Page 121 of Fly with Me

“Mom—”

“Actually, I offered to drive Olive here. I’ll just be waiting in the lobby.” Stella gave Olive an encouraging smile and then narrowed her eyes just slightly at Olive’s mother. A hint of chastisement but no offense. “Take all the time you need, okay?”

“Thank you,” Olive said.

“It was nice to meet you,” called Heather as Stella walked away.

Stella turned and echoed the sentiment before following Morgan out the door.

A doctor came around the corner. He might have actually flinched when he saw Olive’s mom and the lawyer.

Olive didn’t blame him.

He led the entire entourage into a small conference room near the nurses’ station. A few minutes later, Morgan came in and offered Olive a steeling smile as the meeting began.

The family meeting was as depressing as Olive expected. Jake’s scans were worse. The nurses had noticed diminishing reflexes and other indications that this was the end.

Her mother sat in uncharacteristic silence during most of the meeting. Her fingers slipping across the beads of a rosary over and over again. Every now and then the priest beside her would place a hand on her shoulder.

It wasn’t until the very end that the doctor pulled out a manila folder. “We got the final report from the physician you consulted with, and unfortunately he agrees with our assessments, that—”

Her mother stood, startling everyone in the room. She paced up and down in the small room.

The doctor talked fast as if he also knew there was a tempest brewing. “The team needed to meet with you urgently to make sure that you had the opportunity to make adjustments to your wishes…”

“Our wishes?” Olive’s mother said. “You mean her wishes.” Her mother pointed at Olive. “Doesn’t preserving a life mean anything to you people here? Why can’t anyone understand that we need to give Jacob a chance? Does his life mean anything to you people?”

“Mom…” Heather stood, coming to her mom’s side.

Olive looked at the lawyer. “What does this mean, if the doctor agreed? Does it change anything?”

Her mother turned to her, and then the yelling began. The meeting devolved from there into ninety minutes of the normal circuitous conversations without any further decision being made until her mother marched out of the room.

Olive lowered her head onto the table. When she looked up, the only person left was Morgan, who had sat beside the doctor the whole time adding in supporting details from her own clinical observations.

“She’s never going to accept this, is she?” Olive asked, massaging the tense spots from her forehead.

Morgan shook her head slowly. “You know that sometimes people never do.”

Olive groaned. “I know.”

A page came from overhead, calling Morgan to room SW413. Jake’s room. Olive and Morgan hurried up to the room to help, but it wasn’t anything dramatic. Olive’s mom wasn’t even in there causing a ruckus. Just normal caregiving needs.

She helped Morgan get her brother settled.

When she finished helping, she found Stella outside the door. “Your sister said I should come back up. I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?” Olive asked. She hugged Stella. “Thank you so much for staying. I didn’t realize this would take this long.”

“It’s okay.” There was a panicky look on Stella’s face, one that Olive had never seen there before. Almost like she was going to be sick.

“Stella, are you okay?”

“I…”

“Stella, what’s wrong?”

“I just… nothing.” Stella tried to keep her mouth from trembling, but every part of her was shaking.