Spirit Me Away by Aaron Paul Lazar

Author:Aaron Paul Lazar [Lazar, Aaron Paul]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aaron Paul Lazar
Published: 2014-05-07T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 36

“Gus?” Elsbeth shook me awake. She stood at my bedside with two shopping bags in one hand and the phone in the other.

I opened my eyes, confused. What time was it? What day? The homemade ice pack had melted and soaked the sheet beneath my leg, reminding me of the annoying skateboard collision.

“Gus, it’s your mother.” She frowned with worry and handed me the phone.

I sat up quickly, wincing when the covers rubbed against my throbbing shin. I rushed the words. “Mum? What’s wrong?”

“Hi, son. I’m sorry to bother you. But it’s your Grandma Odette, honey. She’s in the hospital. I thought you should know.”

“Impossible,” I said automatically. My grandmother was a woman of steel. She’d never been sick a day in her life—couldn’t be bothered with such things. She was trim and active, with a strong back and an even stronger personality.

My grandfather’s second heart attack had been a bad one. In order to nurse him back to health, she’d temporarily shut down the fishing resort they ran—Loon Harbor— and had moved him back home to East Goodland with us. She’d tended to him assiduously, but when the third attack had hit, he’d died, just after Christmas. She decided to stay with us for a while, and let the camp in Maine stay closed for the season.

“Mum? What’s wrong with her?”

Elsbeth sat down beside me and put her hand on my shoulder.

My mother answered hesitantly. “They found fluid in her lungs, Gus. She’s having trouble breathing. The doctors said it might be pneumonia...they’re, uh... still doing tests.”

A tremor of fear rumbled in my stomach. There was something troublesome about my mother’s tone of voice. She wasn’t telling me everything.

“Mum?”

“Yes, honey?”

“Is it serious?”

She paused. Her silence was more disturbing than an honest answer. “I think you’d better come home, Gustave. Soon.”

My heart skipped a beat and I glanced down at my watch. It was almost three in the afternoon. “I’ll gas up the car and be there in seven hours. I should make it by eleven, at the latest.”

“Go straight to the Rochester Memorial ER, honey. That’s where we’ll be.”

“Okay. Love you, Mum.”

Her voice cracked when she answered me. “Love you, too, son. See you soon.”

I stared at the phone after we hung up.

Elsbeth sat beside me, her eyes wide with fear. “Grandma Odette?”

I nodded and swallowed hard. “I think it’s bad. Real bad. Otherwise they wouldn’t want me home.”

Elsbeth blanched. “Oh, Gus. I just realized, I can’t go with you! The Pops concert is Thursday night. We have rehearsals every night this week. Oh, honey, should I cancel?”

I shook my head vehemently. “Hell, no. You’re the featured virtuoso. It’s the Boston Pops, for crying out loud. You can’t cancel that. Besides, this is the big one. This is the performance that could launch your career. I just hope I can make it back in time to see you.”

“Me, too. But what matters most is your grandma and your folks. You have to be there for her, honey.”

“I’m sure

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