Page 69 of Chosen Road

When I pressed her, she became angry. I was just one more person making demands on her time. I was right to do so, but fuck me, Jacqueline? How could I do that?

My mind spun, jumping from one topic to the next.

I didn’t have too much longer to think about it, and when Amber and Ruby came in with Yiayia, I found myself more nervous than ever waiting to see how Amber was dealing with the changes.

Yiayia was both surprised and delighted to find her own bedroom suite set up in her new room. I wished we had kept the boys home from school for the morning so they could see how happy they made Yiayia.

She turned to Vander and me immediately. “Agoria mou! Thank you! Is perfect!”

Amber and Ruby fussed around her, helping her settle into her bed.

Amber ran her hand gently over the frothy leaves of Yiayia’s new plant.

“Don’t touch, Amber,” Ruby joked. “There’s not a plant alive that doesn’t cower when Amber passes by.”

Amber snickered. “I do have a gift.”

“Bah, it don’t matter. Amber look after everybody. Who cares if all her plants die?”

Amber chuckled. “I’m not sure if that was a compliment, or not. Yiayia, we’ve arranged for a night nurse to stay with you for the next several nights, okay?”

“Yes, koritzi mou.”

“We’ve also arranged for VON nursing to come in daily to help you with bathing and to check your injuries,” Ruby added.

Amber’s head snapped up, realizing, I think, that with Yiayia here needing so much assistance, she would need to be here too, which meant she’d be with me much more often than she wanted.

Ruby continued, “I think we can handle the cleaning and the cooking together, right Amber?”

I cleared my throat. To have Amber think for even an extra second that she’d have a second house to clean, another thing on her to-do list, was deplorable. “Uh, I have a service coming in every two weeks. I can schedule them to come more often if you think it’s necessary.”

Amber narrowed her eyes at me, rightfully so. “I thought you said we didn’t need a cleaning service?”

Heat blossomed across my cheeks, but I kept my eyes steady on hers. “I was wrong. I should not have expected you to look after all the housework on top of all your other responsibilities. I didn’t help nearly enough.”

“You did all the outside work,” she murmured, dropping her eyes. Her anger slipped away so quickly; I was astounded.

“Yes,” I conceded, “but I enjoy that. This,” I swept a hand indicating the house, “is not fun.”

Amber rolled her lips between her teeth. “I have to go to work for a few hours, Yiayia. The nurse should be here soon to help you with personal care. Are you going to be okay to wait by yourself? I can wait until she gets here, then I have to see to my appointments.”

“Go ahead, Amber. I’ve got the day off. I’ll stay with Yiayia today, meet the nurse, and make sure she has all of our contact numbers.”

Amber’s shoulders dropped from around her ears, and her mouth softened. “Are you sure?”

“I’m positive. We’ll work out all the details together.” I made a circle with my hands encompassing the four of us. “All of us.”

Amber

The first couple of days passed in a blur, my family home seemingly turning into Grand Central Station overnight. Every time I popped in to check on Yiayia, I either met a new nurse, or ran into Ruby, Vander, or Gus. Mostly Gus.

During that time, I also had my first therapy appointment. Twice, I nearly canceled. With our situation with Yiayia, I had the perfect excuse but something inside me wouldn’t let up. The first meeting with the therapist, Laura, was easy. The first meeting always was.

The purpose of the first meeting was simply the collection and recording of the facts of my life, past and present. I could rattle those off in my sleep. It was how I felt about those things that I couldn’t quite share.

“The problem, for me, is not telling you what’s wrong in my life, or even identifying the triggers from my past. Where I run into difficulty is expressing my feelings about any of it. I find it difficult to trust anyone really, not even my husband when we were still together.”

“When did the problems begin between you and your husband?”

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