Chapter 69: Chapter 34: The Lump

Jamie

“Mom. Mom!” I called out as I walked through her hallway toward the kitchen.

I heard nothing back. Usually, I would hear the clattering of plates as she put them away in the cupboard or her singing along with the radio so loud she wouldn’t hear me.

~Where is she?~

I walked into the kitchen, and no one was in sight, which was very unusual for the Harris household. I walked further toward the kitchen island and pulled out my phone to call her.

My mom’s car was parked out front. She wouldn’t usually go out without her car because her knees get sore if she walks a long distance. She wouldn’t be with my father. He’s at work at this hour.

Her phone rang, and the tiny hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I instantly had a bad feeling. You know when you can just sense that something isn’t right?

I followed the ringing and froze on the spot when I saw her.

Her feet…

“Mom,” I whispered, in both shock and fear. I paused in panic for what must’ve only been like three seconds before rushing to her side.

My mom was lying on the floor in the living room with a gash on her head.

“Mom!” I knelt beside her, checking her over but trying not to move her.

I was checking to see if there was still life in her, and thankfully there was. But she wasn’t moving, and she wasn’t waking up.

I dialed 9-1-1 in a panic and waited. I was thankful now that I had decided to pop in for a mother and daughter chat that we’d been in dire need of having.

~It’s been a while~, I’d told myself. I’d left Penelope with Ethan. I was thankful for that too. I wouldn’t want her seeing this.

The line picked up, and a woman’s voice came over the phone. I cut her off in a panic. “I need an ambulance. My mom fell. She won’t wake up.”

A couple of traumatizing hours later, I walked up and down the hospital waiting area holding my phone to my ear, chatting with Ethan. “My dad is in with her right now, she fell, but I think she’s okay.”

My father walked into the waiting area and locked eyes with me. He mustered a smile, and I worried about the news he had to tell me about my mother.

“My dad is here. I have to go, Ethan. I’ll be home soon, okay?”

I hung up the phone and walked toward him. “So, how is she?”

“She’s worried about you, actually. You know what your mother is like. You’re the one that found her, so she’s fretting about scaring you like that.”

“It’s lucky that I stopped by when I did. Otherwise, she would’ve been there alone until you got home from work.” The thought of it sent me into a little panic in my head. “So, is she okay?”

“The doctors have taken care of her. She wants to see you both.” My father looked toward the waiting room chairs where my brother had fallen asleep. “Jacob,” he called.

My brother woke from his sleep startled and looked at us. “I fell asleep.”

He stood up and walked toward us. “I had a terrible dream that I was having sex with my neighbor.”

“Why is that terrible?” I asked.

It’s gross to say it, but my brother was a promiscuous man. Sometimes he shared too much info around the dinner table, and my mom sent him home without dessert.

“Because she looks like the Trunchbull from that movie you used to make me watch when we were kids.”

My father and I both chuckled.

“You mean ~Matilda~.”

Jake shrugged his shoulders. “Whatever movie she is from, my neighbor is her twin. So how is Mom? Can we see her?” he asked, looking at my father.

“Yes, let’s go see her.”

We followed my dad down the corridor toward my mom’s private room. She was sitting up in her bed, watching the door and waiting for us.

“Oh, there you are. I was worried that you two had already left,” my mom said and reached her arms out toward us for a hug.

“Of course not,” I replied and hugged her. “Jake just fell asleep, so it took us a while to wake him up.”

“I didn’t fall asleep. Don’t mind her.” He hugged my mom and sat down at the end of her bed.

“He was having a scary dream about the Trunchbull, so he should be grateful that we woke him.” I glanced in my brother’s direction and smirked.

“The Trunchbull?” my mom asked.

“You don’t want to know, Julia.” My father shook his head and sat down on the chair beside my mother’s bedside. I sat down on mine on the other side of her.

I looked at my mom’s head covered with a bandage where she’d gashed it when she fell.

“So, how are you feeling?”

She was wearing a hospital nightgown, and she looked pale and tired.

“Oh, me, I’m fine. You don’t need to worry.” She moved her hand toward the bandage when she noticed me looking. “I didn’t even need stitches. It’s just a graze.”

“That’s good.” I smiled, feeling a tiny bit relieved. “But I found you on the floor in the living room, and you were unconscious. What happened?”

“Um, well, I was standing on the side table dusting above the curtains, it was just full of cobwebs, and I couldn’t stand seeing it any longer.

“Anyway, all of a sudden, I felt a little dizzy, and I lost my balance.”

“Drinking too much wine and not enough water, eh?” my brother joked and chuckled afterward.

My mom and dad didn’t laugh, however. They shared a look between them, and it gave me a weird feeling.

“What’s that look about?” I looked between them again. “Is there something you’re not telling us?”

My mom looked in my dad’s direction. “Tell them, Julia. They need to know.”

“Tell us what?” Jake asked. It was the first time in my life I’d seen Jake look so concerned.

“Well…” She cleared her throat. “I don’t want you to worry, but when the nurse was examining me, she noticed a lump on my neck.

“The doctor is going to run some tests on me while I’m here, just to make sure everything is okay.”

Lump. That word lingered in my mind. I was afraid to hear any more than that, but I had to know despite the shivers running up and down my spine.

“Lump. As in a cancer lump?”

My mom and dad looked at each other, and he took her hand in his. That told me everything I needed to know. I didn’t even need her to reply.

Jake and I walked out of the hospital and through the parking lot. Both of us were silently trying to digest the news. It was late now. I was sure Penelope and Ethan were already asleep.

Jake and I slipped into his car. He was driving me since I’d come here in the ambulance with my mom. “I’m sure it’s not…” He paused, unable to bring himself to say the word.

“That’s what the doctors are checking for, so it’s a possibility.” I clicked my seat belt into place and looked out the front window. “I can’t believe this. Mom could have cancer.”

He winced. “Don’t say that word around me, Jamie. It’s too early for that.”

“The sooner we know, the better,” I replied.

Jake pulled out of the hospital grounds and headed in the direction of my house. We didn’t talk anymore on the subject. I think neither of us was ready for that talk.

“So, where’s Mason tonight? I heard you two were moving into a mansion in the middle of nowhere. That’s what Mom told me anyway.”

~Here we go!~

“That didn’t really work out. We’re kind of taking a break.” It felt more like broken up. I hadn’t spoken to him since the day we’d gotten back from Napa.

“A break?” My brother glanced at me. “Why? He didn’t mess around with another woman, did he? I’d be happy to kick that guy’s ass if he did.”

I chuckled. “I’m pretty sure that would not work out in your favor, Jake.”

He flexed one arm to show that he had muscle, and I shook my head at him.

“Anyway, we didn’t really agree on what we wanted in the future. I want marriage and more kids. He doesn’t.”

“I remember him saying that at dinner. You want something different. You shouldn’t have to sacrifice that to be with him. You’ll find someone else.”

I looked out the car window at the city, dark and empty. “That’s the thing, I don’t want anyone else. If I’m not with him, then I’m going to be alone. No one else will measure up.”

My brother shook his head. “This is why I don’t get attached to a woman. In the end, you’ll just end up getting your heart broken.”

“But maybe love is worth fighting for if you truly love someone.”

“It’s getting a little sappy in this car right now. If you’re going to make your brother talk about love and shit, then we’re stopping off at a drive-thru.”

My brother turned the car into a McDonald’s drive-thru. I was grateful to him for even attempting to have a conversation with me about my feelings for Mason.

Usually, that wouldn’t be the case.

I was also grateful to him for making me laugh after the hell of a night we’d had.

I needed something to take my mind off what was going on with my mom, and I was thankful that he was by my side like a brother should be at a time like this.

***

Jack

I sank the final ball in the middle pocket and smirked. Another victory for me. The other two were sore losers once again. Pool was my game, although I preferred golf usually.

Golfing was reserved for the time I spent with my father and work colleagues, which isn’t very often these days. Pool was a game I played when casually having a couple of drinks with Gavin and Luke.

“You win again.” Luke clicked his tongue off the roof of his mouth. “I don’t know why I bother.”

“I don’t know why you bother either, but it’s fun for me.” I chuckled and picked up my beer bottle for a drink.

“You won’t win with that attitude.” Gavin set our next round of beers down on the table. “I guess I’m up next. Watch close now. You’ll learn a thing or two.”

Luke rolled his eyes. “I’m pretty sure there’s nothing I can learn from you. You spend most of the night scaring away every woman that walks into this place.”

“Speaking of scaring away women, how is Sara?” I asked.

He shot me a look. “I wouldn’t know, Jack. She dumped my ass after I stuck up for you, if you remember.”

“I remember. It’s not like you’ll ever let me forget it, but good friends stick together. I’ve stuck by you on more than one occasion, and that’ll never change.”

“We know that.” Gavin chimed in. “Sara is out of the picture now. Let’s find you some fresh pussy tonight.”

“Do you have to call it that?” conservative Luke replied. “Sara and I were together for a long time. I’m not interested in getting close to anyone else right now.”

“Whatever. It’s your loss,” said Gavin.

My phone vibrated in the pocket of my jeans, and I pulled it out and looked at it. “I have to take this call. I’ll be back in a minute.”

I walked away from our table and headed out of the bar. “Hello.”

“Are you alone?”

“Yes, I’m alone,” I replied, walking out of the bar and into the cold night air.

There were a couple of people around, so I walked around the corner and down an alleyway.

“I thought you were going to take care of things. Isn’t that what I’m paying you for?”

“I’ve been waiting for you to call me.”

I could still hear drunk people laughing and shouting, so I walked further down the alley.

“If I’m going to take care of things, I want more. I’m the one that’s taking all the risk here.”

“Fine,” he replied. “Just get it done.”

“I’ll get it done, but I want my money first. I’m not doing this unless I have it. I want a gun too. I’m sure you’ll find a way of getting me one of those.”

There was silence on the other end of the phone. I stood in the darkness, waiting for his reply.

“I’ll give you whatever you want. I don’t care what it costs. I just want Mason Knight dead.”