Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 56799 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56799 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
“She’s not answering and I’m worried. Do you have a spare key?”
“I’m not sure I should go in,” he said, hesitating.
Fallon curled a hand into a frustrated fist at her side. “Clara hasn’t been well and there’s silence from inside. Please? I’ll take full responsibility if she’s upset with you. Please,” she said again, more urgently this time.
He nodded. “Fine.” He walked into the room behind him, shutting the door, then returned with a set of keys in his hand. “Let’s go up.”
Once outside the apartment door again, the doorman knocked hard, ringing the bell while Fallon shifted anxiously from foot to foot.
“I told you, nobody’s answering. Open the door?”
He inserted the key in the lock, turned, and let them inside.
“Clara?” Fallon called out. She made her way through the apartment, checking the kitchen, the sitting room and then the family room, before walking into the bedroom where she found the older woman lying on the floor, unresponsive.
“Clara!” Fallon knelt down, picking up her weathered hand and feeling for a pulse. Finding one, she yelled, “Call 911!” to the doorman who’d waited at the entrance to the apartment.
“Clara?” Fallon asked in a soothing voice. She spoke to her in low tones for what felt like forever until the paramedics finally arrived.
She stepped back to let the professionals do their job and when they told her what hospital they’d be taking Clara to, Fallon rushed downstairs to hail a taxi.
Hours passed as Fallon paced the floor in the hospital waiting room. She’d told the paramedics about Clara’s heart condition but beyond that she felt useless. Not only that, she had visions of the night her mom died, nobody letting her into the room, the explanation given by her dad, that someone had hurt her mommy and she was in heaven now. And that overwhelming feeling and pit of pain, anguish, and fear.
She glanced around at the sterile, beige walls and down at the empty table in the center of the room. There were no magazines to read, not that she could concentrate, nobody to talk to, and by the time noon passed, she was scared and lonely. She wanted someone to keep her company but she needed Noah. She knew he had the girls to care for but she couldn’t stop herself from picking up her phone and dialing his number.
He arrived not long after and she rushed to him, allowing him to wrap her in his comforting arms.
“Any news?” he asked.
She stepped back and shook her head. “Not a word.”
Together they sat back down to wait but she felt better with Noah by her side. She wasn’t up to explaining the feelings that this experience brought back, feeling if she talked about her mom, she’d cry and not stop.
“I can stay until early evening. Then I need to go home to the girls so Shannon can leave,” he said, regret in his tone as she threaded his fingers through hers.
“I’m just grateful you came.”
“Family of Mrs. Clara Morganville?” A female nurse stepped into the room and glanced around.
Finally. She popped up from her seat and Noah rose, standing beside her. “That’s me.” Fallon raised a hand uselessly.
“And you’re her…?”
“Daughter,” she automatically said, knowing if she didn’t claim a familial relationship not only wouldn’t they give her information but they wouldn’t allow her to see Clara.
“Your mother is stable.”
“Oh, thank God.” For the first time since finding Clara on the floor, Fallon’s heartbeat began to slow to a normal rate. This wasn’t a repeat of the past. Clara was okay. “Can I see her?”
The other woman nodded. “Of course. But she’s asleep. You can check on her now and come back tomorrow. Follow me.”
“Was it her heart?” she asked.
“The doctor ran tests. We should have the results in a few hours.”
Noah clasped her hand. “I need to get back to the girls. You’re okay now that you have news?”
She looked at him, seeing in his taut expression that he was upset by the need to leave her.
“I’m good. Promise.” She rose to her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “Thank you for coming. I appreciate it so much.”
He nodded. “I’d stay but—”
“You’re needed at home. Go.” She squeezed his hand. “I’m fine.”
After saying goodbye to Noah, Fallon sat by Clara’s bedside. Her skin was pale and paper-thin but her breathing was steady and that’s all Fallon cared about for now. She stayed until the nurse returned and encouraged her to go home and return tomorrow, when hopefully Clara would be more alert.
Worried but relieved at the prognosis, Fallon agreed.
But Clara’s scare had her taking the first LIRR train to Old Brookville to visit her father. Canceling last night had been one thing but she’d seen firsthand how quickly a person’s health could turn and she wanted to see her dad in person and make sure he was okay.