Chapter 5
David had been unconscious for seven days with no sign of waking.
I stayed by his bedside every day, pacing like a cat on a hot tin roof.
What if he never woke up? And all because of me.
Sol began to talk to him. Day and night, I whispered Memories into the quiet, hoping somehow my words could reach him.
I said, “David, remember when you were five? You tied a blanket around your shoulders like a superhero and jumped off the couch, chipping your front tooth clean through.
“You cried and cried, saying no one would marry a boy with a missing tooth. So I told you the Tooth Fairy would bring you a new one by Morning. That finally calmed you.
“On your first day of school, you clung to my coat and wouldn’t let go until I promised I’d be the first parent waiting at the gate.
“Once, work kept me late. I was only thirty minutes behind, but in that time, a stranger tried to lead you away. You were so scared that you fell ill afterward and blocked it from your memory.
“That day, I swore I’d never be late again. That vow is etched into my very being. Even if I forget everything else, I’ll never forget to pick up my boy.”
I went on and on, retelling the story of us, just a Mother and her son against the world.
The first time he brought home a straight–A report card, beaming with pride.
The first Mother’s Day gift he ever gave me was a clumsily folded paper carnation, wrinkled but made with such care.
The day his college acceptance letter arrived, we held each other and wept in our tiny apartment.
Then I told him about the day I began to forget.
I said, “When the doctor said it was early dementia, I was terrified. I feared the day I might not recognize My own son.
“But you held my hand and said, ‘Mom, if you forget Me, we’ll just meet again. I’ll introduce myself to you every single day.‘
‘And you did. Every morning, you’d lean in and smile, ‘Good Morning, Mom. I’m David, your son, and the one who loves you most in this world.‘
“I wandered off so many times, but you never lost patience. Each time you found me, you’d wrap me in your arms and say, ‘Let’s go home, Mom.”
My words tumbled out between pauses where tears should have been, but ghosts couldn’t cry.
That afternoon, Emily’s aunts, May and Lucy, the family gossipers, showed up. They hadn’t come for David, but to persuade Emily to walk away.
“Sweetheart, you have to think of yourself,” Lucy said gently, squeezing Emily’s hand.
May was less kind. “David gave up his career for a Mother who didn’t even remember him. Now look at him, just lying there. Why waste your youth? The doctors say it’s in God’s hands now.”
“You’re still young,” May pressed. “File for divorce, take Sophie, and come stay with us. We’ll help you find a real man.”
Each word felt like a blade. I trembled with a rage I
could no longer act upon.
But Emily’s voice cut through, firm and fierce.“Enough. As long as David breathes, I am his wife. Now, please leave.”
Her eyes flashed. “He is My husband and Sophie’s father. This family stays together as long as I’m here.”
“He’s only sleeping,” she said, voice trembling but unwavering. “And he will wake up.”
After they left, she slipped into the hallway, slid down against the wall, and wept into her hands.
Watching her shoulders shake, guilt crashed over me like a wave.
And then other memories surfaced.
How she’d complain my stew was too bland, but I’d always find my favorite cinnamon roll on the nightstand after she thought I was asleep.
How she’d storm out during an argument, only to return half an hour later with new wool–lined slippers, tossing them to me with a frown. “Your old ones are worn through. Don’t you dare keep wearing them.”
How on freezing winter nights, she’d quietly place a warm bottle at the foot of my bed so I wouldn’t feel the chill.
Emily wore toughness like armor, but beneath it beat the softest heart.