She smiled at the older Latina woman in scrubs as she approached the large mahogany counter. "Good afternoon, I'm here to see Mrs. May Lassiter."
"Hello! You must be Lilly. She's been asking after you. Would you like us to store your suitcase?" she asked, leaning over and gesturing to it.
"Oh, yes, please. I just landed and didn't think to go to her house first and drop it off." She chuckled sheepishly.
"No worries. You're not the first one to do that, sweetie. Just leave it there and I'll have Jorge tag it with your name and put it in the office," she said, pointing over her shoulder with her thumb.
"Thank you--" Lilly said, looking for a name tag.
"Maria," she filled in.
Lilly nodded and Maria picked up the phone and asked for someone named Sally to come to the front. "Sally is your aunt's primary nurse during the day. She'll take you to her room," she informed her with a polite smile.
By the time Lilly had thanked the woman, she saw a small, older woman with short, spiky pink hair walking down the hallway toward her. She sported wide, warm smile that immediately put Lilly at ease. Once she got about an arm's length from Lilly, she spoke.
"Wow, your aunt was right. You are beautiful!" She gushed, causing Lilly to blush. "She said your father is Korean, right?" Sally continued and Lilly blinked at the unexpected question.
"Oh, um thank you, and yes, my father is Korean, and my mother was Aunt May's sister." Lilly explained hesitantly.
Her ebony hair and dark olive skin were in juxtaposition with the smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks. The shape of her moss green eyes perfectly combined her Korean and Anglo-American lineage. She appreciated her physical appearance now, but growing up in this small foothill town, being of mixed heritage had been hard. Kids were cruel when you looked different, and she looked very different from her peers who were overwhelmingly Caucasian.
Sally brought her to a door at the end of the hallway, stopping in front of it with a solemn look. "I don't know when you last saw your aunt, but she's been here close to a week after having her left foot amputated," Sally said.
"She has?" Lilly asked, eyes wide. "I was just called last night and flew out this morning. I had no idea…”
"You are here now and that's what matters.” She reached out and squeezed Lilly's hand. "She's had a hard time getting her diabetes under control, which is the reason for the amputation and why she's here," she said. "I can get you the name of her doctor if you'd like."
"Yes, okay, that would be great," Lilly replied, still trying to wrap her head around the information. She knew being in assisted living wasn't good news for her aunt, but she hadn't had time to think about exactly why she was here.
"Can I go see her now?"
"Yes, of course. I just wanted to give you some information first. I'll go get the doctor's name and number," she said as she opened the door and smiled widely at the white-haired woman sitting up in her bed knitting. Her aunt dropped her needles with a muted clack. "Lilly!"
Unbidden tears came to Lilly’s eyes. Her aunt looked so frail and gaunt. So different from just six months ago. "Aunt May," she choked out and went to her bedside, leaning down to hug her as best she could. She kept her embrace light, afraid to hurt her.
"Oh, Lilly May, please don't cry. I ain't kicked the bucket yet!" her aunt chuckled as she patted the spot next to her hip.
"Mark called me last night and said you'd asked for me. Said you were here, but not much else. Sally told me about your foot." Lilly wiped her eyes before reaching for her aunt's hand, squeezing it.
"Yes, my blood sugar is really goin' wacky. It happens." May shrugged.
Lilly knew she wasn't getting the whole story. She knew her aunt had suffered from type I diabetes most of her life and she knew sometimes she'd tire of keeping up with her diet and treatment.
When Lilly's mom had been alive and Lilly had lived here, they'd been the main ones to keep May on track. But her mom had been gone nearly twelve years now and she’d been gone for ten. She only knew of May’s friend Beth that might have been close enough to remind her aunt of the consequences of not managing her blood sugar properly. She hung her head, realizing she hadn’t paid enough attention to her aunt’s health during her sporadic visits.
"Hey." She heard her aunt say with soft admonishment. "I know what's going through that pretty little head of yours. You stop it right now. You've got your own life. You don't need to be feelin' guilty that I let myself go," May said pointedly.
"I know Aunt May, but still, I wish you would have called me sooner."
"And told you what?" she asked, with gentle recrimination.
"That you were sick. That you needed help," Lilly said, tossing her hand up in exasperation.
"Honey, you have your life in Atlanta. I wasn’t going to call you home because I was feeling dizzy," May said with an incredulous chuckle.
Lilly sat back and sighed, knowing this argument was futile. She frowned though because she knew for her aunt to ask for her now, meant something serious was going on. More than an amputated foot, and that thought scared her.
"Listen, I was thinking about the not too distant future and the bar. I know I can't keep up with it and I'd hoped somehow to keep it in the family. It's been ours for three generations going back to before prohibition you know. I don't have kids and you are the only one of my nieces and nephews worth their salt, Lilly..." May said before her voice dropped off, but her meaning was clear.
Lilly sat quietly, not knowing what to say. Their eyes held and Lilly sensed that May was picking up on her unease.
"Thinking about it now, I'll be dead and gone and really, it won't make a lick of difference to me," May chuckled but Lilly knew her aunt was playing down her own feelings like she always did.
"It's worth quite a bit of money. It could really set you up if you sell. Or you could let Mark continue to run it and pop in every month or hire a management company to help oversee it," Aunt May said.
Lilly’s mind battered between surprise and dread. This was becoming all too real and she wasn’t ready to face it. "I'll have to think about it, Aunt May," Lilly said as she dropped her gaze to her lap. She did catch the brief flash of disappointment in her aunt's eyes though and she felt guilt overshadow everything in that instant.
"I totally understand, sweet one.”
Lilly felt her heart drop and cursed herself for her response, but she couldn't just say yes to something this monumental. She scooted her chair closer to her aunt's bed, and looked up at her, forcing a wide smile onto her face so she wouldn't begin to cry.
"We're talking years down the road though, Aunt May. Neither of us need to make a decision now," Lilly said with a feeble smile as she reached for her aunt's hand once more and squeezed it. She knew that her words rang hollow. May was in assisted living now. She knew May most likely wouldn’t be returning to the bar and the thought threatened to rob her of breath.
She fought to keep her eyes on May who was giving her a bittersweet, knowing smile. "All right, enough of this last will and testament stuff then. Where is that deck of cards? I feel like beating you at gin."