A N G E L (Roger Daltrey)

Ten

Janice's POV

I decided to make Ringo some toys to take over when I went to Nancy's that morning.

After rooting around in the floor of my closet for a bit, I came up with some yarn from my days of trying to crochet. I brought it up to my bed and set to work on making some little pom-poms with it. About 45 minutes later, I had three fuzzy new cat toys and a pile of yarn clippings in front of me.

I tossed the clippings into my wastebasket and the pom-poms into my purse.

The house was eerily quiet. My mom was gone when I had arrived home from Nancy's last night and she still wasn't back. This wasn't terribly unusual, but the quiet always made me uneasy. I decided to put on a record.

After a moment's consideration, I settled on Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys. I usually listened to Pet Sounds while cleaning my room, so it put me in the mood to tidy up as soon as it began to play. I didn't have much cleaning to do, though, so I hung up the few clothes laying on the floor, made my bed, and then flopped down on it.

I looked at my watch. It was nearly time for Nancy to pick me up, so I slithered off my bed like a little slug to go get dressed. I pulled on a pair of yellow shorts with a big tortoise shell button on the front and a plain navy blue t-shirt. Unsatisfied with my reflection, I pulled the shirt off and scanned my room for a pair of scissors.

With a now-satisfied smile, I hacked off the bottom half of the shirt and put it back on. My belly button peeked over the waistline of my shorts. Much better.

Downstairs, the phone rang. I jogged down the steps to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Hello, is this Janice Smith?" The woman on the line asked.

"Uh, yes. May I ask who's speaking?" My heart sped up, something wasn't sitting right here.

"Yes ma'am, this is Our Lady of Grace hospital. Janice, we've got your mother and she isn't doing well. You need to come in quickly. As soon as possible."

I put my hand over my mouth in shock.

"Okay. Okay, I'll be there as soon as I can."

I hung the phone up and then grabbed it again, dialing Nancy. Tears flowed down my face.

"Hello?" It was Nancy's mother who answered.

"Edith, hi," I croaked, "has Nancy left yet?"

"Just now. Janice, are you alright? It sounds like you're crying."

A sob burst out of my mouth, and I covered the receiver with my hand, pressing my back against the wall. It's always worse when someone asks you if you're okay.

"No!" I cried. "I just got a ca-all from the h-hospital and they said my mo-o-m's not doing too good."

"Oh, sweetheart. Which hospital?" Edith cooed supportively.

"Our Lady of Grace." I wiped my nose.

"I'll meet you and Nancy there. I love you, Janice. Be the strong young lady I know you are."

"I love you too. Thank you, Edith."

I hung up and paced the floor until Nancy arrived.

When she pulled in, I ran to her car before she could make it all the way up the driveway.

"Christ, Jan, you cut off the bottom of your shirt!" She exclaimed.

"I kn-o-ow." I wailed.

Nancy looked at me funny. "It's not that big a deal, we can get you another."

"No, it's not that." I wiped my face with the back of my hand. "My mom's in Our Lady of Grace. We need to get there, like, now."

"Shit." Nancy swore. She threw the bug into reverse and put us on the road, speeding towards the hospital.

Her mom was standing in the parking lot next to her car, and we parked in the space next to her. She immediately hugged me tight when we got out and walked me into the hospital with an arm protectively around my shoulder.

"Can you please tell me where Helen Smith is? This is her daughter, Janice, and I'm her aunt, Helen's sister." Edith winked at me slyly. If mom was in any state to have visitors, they'd probably only let family back, and I wanted to have Edith with me.

The nurse behind the desk shuffled some papers around.

"She's in the ICU. No visitors allowed, but you're welcome to sit in the waiting room and wait for the doctor to update you." She gestured to some chairs.

We sat down and waited for what seemed like hours. Nancy and I sat back to back on a bench, supporting each other's weight. Edith occasionally patted my head or squeezed my hand. Eventually, a young-looking, grim-faced doctor appeared. I stood.

"Janice?" He asked, smiling softly.

"Yes?" I wrung my hands, shifting my weight from foot to foot. "What's wrong with her?"

The doctor's face turned grim again. "She's in liver failure. It seems that years of excessive alcohol consumption have caught up to her."

"Liver failure?" I repeated, grabbing Nancy's shoulder and sitting back down.

The doctor nodded. "I don't know any other way to tell you this, but unfortunately, it doesn't look like she's going to make it."

I burst into sobs, and Nancy and Edith wrapped me in a hug from both sides.

"I'm sorry." Said the doctor. "You can go see her if you want, but I must warn you, she doesn't look good and she's currently in a coma. I'm sorry."

I stood up on shaky feet, my hand clutching Nancy's.

The doctor slowly shook his head.

"Just you." He said. "Only one at a time."

Nancy and I looked at each other, and I nodded slightly. She let go of my hand, and the doctor led me back.

My mother passed away at 3:57pm. The sun was shining when she went.