Page 86 of Take Your Breath Away

A woman in a long white hospital jacket entered the room quietly. Isabel was first to notice her and whispered, “The doctor.”

The four moved away from the bed and circled the doctor in the center of the room.

Albert said, “She seemed pretty good yesterday.”

Isabel added, “I saw her for a few minutes this morning and she was alert.”

The doctor nodded sympathetically. “I know. Things can change very quickly. I’ve seen patients rally near the end. Within a day of passing, they’re more alert, more communicative. It’s as though they know what’s coming, and want a chance to say goodbye to everyone.” The doctor smiled sadly.

Isabel dabbed her eye with a tissue.

“I think she feels it’s okay to let go now,” she said. “There was someone she’d been hoping to hear from. She wanted to hear from her so badly I think she imagined that it happened.” She sniffed.

The doctor’s face was questioning, but she simply said, “Anything is possible.”

Norman asked, “You don’t think it’s possible she might still wake up and … tell us things?”

Isabel gave him a look. “Like what?”

“Like anything,” he said. “Like how much she’ll miss us.”

“Like I said, anything is possible,” the doctor repeated.

Dierdre spoke for the first time. “How much time does she have?”

The doctor sighed heavily. “I think coming here now was wise.”

The four of them could think of no further questions. The doctor told them to get in touch if there were any further developments, and quietly left the room.

Isabel and Albert resumed their positions on either side of the bed, while Dierdre said she and Norman were going to get some air. Once they had left the room, Albert whispered to his sister, “What was all that about imagining something?”

“Mom said Brie came to her in the night. She was probably dreaming. We put the idea in her head.”

“You didn’t tell me about that,” Albert said.

“I knew you had rehearsals today. Thought I’d give you a break.”

Albert nodded a thank-you. Elizabeth, her eyes closed, showed no sign that she was aware of their conversation. Still, he whispered. “Maybe Mother hasn’t been the only one seeing things.”

His sister studied him, waiting for him to elaborate.

“When we saw that woman in the parking lot, we were seeing what we wanted to see. In the night, Mom did the same. If that allows her to slip away with some degree of comfort, thinking Brie is alive, I’m okay with that.”

“What about what the neighbor saw?”

“I can’t explain that.”

“So you don’t believe it,” Isabel said.

“Believe what?”

“You don’t believe Brie’s alive.”

Albert quickly glanced at his mother and then back to Isabel, worried that even their whispers might be heard. He motioned for her to follow him into the hallway. Once they were out of the room, he went back to his normal voice.

“Izzy, I’d like to believe,” he said. “But …”

Isabel’s jaw hardened. Her cheeks flushed. “That bastard.”