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My mother’s name flashed on the screen.
“Hi, Mom.”
A voice I didn’t recognize came over the line. “Hello, is this Mrs. Doyle’s daughter?”
I felt my stomach drop. “Yes?”
“I’m calling from Norwalk Hospital. Your mother fell and broke her leg. She’s going into surgery shortly, but she asked us to call you before she was taken in.”
“Oh my gosh! I’ll be right there.” As I rushed back into the hallway, Leo walked in the front door and we almost collided.
His eyes widened when he saw me. “What are you wearing?”
“I... I just wanted to look nice. Please, Leo,” I said, running up the stairs, “I wanted to talk tonight, but my mom’s in the hospital. I have to change and get over there.”
“What happened?” He followed me to the second floor.
“She broke her leg. That’s all I know. I have to get to the hospital.”
“Yes, of course. I’m so sorry to hear it. Call and let us know how she is, okay?”
I left the house, touched by Leo’s concern.
When I got home late the next afternoon, I was exhausted. I’d spent the night at the hospital in a chair next to my mother’s bed. She looked so frail and vulnerable, and I wished there was something I could do to help her as she moaned in agony, despite the painkillers the doctor had prescribed. It was a displaced fracture, but it could have been worse. She could have broken a hip and been sent to a rehab facility. She did, however, need someone to take care of her at home. I’d asked her to come stay at the house, but she refused, saying she wanted to be in her own space, notto have to worry about Leo looking down on her, thinking she was not up to his so-called social standards. She’d always felt insecure around him, and no amount of reassurance on my part could change that.
Leo got home early for a change. I’d already filled him in on Mom’s condition by text, but I had to tell him what I’d decided in the meantime. As soon as he came into the kitchen, I cleared my throat. “I need to go and stay with her until she’s back on her feet, or at least until I can find someone to help her.”
He nodded. “Of course, you should do whatever you have to do. I can arrange for a sitter for the rest of the week. And Rebecca’s coming back on Monday anyway, so there’s nothing to worry about.”
“Maybe I could take Stelli and Evie with me?” The thought of leaving them behind was more than upsetting.
But Leo shook his head. “We can’t disrupt their routines like that. Besides, your mother only has two bedrooms. Joanna, you should focus on her right now. We’ll be fine, I promise.”
I packed myself a bag of clothes with a heavy heart. And then I thought that maybe it would be good to give him a chance to miss me. Perhaps a little space would do us both some good.
The children were upset when I hugged them goodbye, but I promised that I’d be back as soon as I could and that we’d talk every day. And of course, they could come and see me, only briefly on the days when they had after-school activities, but at least it was something.
I followed Leo down the front steps as he carried my bag to the car. I spotted the gardener in the distance, trimming the tall hedges along the perimeter, and took one last look around the property before leaving. The garden beds were meticulously cared for, and they were a riot of color, lush with blooms of red, purple,and yellow. I caught the exquisite scent of roses as I neared my car, and turned, standing still to look again at the house I was leaving, feeling a vague sense of foreboding. The sound of the trunk slamming startled me, and then Leo walked around to the driver’s side, opening the door for me. I looked at him before getting into the car, waiting for him to say he would miss me, but he simply patted me on the shoulder and said, “Give your mother my best. It’s good that you’ll be there for her.”
And that was it. I drove the twenty minutes to my mother’s, tears blurring my vision the entire way. I’d brought her home earlier that morning and had asked a neighbor to stay with her while I ran out. The medical supply company had set up a hospital bed in the living room, where Mom would sleep, so she didn’t have to try to navigate stairs with her cast and crutches, and so that I could stay close by to wait on her.
The week went by in a blur. The only bright spot each day was when the sitter brought the kids over. They were so sweet to Mom, and she seemed a little cheered by their presence, although I could tell she was happy to have my undivided attention when it came time for them to leave. As they pouted, I explained why I couldn’t go home with them, but Stelli cried for the first few days.
It about killed me. I couldn’t do this much longer. I had to find a nurse or someone to stay the night so I could go back and be with my family. One day, just after the kids had left, I broached the subject with my mother, and she looked at me with fury in her eyes.
“I took care of you for your whole life, and you can’t sacrifice a few weeks of yours for me?”
“Mom, it’s not that,” I said, trying to keep my voice even. “The kids need me, too. I asked you to come stay with us, but you insisted on being here. Please try to understand.”
“I understand—you care more about that hotshot lawyer thanyour mother. The children have sitters and their father. They’ll be fine.”
“I know, Mom. But they’re young. It’s too hard for them to come here and then go home without me.”
“Fine, Joanna. Abandon your mother. Just remember that I gave up my career for you. I stayed home with you when you had mono. Remember? For six months I couldn’t work, and they gave my promotion to someone else. Who knows what direction my life would have taken if I’d been made a manager at my company? Instead, I lost my job. Your father left us for that woman and her daughter. And I took care of you after he was gone, even though you were already eighteen. I could have kicked you out like a lot of parents do when their kids come of age.”
I threw my hands up. What was the use? She always won. “I’ll stay, I’ll stay.”
That was my first mistake.