teenage mind, it hadn’t mattered one bit. They would go at it like rabbits in the cab of his daddy’s dusty pickup, parked under that big pecan tree in old Mr. Herbert’s field.
Mya tore her eyes away from his toned brown legs. She didn’t need any reminders of those long-ago mistakes.
Corey rose. “I need coffee,” he said. “Anybody else want some?”
“I’d love some,” Maureen answered. “There isn’t any here, though. The nurse said the coffeemaker is broken.”
“There’s a little place right next door called Drusilla’s. They sell good egg-and-cheese sandwiches. You want something to eat?”
“Just the coffee,” Aunt Mo answered.
“Mya?” Corey asked.
She shook her head. “I’m fine.” Truth was Mya didn’t trust her stomach to keep anything down. She was a ball of nerves. She doubted the condition would improve until she saw her grandmother alert and well.
Minutes passed with only the low hum of a late-model television mounted in the corner making any noise. It was the quiet peacefulness that alerted Mya that something was missing. “Where’s Elizabeth?” she asked Aunt Mo.
“I don’t know,” her aunt said with an agitated wave of her hand. “The gift shop, I think.”
“She would find somewhere to shop,” Mya snorted.
“That’s how she calms herself down. Don’t complain. I’d rather her out there bothering those people than in here bothering me.”
“I know you had the chance to drown her at birth,” Mya said.
Aunt Mo nodded. “I should have taken it. Though you wouldn’t be here.”
“It’s a sacrifice I’d have made to save the planet from Elizabeth Dubois.”
As if she’d heard her name, her mother burst through the waiting room door, followed by a doctor in green scrubs and white tennis shoes.
“She’s going to be okay,” Elizabeth cried.
Mya jumped from her seat and rushed over to the doctor, trying not to hold her high blond ponytail and Hello Kitty earrings against her. Mya wasn’t too keen on her grandmother’s life resting in the hands of someone who looked barely out of medical school.
“How is she?” Mya asked. “Can we see her?”
“She’s going to be fine,” the doctor answered patiently. “You’ll be able to see her soon.”
“What happened?” Mya asked.
“Well, her blood glucose levels were extremely high—”
“But she’s okay now?” Maureen cut the doctor off.
The doctor nodded.
“Thank you, God.” Mya collapsed into the chair nearest the door. Elizabeth was the one who usually favored dramatics, but relief that she would not bury both grandparents within a week was so overwhelming, it knocked Mya’s legs right from under her.
“Can we bring her home today?” Aunt Mo asked.
The doctor’s eyes darted around the room. “Can you all follow me?” she asked.
Anxiety thrummed through Mya’s veins at the seriousness she sensed in the doctor’s voice. “What’s wrong? Is she really okay?”
“Yes. Yes. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to alarm you. There are a couple of things we need to discuss regarding Mrs. Dubois’s care, and patient confidentiality prevents us from discussing it here in the waiting room.”
Mya accepted the explanation with a nod, but still walked on shaky legs as they followed the doctor to a room two doors down. The square plaque next to the door had Privacy Room embossed on it in raised letters.
“Is my mother going to die?” Elizabeth asked as soon as the door closed.
“Not anytime soon,” the doctor answered. “If she continues to take her insulin and monitor her blood sugar levels. However, we did see an abnormality on her initial blood scan. We want to keep her to run a few more tests.”
“What type of abnormality?” Maureen asked.
“I don’t know enough yet. Any time flags are raised on the blood tests of a diabetic, we take it seriously. I’d rather be overly cautious than miss something and see her back here in a few weeks.”
“Do whatever you need to do,” Mya said. “As long as she’s okay.”
“Absolutely,” the doctor answered with a smile. “I’ll send a nurse to the waiting room to let you all know when you can see her.”
The morning had been an emotional roller coaster, but at least they now had the doctor’s word that her grandmother would be okay. Mya welcomed the muscle-relaxing flood of relief that rushed through her body.
“Well, I guess I should call myself a cab. It’s time for me to get out of here,” Elizabeth announced.
The muscles in Mya’s neck and shoulders instantly tensed. “What do you mean it’s time for you to get out of here?”
“My plane leaves in three hours. I’m running late as it is. It’ll take me at least an hour to get to the airport, and I wanted to stop in New Orleans for a few things before I fly out.”
“Mother, are you seriously leaving while your mother is in the hospital? Before even going in to see her?”
“Don’t be so dramatic, Mya. I swear you should be on the theater stage instead of designing costumes for other actors.”
Mya turned to her aunt, who stood at the door to the privacy room, her hands crossed over her chest. “Did she just call me dramatic?” Mya asked.
“Just let it go, Mya. Let her go.”
“Yes, please, let me go,” Elizabeth said. “It’s time for me to get back to civilization. I swear I don’t know how you people in Gauthier can stand it. There’s not even a Starbucks.”
Anger simmered beneath Mya’s skin. She had been just as anxious to get back to New York, but there was no way she could leave with her grandmother in the hospital. Apparently, Elizabeth didn’t share the same sense of responsibility.
“You will never change,” Mya huffed with a disgusted snort. “I don’t know why I expected anything different from you.”
“Well, I certainly won’t stand here while you look down your nose at me.” Elizabeth stalked over to the door in her high-heeled sandals. “Tell Mama I’ll see her next time I’m in town. And take better care of her, Maureen.”
“You have the nerve—” Mya started, but her aunt raised her hand, cutting her off.
“I will take better care of her. Now go on. You’ve got a plane to catch.”
Elizabeth nodded and, without another word, turned and walked out of the privacy room.
As soon as she was gone, Mya stomped up to her aunt. “Why would you let her talk to you that way? As if it’s your fault that Grandma is in the hospital.”
“Haven’t you learned that the best way to deal with your mother is to say whatever is necessary to get her gone?”
“But Grandma is just as much her responsibility as she is yours,” Mya pointed out. “I hate how she treats you, Aunt Mo. And the way she walks around as if she’s better than everybody? It just sickens me.”
“Mya, your mother has been that way since she was a little girl. She has always been too good for this little town and the people in it. I learned a long time ago that the best thing to do as far as Elizabeth is concerned is to just ignore her. Just let her go,” her aunt stressed.
Mya clutched her