Fall to You (Here and Now 2)

Now we’re all standing around, waiting to hear the results of the cardiac cath they performed on Mom this morning. Abby’s staying with Maggie while Mom’s in the hospital. She wanted to be here too, but Maggie played her big-sister card and insisted Abby go to school. In addition to four of her five daughters, Mom’s old friend, Carol Standers, is here, anxious as the rest of us to hear the news.

“Essentially, we see the same elevated enzymes that we would in a regular heart attack, but it’s brought on by stress rather than any blockages that you’d see in a traditional heart attack.”

“Broken heart syndrome,” Maggie says. “So what can we do to make sure it doesn’t happen again?”

I gave my mom a heart attack. The doctor’s talking and I can hardly process his words with the blood rushing in my ears.

“We’re going to have her wear a monitor for a couple of months,” the doctor continues. “This way, we can monitor her heart activity and it will give her a jolt if her heart isn’t functioning properly, but of course, I need you to limit your stress as much as possible.”

Carol lifts a brow. “With her daughter’s wedding coming up?”

“I’ll be fine,” Mom insists.

“No offense,” Carol says, patting Mom’s hand, “but your daughters have a track record of bringing on the drama when their weddings are approaching.”

“Jesus!” Maggie hisses. “Seriously?”

“Don’t swear, Margaret,” Mom scolds.

“I’m just saying that with two daughters who called off their weddings at the last minute, it’s no wonder she was feeling so stressed before Hanna’s big day.”

“Don’t put this on Hanna,” Lizzy growls.

“Come on, you guys,” Krystal says. “Just let it go. Carol is just a concerned friend, but in this case, she doesn’t need to be worried. Max and Hanna are in love.”

All eyes turn to Max and me—every pair seems to be asking a different question, but the only one that matters is Mom’s.

A couple of days ago, I was confident in my ability to tell my mom that I was canceling my wedding, but now I have to tell her that I’m canceling my wedding and I’m pregnant. Oh, and guess what? I don’t know who the father is!

Max wraps his arm around my waist and squeezes. I’m not sure if the gesture is for my benefit or my mom’s.

Thankfully, the doctor quickly gets us off the subject of my upcoming wedding and the attention returns to him as he explains that Mom will need to stay in bed today and will be released to go home with her new vest tomorrow. Max keeps his arm around me, and I let myself take comfort in his warmth.

When we leave the room, he steps away as if touching me cost him.

“Let me know if you need anything,” he says softly. “I’ll be at the club.” Then he tucks his hands into his pockets and leaves.

“Mom’s asking to see you,” Krystal calls to me from the doorway to Mom’s room.

Oh, shit. I knew this was coming. But luckily I called Liz last night and we came up with a plan.

I step into the room and pull the door closed behind me. “I hear you saw that ridiculous article,” I say. Because I’m more of a “rip off the Band-Aid” kind of girl.

“I did.” She’s not looking at me, just out the window. But I’ve been trained well, and after twenty-three years of her disappointment, I don’t have to see her face to sense her disapproval.

“It was stupid, wanting to be an extra in that music video, but I guess it’s just something I’ve always wanted to do.” I hold my breath, waiting.

“You were in that man’s hot tub for a music video?”

“Oh, yeah.” I’m pretty sure I’m going to burn in hell for lying to my bed-ridden mother, but that’s better than having to live with myself if my mistakes kill her. “We’ll see if they even put me in it. You know how those things go.”

She turns back to me and nods, but I can’t tell if she’s buying my story or not.

My sisters decided that the “It’s five o’clock somewhere” rule totally applies on vacations, wedding days, breakups, and weeks your mother is in the hospital for a heart attack. So they called Cally and Nix, who cleared their schedules for the rest of the day and met us at Brady’s.

Krystal already headed back to the airport, so it’s just Liz, Maggie, Cally, Nix, and me, all squeezed into a booth with three pitchers of beer. At noon, but whatever.

Cally fills the glasses, and I put a hand over mine. “Water for me.”