His voice was soft and serious. “Do you think Dad will get better?”
“Of course.” I walked back over and sat on the edge of his bed. “We have to have hope, Drake. He will get back to his old self; he just needs more time.”
Drake nodded and seemed content with my answer. I kissed his forehead without the objection that he was a man now. I walked out, turned off the overhead light, and closed the door. I made my way over to my room across the hall.
I changed into basketball shorts and tossed my shirt on the floor to begin this week’s dirty clothes. I plugged in my phone so it could charge throughout the night and fell back onto my bed. I leaned over to turn on the lamp and opened the top drawer of my nightstand.
I pulled out the picture of my family and traced my thumb over my mother’s face. We were so happy. This was the year before we found out about her cancer. It was just before a family vacation and we were going to Hawaii. We were all matching in geeky flowered shirts and beige shorts. Our grins were cheesy, but our happiness and love for one another was evident. That was my favorite vacation.
We had the most fun on that one. It was as if we all knew it was going to be our last vacation as a happy, healthy family. I sighed and put the picture away. I stared up at the ceiling thinking of how much
I missed her laugh. She could never fake a laugh. It was always real and sounded like heaven. Her laugh could bring a smile to any one’s face.
She could tell the best jokes and loved to get into a political debate. She was without a doubt the best mom I could have asked for. I just missed her.
I was lying there awake thinking about her when my phone beeped around one. Checking the text on my Blackberry, I saw it was from Emily. She asked if I was awake. What was she doing awake? I replied with a yes and it was seconds later that I received one back.
Want to go for a walk? I’m outside, went running.
She was running? She was outside my house? I quickly texted her back to let her know I would be down in a minute. It was chilly outside with the transition of summer to fall. All I had to do was grab a hoodie and slip on some shoes.
I quietly crept downstairs and out the front door. There she was, waiting at the end of the walkway. Stuffing my hands in my hoodie, I smiled and said hello.
“Hey.” She wasn’t looking at my face, but my chest.
“What are you doing out here?”
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and then stuffed her hands into her jacket pockets. “I woke up from a nightmare I can’t remember and then I couldn’t go back to sleep. I needed to move so I went for a run. I ended up stopping here to take a break. I saw the light and thought it might be your room. So here I am.”
“Here you are. Do you know that, even though there are street lamps, it is dangerous to go running at one in the morning?”
She giggled and nodded. She glanced up at me and said, “Are we going to walk or not?” I smiled and we began to walk. “Why were you awake?” She asked.
I was quiet for a minute trying to decide whether or not to tell her the truth. Figuring I had nothing to lose I said, “I was thinking of my mom. She died from cancer a year ago.”
Emily stopped walking and reached out to touch my arm. I faced her and tried to hide the sadness from my face. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered, looking directly at me now. Next thing I knew, she was hugging me tightly and repeated her apology.
I clutched her tighter to me and rested my chin on the top of her head. Taking a deep breath, I confessed, “Sometimes, I just really miss her.”
She leaned back and once again looked directly at me. “What was she like?”
“Let’s get to the park and I’ll tell you all about her,” I told her. Our hands returned to our pockets and we walked the short distance to the empty park.
We sat down on a bench under a light. After a few minutes, Emily surprised me once again. She took my hand, intertwined our fingers, and hugged my arm resting her head on my shoulder. She was trying to give me strength. She amazed me. Here was a girl who was scared of others and she was giving me strength.
I began to tell her about my mother and her jokes and how she was a strict mother, but so fun and full of life. I told her about how well she took care of us and always made sure we were respectful. She always made sure we were happy. If we had any questions or if we needed to talk to someone, she was always there.
“She sounds like she was a wonderful person,” Emily said with a clear voice.
“She was,” I replied. We sat in silence for about ten minutes while I collected myself. “You really shouldn’t be running at night, you know.”
She laughed a quiet laugh and said, “I know, but that won’t stop me.”
I leaned my head against hers. “Are you really okay with us coming to the game with you guys?”
“Yes. I mean, my dad is going so if I’m going to be a little uncomfortable, then I might as well add you two to the bunch. Plus, I really wanted Drake to go. He was too excited about it.”
“Oh, I see. You just want my brother to go. Tsk. Tsk.”