“Mom, we’re here to stay. Morgan is fine. Her seizures are under control. We want to be here with you, and I’m glad to be back,” he reassured her.
His mother’s arms came around him, and she pressed her head to his chest. “I’ll help you any way I can. Your happiness means everything to me.” She stepped back as if embarrassed and smoothed her gray bob. “You go and have a good day. I’m going to play bridge this evening, but if you need me...”
She left the sentence unfinished, but he knew she would be there at a moment’s notice. It had been that way all his life, and even more so when his father was alive. Because he was an only child, and they’d been married almost fifteen years when he was born, they doted on him. Thriving on all the attention, he’d let them. “Thanks, Mom.”
Sherri used to tease him about how spoiled he was, how his allowance was too much, how little he had to do at home, while she always had after-school chores. But all the spoiling hadn’t done him any harm, and he appreciated his mother’s help.
As he stood with his mother, he realized how fortunate he was to be among people he knew and cared about and who cared about him. It was something he’d missed living in Boston, where he had none of his old friends or relatives to complete his life.
His cell phone rang. Caller ID showed the hospital. That puzzled him, since he wasn’t on call, and the two patients he’d been in to see that morning were stable. “Hello.”
“Hi, Neill. It’s Bill Hayes, and we have a problem. I need you in here as soon as you can make it. The emergency room is full of people exhibiting symptoms suggesting food poisoning or a serious flu outbreak. We’re not sure which. I’ve called everyone in to help.”
“I’ll be right there.” He ended the call. “Mom, I’ve got to go. Can Morgan—”
“Of course.”
He explained to his daughter and Tara that he had to go the hospital, eliciting long groans from them as they piled out of the car and followed him back into the house. “I’ll call you, Mom, as soon as I can. You may have to go to the house and get Morgan’s school clothes for tomorrow.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll be fine. Won’t we, girls?” his mother said, smiling wide.
“I owe you, Mom,” he said, realizing once again how lucky he was.
“No, you don’t. Now go and do your job. We’ll be here.”
His mind on what lay ahead, he drove down the driveway, up Orange Street and onto Tidewater Avenue toward the hospital.
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