Page 56 of Second Chance in Charlevoix
Izzy’s mind froze. “Skipper, that’s awful. I’ll meet you there.”
After she hung up, Izzy realized she’d forgotten all about Holly.
Turning, she faced her aunt. “What’s going on?” Aunt Cate asked.
“Mrs. Malone was taken to the hospital.” Izzy could hardly get the words out. “Skipper’s there and I want to meet him. But he was supposed to pick up Holly from daycare.”
“One of your sisters will get her.” Her aunt nudged her toward the door. “Go, go. Skipper needs you.”
Chapter 25
Isabel
All the way to the hospital, Izzy prayed. Poor Skipper. He adored his mother and must be out of his mind with worry. What had happened?
When she reached the hospital, Izzy parked in the lot and ran to the front doors. Her breath was so tight, she thought she might faint. Stopping at the front desk, she took some deep breaths. The sweet volunteer looked at her over the rims of her glasses. “Can I help you.”
“Irene Malone. My mother.” She had been that and Izzy figured she’d get a better response as a daughter. “She’s been brought in.”
Checking her computer, the woman directed her to the ER. “Just take a left and…”
Izzy didn’t hear the rest. She took off, running toward the Emergency Room sign.
When she got there, she told the same story to that nurse. The door swung open and a nurse gave her a cubicle number. The area smelled antiseptic and had the air of quiet efficiency. Somewhere, a child was crying. Slipping into the cubicle, she found Skipper sitting in a chair near an empty bed, his head in his hands. She froze.
“Skipper?” How had this happened so fast?
Looking up, Skipper heaved himself to his feet. He looked terrible. “No, don’t even think that. They took her for some tests. Mom is fine.”
Thank goodness. “Do they know what happened?”
“Because of the diabetes and Parkingson’s it could be a lot of things. But she passed out next to her garden. The Amazon delivery guy found her.”
“She wasn’t good about taking her medications.”
“That’s a possibility. Or maybe she forgot to eat lunch.” Skipper ran a hand over his face. She felt so bad. “They want to make sure that she didn’t hurt herself when she fell. She was out cold. It looks as if she was weeding in the hot sun.”
“She loves to work out there.” Izzy knew very little about Mrs. Malone’s health, except that she had Parkinson’s and diabetes. She was very private and never talked about her health issues. Granted, latelyshe’d had trouble walking but at the picnic she’d seemed very perky. Of course, she was sitting down most of the time.
“They’re running some basic blood tests and they’ll do an MRI.” His voice broke and Izzy couldn’t stand it. His phone rang and he answered. From the conversation, it sounded like it was Ainsley. Izzy wandered into the hall and soon Skipper joined her. “My sister’s freaking out.”
“I bet. She hasn’t seen your mother for a while. Maybe she doesn’t realize…”
“That she’s having trouble?” His forehead wrinkled.
“That she’s not the same now. That she’s older.”
With a groan, Skipper leaned against the wall. What could she do? It was terrible seeing him like this. He’d always been so strong. A guy who could take anything that came his way.
Reaching over she put a hand on his back. “Let’s wait back in the room.”
Another couple was coming down the hall, their faces pale as they looked for the right number. They entered the cubicle where the child had been crying and the crying stopped.
Once she got Skipper to sit in a chair, he dropped his head into his hands and his shoulders shook. Was he crying?
“Oh, Skippy.” Pulling over another chair,she drew close to him. “She’ll be all right. You’ll see. Your mother’s tough.”
Throwing his head back, he gave her a twisted smile. “So now you’re a doctor?”
