Page 101 of Vows of a Mobster
“My mom cries too,” she told me and a shaky laugh left me. I swallowed hard, hoping to get myself together. “It’s okay.”
Her hand reached for my face and wiped the tears away. I couldn’t feel the tears trickle down my face, the only thing I felt was my heart constraining in my chest and my throat closing. It hurt to breathe.
“It’s okay,” she repeated.
“Thank you.” My voice was a shaky whisper, and my nose stuffy warned me that I was close to start bawling at any moment. “What’s your name?”
“Elizabeth.”
“That’s a beautiful name.” I had to get myself together. It has barely started and I was a mess. “I’m Brianna. I will see you again, I’m sure.”
A sad emotion crossed her face and then she nodded. No child should ever be sad. No child should ever go through something like this. It wasn’t fair.
“There you are, Brianna.” I stood up, hearing Dr. Guzman’s voice. I remained watching Elizabeth as she carried on down the hallway, like this was her home.
His hand came to my shoulder, and our gazes met. “I don’t know how you do it,” I murmured, tasting my own tears.
“You can do this,” he assured me in a firm voice. “Both of you will get through it, and two years from now, it will all be behind you.”
My eyes darted in the direction where Elizabeth just disappeared to. How long has she been here to move around here like it was her second home?
“I’m scared,” I rasped. “I tried finding someone from the father’s side of the family but all I’ve gotten are dead ends.”
He nodded in understanding. “We’ll keep trying. Let’s go. Your cousins are here already.”
We carried on down the hallway, to the opposite side of the building.
Emma’s eyes lit up the moment she saw me and she ran towards me. I shoved all my fears aside, knelt down and opened my arms. She threw herself into them.
“I missed you,” I squeezed her tightly, her chubby arms around my neck.
She wiggled out of my arms. “Look what I got.”
It was a little iPad.
“It’s so she can watch a movie during treatments,” Marissa’s voice had me raising my head. I met her green gaze that reminded me so much of Mateo and I wished he was here with me. It was a ridiculous notion because he couldn’t do anything, but I still wanted him here. “Is that okay; can she have it?” The question pulled me back.
I nodded. “Thank you.”
“Okay, my brave Emma,” Dr. Guzman’s voice had us all turning our eyes to him. “Are we ready?”
“Yes,” she took his outstretched hand. Together we went to the room, and they sat her in the chair. They drew her blood, checked her temperature and an IV catheter was injected into her. It took all of two minutes to have her prepared.
“Give us five minutes to review blood results and we’ll be right back.” I knew the drill but appreciated Dr. Guzman’s step by step update nonetheless.
“Want to put a movie on?” I asked Emma, noting she was already restless.
She nodded and I found the one she hadn’t seen before,Princess and the Frog. No sooner had I pressed play, the doctor and nurses were back and the session started. The nurse hung the bags of medications to the tall metal stand and started with the different IVs.
“It will be about three hours,” the nurse spoke up. “I’m Dorothy and I’ll be coming in periodically to check her vitals.”
I nodded, scared that if I opened my mouth to speak, all my silent sobs would escape.
The first hour went by and Emma’s body responded well to the treatment. During the second hour, I could see her face paling, fatigue setting in and nausea starting. The third hour was a nightmare. She was crying, getting sick, throwing up all over herself.
“We are almost done, baby,” I murmured, holding her. Her body shook and so did mine. I held her head tight, my hands cool on her forehead. Either she was burning or my hands were frigid and cold.
“I want to go home,” she cried.
