Uphill Battle by Alice Duke

Author:Alice Duke [Duke, Alice]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-04-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Four

NICOLA

Over the past two days, I’ve learned something about myself. I’ve learned that even if you try to do everything perfectly, it’s still going to come crashing down on you.

The lawyer I found was pretty clear that we’re all in a lot of trouble. The hospital wants me to know that both my parents require twenty-four-hour care from here on out, and that while their bills will be high, I should really be worried about the huge cost of getting my parents into a facility. They offer me a flyer for one nearby and when I call them there are spaces. But the lawyer says that the facility I put my parents in absolutely can’t be in the United States and that I absolutely can’t go back to Canada. I’d had to concentrate very hard on the mental image of Ada’s frown to hold me together for that conversation.

The realtor I talked to says she can probably sell my home — after all, I need to cover this somehow — but the market is weak, and she isn’t hopeful of the best price. It had been a memory of Ada pushing my chair back and kissing me without permission that got me through that meeting.

My mother has taken a step backward. She’s heavily medicated and incommunicative. Visits to her make me feel like my heart is in my throat and I might puke it up. I’ve never spent so much time pretending I’m a smoker just to find a quiet place outside where I can cry with no one watching. No amount of memories can help with this, but I try. I fill my mind with memories of a pineapple bra and try like hell to drown in it.

Dad is worse than Mom. He doesn’t want to stay in bed. He wants to be with Mom. He wants them to stop giving him medication. But his heart is all over the place. He’s had three “incidents” as the doctor called them and the confusion is getting worse with every one. I don’t know what that means and the doctor looks like he doesn’t want to commit to an answer without more tests. Dad curses at us both in Serbian and tells me it’s my fault. Which it is. So, yeah.

Basically, I’m screwed on every level.

I drive down the street, looking at every building as I go. It’s here somewhere. I looked up the address online. And yeah, I shouldn’t be coming to see Ada right now. Not with all the other problems I’m dealing with, but I owe her. I owe her because my mess has spilled over and ruined things for her, too. I owe her a goodbye and an explanation of why she’ll have to let this drop — that there are no ways out for me. Not even if she frowns at all the right people.

My phone buzzes and I glance at the caller ID. Big Daddy Boom. This is the second time he’s called me. I let it go to voicemail the first time and didn’t listen to it.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.