FORTY-EIGHT
Charlie laid in bed basically holding her breath. James had been gone a long time. She thought about texting Wendy to make sure they found one another. It hadn’t been fair tasking him with telling her mother about the surgery. She should have been more honest from the start. It wasn’t that she didn’t think she could talk to her mom or sister, it was more that she was embarrassed by the whole thing.
Embarrassed. It was almost as if she had felt at fault for getting sick. How asinine was that?
When the blue drape parted and she saw her mother and sister walk through, she laughed. Her laugh became crying. And as they all hugged each other, the cries turned into uncontrollable sobs.
Wendy backed away. “Was I hugging you too hard? Did I hurt you?”
Joan eased up some as well.
“
