Page 55 of The Kidnapped

Hollis hung up the phone and stared down at it in her hands. Her father wanted to take this to trial. She couldn’t understand why, but he probably just wanted to make more excuses and blame her mother. Hollis stood and went back into the living room, where she found Olivia sitting up and changing the channel on the TV.

“You’re testifying?”

“What, honey?” the woman asked groggily.

“That was the prosecutor on the phone. He said he talked to you about recording your testimony for the trial.”

“Oh, yes. That was ages ago. I haven’t heard from him since,” Olivia replied. “It’s in case the trial doesn’t start until after…” She met Hollis’s eyes then. “After I’m gone.”

“Mom, you don’t have to testify.”

“That man stole my child from me. You better believe I’m telling that court what he did and how it impacted me, and you, too, Hollis. I can’t ever get the years I lost with you back.”

Hollis sat down next to her mother and asked, “Why won’t you go back to treatment, then? I know we can’t get the time back, but we can at least have more time together.”

“Sweetie, you’ve only seen me when I wasn’t in treatment. You never saw what it did to me. If you think I’m bad now, you should’ve seen me on chemo… I was throwing up all the time. My hair was falling out in clumps. I could barely walk more than a few steps at a time. I’ve chosen to have less time, yes, but more quality time. I made that choice before you found me, but I still think it’s the right one. I don’t want you to have to take me to and from the hospital like you had to when I fell. You’d have to do that all the time, honey. We’d lose more time than we’d gain, and there’s no guarantee we’d actually gain anything.”

“Mom, every day, every hour counts.”

“I know. But if I’m throwing up or sleeping all the time, it doesn’t count for much.”

“Raleigh has been working with a new detective on Eden’s case. Her brother-in-law is an oncologist. He has his own practice with his wife. Raleigh said he’d be willing to take a look at your records. He has trials and treatments that–”

“No, Hollis,” her mother interrupted.

“No? You won’t even see him?”

“No, honey.” Olivia shook her head.

“Mom, he might have a trial that–”

“He won’t,” Olivia interrupted her again. “I had cancer once before. It was less aggressive the first time, and I beat it. It took two years, but I was finally in remission. Then, it came back worse. And I’ve done all the treatments, Hollis. I even went through a clinical trial for a new medication. Nothing worked. At this stage, it’s too late for anything to help. I also stopped treatment a while ago now, so it’s spread more. Baby, I know this is hard for you to understand, and I am so sorry that you had to come home to this, but I did try. I tried everything I could until it got to a point where I just couldn’t anymore. I’m in constant pain as is. It’s only because you’re here that I’m even able to be this healthy right now. If you hadn’t come home, Hollis, I would have been gone by now.”

“Don’t say that,” Hollis said, tearing up.

“It’s hard, but it’s the truth. You’ve made me so happy. You’ve kept me healthier just by being here. I want so badly to go back to years ago, when I first got diagnosed, and tell those doctors to give me everything they’ve got because it’s going to come back worse if they don’t. I want to go back to the day your dad took you from me and never let him get close enough to you to do it. I can’t go back, though. I can only look forward. I want to be here with you for as long as I can, but it will get worse, Hollis. I can already feel the pain getting worse, and it’s harder to move on my own. I don’t know how much time I have left, but I do know that I don’t want trials or more medicine. I just want to sit on the sofa and watch TV with my daughter. You tell Raleigh and the detective thank you for me, though.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it. Now, we just enjoy what time we have left together.” Her mom gave a small nod.

Hollis wiped at her eyes and said, “I’ll tell Raleigh.”

“I like her,” her mother replied.

“So you’ve said,” Hollis noted, letting a little laughter in to break the tension.

“So do you.”

“Yes, I like her.”

“Why hasn’t she come over for dinner again, then?”

“Raleigh has her own life, Mom. She can’t just drop everything to have dinner with us.”

“She did the other night when she was worried about you.”

“That was different.”

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