Page 70 of The Hardest Part

As luck would have it, his father’s phone didn’t go off once.

Billy piled a second helping of mashed potatoes onto his plate. Justin wasn’t lying. Creamy and buttery, he did love them. Without even having to ask, his mother passed him the burgundy sauce. “How’s the house coming along, honey?”

“Great.” He smiled at her. “We put the kitchen counters in today. Ain’t that right, Jake?”

“We’ll get the bathrooms done tomorrow.”

“I’m gonna have to come see it.” And her blue eyes seemed to glaze over. “We…ha…go…shop…ture.”

The fuck?

“Ma?” Billy shook her shoulder. “Dad, something’s wrong.”

“What is it?” He rushed across the table to her side. “Carrie?”

“She was talkin’ just fine and then all of a sudden one side of her face froze up.”

“Get the car.” Victor held his wife against his chest. “Now.”

The closest hospital was in Jackson, fifty miles away. On snowy mountain roads, the trip usually took an hour, but Jake got them there in thirty minutes, their dad holding their mom in the back seat, while he and Justin followed in his Porsche.

By the time he parked, and they dashed inside, Jake stood alone in the waiting room.

Hours that took forever ticked by, and still, they waited.

They drank shitty coffee in paper cups from a vending machine.

They scrolled aimlessly through their phones.

They paced, then sat, only to get up and pace again.

“I can’t take this fuckin’ waiting no more.” Billy yanked at his hair, turning away from looking out the window. “When’s Dad gonna come out and tell us somethin’?”

“When there’s something to tell us, son.” Justin patted his back to calm him. “You know what they say, no news is good news. Your mama’s gonna be just fine.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I don’t, but I can choose to believe it.”

With a nod, Jake pocketed his phone. “Emily wants to come up, but I told her to sit tight until we know what’s goin’ on.”

“There’d just be four of us wearing out the floors, then, right?” he bit out.

“Everything’s gonna be okay, bro.”

Billy wanted to believe them. Truly, he did. But with every minute that went by, he could only imagine the worst.

Then, the double doors opened, and his father finally came out. He looked so tired, as if he’d aged ten years since supper, but Billy couldn’t tell by the look on his face if he was coming to give them good news or not.

“She’s had a stroke.”

Billy glanced at Justin and his brother. It felt like his heart stopped beating in his chest.

His dad got on his haunches in front of him. “Her speech is impaired, and she’s weak on her non-dominant side, but the good news is we got her here in time. They were able to start her on tPA.”

“What’s that?”

“It stands for tissue plasminogen activator, a powerful clot-busting medication. If we can restore normal blood flow to herbrain, we can stop the damage, maybe even reverse it.” Victor took his hand in both of his. “Your mama’s going to be all right.”

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