"Little Sister"

Chapter 8 : The Worst Is Yet to Come

* August 8th, 1958 *

~ It's been five months since Elvis left for Arkansas, and Momma has been worrying herself sick about Elvis being in the army, literally. She's gotten so skinny from not eating, and dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep. It's scaring me. I know there's more wrong with her, Momma and Daddy just won't tell me.

" I'm alright, baby. Nothing bad's gonna happen to your Momma, promise. "

My momma made a lot of promises to me throughout my life, and she kept just about all of them. But this one...... this one, she couldn't.

The three of us had been living in a small house not to far from where Elvis was transferred to in Texas. But Momma's gotten so bad recently, that Elvis insisted she do something about it. So, he put us on a train to Memphis to see Momma's Doctor, Dr. Charles Clarke. ~

I'm sitting in the hospital waiting room with one of Elvis's best friends : Red West, two of our cousins, Junior and Gene Smith, and one of mine and Elvis's closest friends, Jerry Schilling. Jerry's not much older than me, he's 16 and I'll be 14 in less than a week. To be honest, he is kinda cute.

Anyways, back to the situation at hand.
Daddy went back with Momma no more than an hour and a half ago. The five of us sit in a circle playing cards, to help pass the time and to keep me distracted from the current dilemma. But, I can't help but worry about what's going on back there, what if Momma's real bad sick and there's nothing the Doctors can do? What if-

I'm snapped out of those awful thoughts when I hear the door open and see Momma and Daddy walk out. I drop my playing cards, rush over to Momma and throw my arms around her neck. I hear her gasp in surprise.

" Lizzie, baby. What's the matter? "

She asks, taking hold of my hands. I don't want to tell her what I've been thinking. It might cause her to think those bad thoughts too, which will just worry her even more.

" I'm just worried about you is all, Momma."

She smiles down at me and places a soft, gentle hand on my cheek.

" You got nothing to worry about, Darlin'. Your momma ain't going nowhere. "

At that moment, Dr. Clarke comes through the same door, clipboard in hand.

" Mrs. Presley, it looks like you're well enough to go home. All I ask is that you take things slow and don't stress yourself. If anything else happens or if you feel different, call or come in as soon as you can."

" Thank you, Doctor. "

Momma and Daddy say goodbye to Dr. Clarke while I walk over and say goodbye to the boys.

" Call us if anything happens, Lizzie. "

Red says as he gathers up the playing cards and puts them in his pocket.

" I will. Thank you, Red. "

I give him a gracious smile and in return, he ruffles my hair.

" No problem, Darlin'. "

Red, Junior and Gene leave and all that's left is Jerry. We slowly walk towards each other to say goodbye. He awkwardly scratches the back of his neck and looks down at his shoes.