Page 13 of Close Match

“If we’re lucky, four days.” We all gasp. That’s an incredibly long time. “As I said, the damage was extensive.” Suddenly there’s a loud beeping in the room. Pilchner curses and turns. “Excuse me, I would wait, but this is an emergency.”

“Is it Mom?” I ask fearfully.

“No” is all he says before he disappears out of the room. I fall into Veronica’s arms while Bristol is swept to the couch by Simon.

We’re all quiet for a few minutes before I say, “You two should go in first; tell her your news.”

The fluorescent overhead light glints off the diamond on Bristol’s hand. “Are you sure, Linnie? I mean, if it wasn’t for you…”

I shake my head. “It wasn’t me operating on her that has her holding on. Take Simon. Go. See Mom. Tell her. Maybe it will help her wake up sooner.” Besides, I want to talk with Veronica about what she knew about my mother’s health.

There’s an impatient quality to the silence in the room until a fresh-faced young nurse knocks on the door. “I have the doctor’s orders to take a family member down to see Ms. Brogan.”

I wave toward Bristol and Simon, who are already standing. “Dr. Pilchner said they could go in together,” I tell her with an edge to my voice.

Checking her tablet, she looks at my sister and says, “Of course. I’m Cara. I’m one of your mother’s nurses on the floor this afternoon. How are you holding up?”

Bristol answers shakily, “I’ll be better once I can see my mother for the first time in a day.”

Cara makes an appropriate clucking sound, and they disappear. Once I figure they’re out of earshot, I turn on Veronica like a wolf on fresh meat. “Did you know?”

Her brows lower in confusion. “Know what?”

“It was her drinking that made this so much worse.” Veronica’s face pales.

“You’re kidding, right? Brielle was one of the healthiest people I know.”

Mentally letting out a relieved sigh, I pull her to the couch and tell her everything Pilchner told us. “You heard what he said, Veronica. She should have been gone by now.” My voice breaks on the last words.

“Come here, Linnie.” I dive into her arms like I used to do after I didn’t get a role when I was a little girl. “It will all be okay,” she murmurs as she strokes her tiny hands over my long hair. But this close, I can smell memories: the sweet musk of her perfume, the mint of her breath, and the underlying tinge of alcohol. God, it’s like a flashback to sitting in Mom’s lap when I was a toddler. I push away, unable to bear it.

“It hurts so bad,” I curl into myself as my chest heaves up and down.

“I know, sweet girl. And just like your mother, you feel so much. You hide it behind this mask.” She brushes her fingers across my cheek. “It makes you so good on the stage and so difficult everywhere else. You don’t release it in quite the same way.”

I pull out away from her touch. Her fingers fall between us, leaving an awkward silence I don’t attempt to break while I order my thoughts. Finally, I let out a tired sigh. “When did you start again?” I feel like I’ve asked her this question a million times over the years. No matter what, she just can’t seem to stay on the wagon.

Veronica turns away. “Now’s not the time, Linnie. It’s just a little to help calm me down.” Yeah, I believe that like I think I’ll start drinking cilantro smoothies.

Then again, if it would cause my mother to wake up, I swear I’d swallow those damn things every day and never complain.

“Was she?”

“Who?”

“Mom. Did she start drinking again?”

“Jesus, Linnie, how can you sit here and ask me that?

“Because if there’s anyone she’d have taken even a single sip with, it would have been you. You wouldn’t have been angry in the same way we would have.”

Appeased, Veronica admits, “True. But if she was drinking, it wasn’t with me.”

Sniffling, I push back. “I’m sorry, but I had to know. Bris will ask…”

“And you didn’t want her hurt,” she surmises. I nod. Then as a peace offering, I say, “You know if you want Stefano here, you can ask him.”

As if I’d gone down on my knees and begged for forgiveness for my assumptions, Veronica’s peals of laughter clears the slate between us. “Oh darling, if you think that adorable piece of man meat is going to offer me solace, then you are so wrong. Being near Brielle does that.”