Chloe sat at the big oak table, a stack of paper work strewn around her. Her hot tea, ice cold and forgotten. A pounding headache throbbed behind her eyes. She rubbed her temples, taking level breaths. She listened to the steady pounding of rain hitting the windows.
So many things to handle, from bills, to phone calls, to after hospital care. Why hadn't they taken more care of this when they were both healthy or maybe have planned for something like this? But no one could have seen this accident coming, she reminded herself, but it was ridiculous and it never should have happened. Anger began brewing to the surface again. They had become reckless in their old age. They had no business skydiving anymore. They were lucky their parachute had opened at all, but when it was delayed and opened too late, they had barely enough time to land. The impact resulted in several broken bones and a punctured lung. Now her adopted parents were lying in hospital beds trying to recover, and she sat inside their colonial house, surrounded by their antiques wishing she were anywhere else but here.
Hot tears sprang to the surface, and she sniffed, wiping her face with her sleeves. She just needed to get through this stack, and then she would be done for the day. A small creak from the front door, followed by few footsteps through the front hall brought a glimmer of joy.
“Tim?” she called.
“Yup, I'm here, just trying to get my muddy boots off before I track it all over the house. I brought you some coffee and a doughnut,” he said walking into the dining room. “How you hanging in there?”
She sniffed again and grabbed a tissue. “Well, one minute I'm angry and the next I'm sobbing my eyes out, thankful they're still alive.”
He bent down and gave her a kiss on the head.
“It's killing me. I thought this would be easier.”
“You thought handling your parents affairs would be easier?”
“Adopted parent's,” she corrected him. He shook his head, tired of trying to understand why the distinction was so important. If they raised you, if they loved you, then wasn't that enough?
“Well, I mean, I didn't think going through this would be that hard. I do this kind of thing for a living,” she clarified. “But I guess years of business management can only take you so far.”
Chloe's phone vibrated on the table top. “It's the hospital,” she said answering it and walking to the next room. When she came back a few moments later, she looked a little more relieved.
“They said they are stepping mom down from the ICU, and should be wheeling her there any time today if I wanted to visit.”
“Does she get to share a room with your dad?” he asked.
“I hope not, they'll start plotting a conspiracy to get out and give me even more of a headache,” she picked up the doughnut and took a big bite.
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Much love,
Stacie D
Image by Don White from Pixabay
