48 Peaks by Cheryl Suchors

Author:Cheryl Suchors
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: She Writes Press
Published: 2018-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

In early May, when I harvested the day’s catch of the thin envelopes I’d grown to abhor, I was prepared for the usual rejection. I had to read the letter twice. The Distillery, a handsome literary journal published in Tennessee, wanted my story! It didn’t matter that neither I, nor anyone I knew, had ever heard of them or that the payment for my untold hours of work would be two free copies of the journal. I screamed with delight, jumping up and down in a circle in the front hallway.

For our anniversary, Larry had reserved an inn in Princeton, Massachusetts, for the weekend, knowing I wouldn’t want to be more than an hour’s drive from Kate, but neither of us had expected her to fail so quickly. Since she insisted we keep our reservation, we cut our stay to one night.

As soon as we got back to Cambridge the next evening, I rushed next door, anxious to see Kate. Though it wasn’t yet dark, Tom told me she’d already gone to bed. It was all I could do not to ask if I could peep in, make sure she was breathing. I had trouble sleeping that night, knowing I’d missed one of the precious days Kate and I had left together.

Sunday morning, Casey was still at a friend’s where she’d spent the weekend and I was headed to my car to pick her up when Tom walked down their driveway to put trash in their barrel. He came over and put his arm around my shoulder. “When you’re ready, you should come see Kate. She’s taken a turn for the worse.”

Standing there on a sunny day in May, I asked what that meant. Because I couldn’t ask How much time does she have?

He explained that because of organ failure she now had septicemia. Their sons had flown in that morning. I started to run to my car and he added, “And Cheryl? Just come in.”

Wide-eyed, I started the car. I could have called Larry at his office and asked him to get Casey. I could have asked her friend’s mom to keep Casey longer, but my hands shook and my mind wasn’t working. I just knew I had to hurry. I drove very carefully, very fast.

After dropping Casey at home, I raced up Kate’s porch steps, my footsteps on the wood announcing me as they had so many times before. Tom rushed down the hall from their bedroom. “The boys are in with her,” he said.

“Should I wait?”

“No. I don’t think you can.”

Kate’s other best friend, Pauline, stood by Kate’s feet and her two sons filled the narrow aisle between the hospital bed and the bed their mother could no longer lie in.

I’d never done this before, been near someone so close to death. I joined Pauline at the foot of the bed and we silently did Reiki on Kate, touching her feet. Tom came in and moved his sons away to make room for me. I was aghast and appreciative at once.

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