“Hooray!”
Riley smiled and shook her head. To her, summer merely meant she’d have to deal with kids at the theater all day long. Not really high on her list of favorite things. She would think that every spring, but then it never turned out as bad as she expected it to be.
Nancy and her husband, Andy, had been good friends to her not only when she was younger, but also now. She usually went to their house to play board games at least once a week, and they hosted poker games at their house once a month. Riley’s mother had worked with Andy, back when she was able to function without a shot of something in her system, so when she started to drink regularly, Andy and Nancy had taken it upon themselves to look after Riley the best they could.
She shuddered to think about what her life might have been if not for them.
Chapter Three
Riley was sitting at her desk later that evening, entering the inventory and ticket sales for the previous show, when her cell phone rang. She grabbed it without looking to see who it was and held it between her shoulder and ear before going right back to what she was doing.
“Hello.”
“Riley, we just dropped your mother off at Marshall Memorial.”
Riley nearly dropped the phone when the words Megan said registered in her mind. She felt her heart rate speed up and she sat back in the chair. The hospital was two towns over and a good thirty-minute drive, and she knew before Megan even continued what she was going to say.
“She’s in the ER now, and I have to be honest with you, it doesn’t look good.”
“What happened?” Riley didn’t really care, and she knew that probably made her a horrible person. But in all honesty, Helen Warren had never been a good mother. Hell, she’d never even been an okay mother. She’d never paid any attention to Riley, unless it was to yell at her for some asinine reason. Riley had been neglected most of her childhood, but mostly she was subjected to nonstop verbal abuse on a daily basis.
“Alcohol poisoning,” Megan said. “I really think you should get to the hospital.”
“Is she conscious?”
“Off and on. She had two seizures in the ambulance on the way. We picked her up at that dive bar in Summerville. The bartender called nine-one-one when she fell off a barstool and started seizing.”
“Megan, you know I can’t just drop everything and rush right over there,” she said in spite of the fact she was gathering her things and getting ready to do exactly that.
“Honey, I know deep down you love her even though you bitch about her all the time. No matter what, she’s still your mother.”
“Fine, I’m leaving now.”
“My shift is over in another hour. I’ll come back to sit with you.”
“Hey, Megan?” Riley said quietly. “Thank you.”
She shoved her phone in her pocket and headed out to the concession stand. She spotted Nancy speaking to a customer and hung back to wait for her to finish. When Nancy finally turned to her she took her by the arm and led her a few feet away from everyone else.
“What’s wrong?” Nancy asked, obviously seeing it in her face.
“My mom’s in the hospital. Megan says it doesn’t look good.”
“Oh, my God, Riley, you should go,” Nancy said, urging her toward the front doors. “Don’t worry about us. I’ll close everything up.”
“Thanks,” she said as she gave her a quick hug.
“If you think about it, give me a call and let me know how she’s doing. And don’t worry about tomorrow either. I’ll work so you can stay with her.”
Riley waved over her shoulder to let her know she heard, but honestly, she had no intention of taking the next day off. Yes, deep down she did have some love for her mother, but she was pretty sure she wouldn’t do much grieving for her when the time came.
There’d been so many nights when she was growing up her mother never even bothered to come home because she was out drinking and picking up men. Riley was left on her own to get her dinner and do her homework, and most of the time to get her own breakfast and off to school on time. When her mother did bother to come home, she criticized everything Riley did. Nothing was ever good enough for her. She never missed an opportunity to tell Riley she’d never amount to anything, and that no one would ever love her.
The worst part though, was when she told her mother about the bullying she was enduring at school and was told she brought it upon herself. It didn’t seem to matter most of the bullying was because of the clothes she was forced to buy from Goodwill, and because her mother was an alcoholic.
Riley shook her head to try to get rid of the thoughts, but it didn’t do any good. She’d suffered her first panic attack at the age of twelve, and her mother simply told her it was all in her head. She spent most of junior high and high school suffering with anxiety, until her guidance counselor suggested she see a doctor about it. Meds and a lot of therapy helped, and she hadn’t had an attack in over fifteen years now.
She pulled into a parking spot near the ER and sat there for a moment, trying to brace herself for what she might face inside. Hopefully, her mother was still unconscious, otherwise she’d probably get an earful about how long it took her to get there. She considered waiting until Megan arrived, but ultimately decided to just suck it up and go inside.
“I’m here for my mother,” she said to the woman sitting at the desk as she walked into the ER. “Helen Warren? She was brought in by ambulance.”
She didn’t have to wait long before a nurse appeared by her side. She escorted her to the bay her mother was in and left her standing inside the drawn curtain just staring at her. She looked so helpless lying there, but Riley was having trouble conjuring up much sympathy for her. Her mother had been heading down this road for years, knowing it would probably kill her someday, but she never seemed to care. Not enough to do anything about it anyway.
She took a seat next to the bed, and after a few minutes her leg began to bounce because she was bored and anxious. Not anxious enough to have an attack, she knew how that felt. Her vision would grow dim and it would be increasingly difficult to breathe. This anxiety was simply because she wanted to be anywhere but here, wondering if her mother would ever wake up.
“Ms. Warren?” a man said as he entered the cubicle. “I’m Dr. Matthews. I’m in charge of your mother’s case this evening.”
“Hello,” she said as she got to her feet and shook his hand. She glanced at her mother before focusing on him. “How is she?”
“I won’t lie to you,” he said, looking her right in the eye. “She isn’t doing well. This isn’t her first time here in our ER. Were you aware of that?”
“No.” Riley was conflicted. She was caught between being angry her mother hadn’t told her and not being at all shocked that she hadn’t. “No, I had no idea.”
“I’m not surprised. She’s made it clear she didn’t want anyone to contact you, so I’m wondering how you knew she was here tonight?”
“My best friend is one of the paramedics who brought her in. She called to let me know.”
“Okay,” he said with a nod before getting her mother’s chart from the foot of the bed. “She’s been in and out of consciousness even before she arrived in the ER. She’s been vomiting, and she’s had four seizures. We have her on fluids, as you can see, and she’s receiving oxygen through the tube in her throat because she isn’t able to keep breathing on her own at the moment. Her stomach was pumped not long after she got here, and there really isn’t much else we can do other than monitor her vital signs and wait for the alcohol to vacate her system.”