I am, yeah," I replied, words slightly muffled against her fingers. I clutched onto her hand, holding it tightly without causing her any pain. It was as close as I could get to hugging her tightly without forcing my way into the small hospital bed. "How are you feeling?"

"I've been better," she admitted, soft laughter floating past her lips. Despite her attempt at being lighthearted in this situation, I couldn't join her. "You didn't have to come all this way."

"I did. Shaina said you hit your head and I got so worried." Swallowing hard, I rested my forehead down against our hands, allowing myself a moment to regain any semblance of composure I could find. "Do you remember what happened?"

"It was only an accident, monkey. I'm okay," she insisted. She had that look in her eyes though, the one I knew all too well. She was keeping something from me and the dark circles beneath her eyes and thinning of her face was a dead giveaway.

"It's back, isn't it?" I whispered, almost scared to hear her reply.

The room was silent save for the beeping of the heart monitor. I brought my head up to look at her again and all I could see was an apologetic look on her face. That was all I needed to know that it was true.

I didn't know what to say, so I didn't speak. Instead, I got up from my knees and crawled into bed beside her, curling up into her side, and held onto her while tears began pooling in my eyes. I felt 16 again -- like my world was falling apart around me at the idea of losing my mother. She couldn't even reassure me this time and she didn't try, only wrapped her arms weakly around me and rocked me gently like a child.

Mom had to have known for awhile; she would've felt the disease taking its toll on her body -- felt ill and weak, tired, especially from all the work she was doing. Is that why she hadn't come down for the holidays?

It took time for the tests to come back, but when they did, it only confirmed that my worst nightmare had come true. The cancer had come back and had been for some time now. The doctor began running over various treatment options, but all I could think about was how all of the savings we had built up since her last round of chemo were going to disappear again.

Part of me thought to ask Chester for help, but he had already done so much for me the past few years that it felt selfish to even consider it. I had some saved away. I would take it out and use it to pay for what I could and we would figure out our other options in the meantime.