"This wouldn't be anything like that. It's a kind of...alternative healing. Something you can't get in a hospital. It's not a guarantee, but there is a chance that you could be cured completely. I think it might be a good chance, Mom. I think it might be the only one..."
Her mother smiled gently as she laid her cool fingers against Dylan's cheek. "I know how hard this is for you, baby. I do. But the choice is mine to make, on my own. I've had a full life. I'm not looking for miracles now."
"What about me?" Dylan's voice was thick. "Would you try it...for me?"
In the long silence that answered, Dylan tried desperately to hold back the sob that was rising up in her throat. Her heart was cracked in pieces, but she could see that her mother's mind was made up. It had probably been made up long before this moment. "Okay," she said finally. "Okay, then...tell me what you want me to do, Mom."
"Take me home. Let's have lunch together, and some tea, and let's just talk. That's what I'd really like right now, more than anything."
Chapter Thirty-two
Rio didn't hear from Dylan again until late that afternoon. When his cell phone went off in his pocket, he was in the lab with Lucan, Gideon, Niko, and Chase, the five of them discussing Gerard Starkn's apparent snow job and how the Order could best take control of things with the Gen One situation. He excused himself from the meeting and took Dylan's call out in the corridor.
"What's wrong?" It wasn't much of a greeting, but he could sense her upset on the other end as soon as the call connected and the feeling went through him like live electricity. "Are you okay?"
There was a pause, then: "I'm okay, yeah. I'm going to be okay eventually, I think."
"How is your mother?"
"Tired," Dylan said, sounding weary herself. "Oh, Rio...I've been with her all afternoon at her apartment in Queens. She checked herself out of the hospital today, and she's refusing any further treatment. She wants to...she doesn't want to live anymore, Rio. She's made up her mind about that."
He swore softly, feeling Dylan's anguish like it was his own. "Did you tell her about Tess?"
"I tried to, but she wouldn't hear it. It's killing me, but if this is what she truly wants, then I know I have to let her go."
"Ah, love. I don't know what to say."
"It's all right. I don't know what I need to hear right now." Dylan sniffled a little, but she was holding herself together with admirable courage. "We spent the day talking - something we haven't been able to do for a long time. It was nice. I told her about you, that I met a very special man and that I love him very much. She's looking forward to meeting you sometime."
Rio smiled, wishing he could be there right now. "I'm sure that can be arranged."
"I talked with her doctor as we were leaving the hospital. He says that realistically, without treatment, Mom probably only has weeks left...maybe a couple of months. They're going to give her medicine for the pain, but they warned us that the time she has left isn't going to be easy."
"Shit, Dylan. Do you want me to come out there tonight? It's almost sundown. If you need me there, I could leave right at dusk and be in the city by around eleven."
"What about the Order? I'm sure you have other things you have to do."
"That's not what I asked you." In fact, he was supposed to be on a mission tonight, but fuck it. If Dylan wanted him with her, Lucan would have to assign someone else to the patrol. "Do you need me there tonight, Dylan?"
She sighed. "I'd love to see you. You know I'd never turn you down, Rio. Do you really want to come all this way tonight?"
"Just try to stop me," he said, sensing her brighten on the other end. In the background now, he heard a truck horn blast. "Are you driving somewhere?"
"Uh-huh. I'm on my way to pick up some of my mom's things at the shelter. We called her friends over there as we were leaving the hospital, just to fill them in on what's going on. Everyone's pretty worried about her, as you can imagine. And I guess some of the shelter clients and their kids made up a special card for her too."
"She'll like that."
"Yeah," Dylan said. "I'm going to swing by and grab some takeout for dinner back at Mom's place. She wants baby back ribs, sweet potatoes, and cornbread - oh, and some fancy champagne, as she put it, to celebrate my newfound love."
"Sounds like you have quite an evening planned."
Dylan was quiet for a moment. "It's really good to see her smiling, Rio. I want her to enjoy these next few weeks as much as she can."
He understood, of course. And as Dylan wrapped up the conversation and promised to call him when she was back at her mother's apartment, Rio wondered how he was going to get through the weeks - perhaps a couple of months - away from Dylan. It wasn't a long time, certainly not by Breed standards, but for a male in love with his mate, the duration was going to seem endless.
He needed to be with Dylan through this.
And he knew that she needed him too.