A Forever Kind of Love

“It’s home,” he answered.

Before she could respond, a screech from inside the house stopped her.

“Mya!”

The panic in Aunt Mo’s scream caused instant fear to race down Mya’s spine. Corey had already taken off in a dead run for the house. She shook off her shock and followed, losing a flip-flop along the way.

Mya’s stomach bottomed out at the sight in the kitchen.

Her grandmother was slumped over in the chair, her mouth hanging open. Aunt Maureen had hooked her arms under Grandma’s, trying to lift her up. Corey was crouched on the floor in front of her, tapping on her cheek. Elizabeth was off to the side, wringing her hands and screaming uncontrollably.

“Would you shut up!” Mya yelled at her mother. She held her grandmother’s wrist to check for a pulse, enjoying a moment’s relief after finding one.

“She has these fainting spells, but never like this,” Aunt Mo said.

Mya leaned in. “Grandma, can you hear me?” The sickly sweet smell hovering in front of her grandmother’s face was all the answer Mya needed. “I don’t think this is a fainting spell. Mama, call 911.”

“What? Why?” Elizabeth cried.

Mya ran over to where her mother stood and pushed her aside so she could get to the phone mounted on the wall.

“I have a seventy-two-year-old female with diabetes,” she told the 911 operator. “She passed out and isn’t responding and her breath has a fruity smell.”

Mya rattled off the address. She hung up and ran back to the table, prying her Aunt Maureen from her grandmother. “Aunt Mo, get all of her medications. We’ll need to bring them to the hospital.” Mya took her place, slipping her arms underneath her grandmother’s armpits and holding her upright. She looked down at Corey who was still trying to get her to wake up.

He looked up at her and shook his head. Mya’s chest tightened.

“She’ll need her insulin,” Corey said. “Miss Elizabeth, look in the fridge. She keeps the insulin in a Tupperware container.”

How does he know that? The whirl of the ambulance sirens stopped Mya from voicing the question out loud.

Moments later, two uniformed EMS workers entered the kitchen carrying a gurney. Mya stood to the side, fear gripping her chest as they checked her grandmother’s vitals, then strapped her to the gurney. She felt warm, gritty arms surround her as Corey came up behind her, encircling her in his arms.

Mya could hardly comprehend the scene unfolding before her eyes. This could not be happening. She’d just buried her granddad yesterday. She was not staring at her grandmother on a hospital gurney.

But she was. This was real.

Mya snapped out of her trance and shook out of Corey’s embrace. “Aunt Mo, you ride in the ambulance. I’ll follow behind.”

They followed the gurney outside. Mya watched as they loaded her grandmother into the back of the ambulance, then she ran to her bedroom and stripped out of her shorts, pulling on a pair of jeans and a roomy T-shirt over her tank top. She was back in the kitchen in less than two minutes.

Corey was drying his hands on a dish towel. “You ready?” he asked.

“Uh, yes. Where’s Elizabeth?” she asked.

“She took Maureen’s car to the hospital. I told her I’d drive you.”

“Okay,” Mya said with a shaky breath. She looked around the kitchen, unsure of what she was searching for. Maybe there was something they would need at the hospital. Mya didn’t realize she was trembling until Corey caught her upper arms.

“She’s going to be okay,” he said.

She stared into his confident eyes. It was easy to believe words said with such conviction. Mya fed off of it.

“Yes, she will,” she answered.

Corey gave her shoulders a light squeeze. “Then let’s get out of here. Your grandmother needs you.”

She nodded, for once grateful for his presence. “Let’s go.”

* * *

In the twenty minutes it had taken them to reach the small hospital in Maplesville, right outside of Gauthier, Mya had managed to work herself into another fit of nerves. They weighed heavy in her stomach, twisting and tangling like snakes in a hot skillet.

What if something happened to her grandmother?

“No,” Mya said out loud.

“What?” Corey asked from the driver’s seat. He’d driven fifteen miles over the posted speed limit from the moment they’d pulled away from the house, maneuvering his bulky Cadillac Escalade as if it were a sleek sports car. “Mya.” He waited for her to look at him. “She’s going to be okay.”

“You don’t know that,” Mya said with a catch in her voice.

“Your grandmother is even more stubborn than Big Harold was. She’s not going anywhere for a long time.”

They pulled up to the hospital’s emergency room entrance, and Mya was out of the SUV before it came to a complete stop.

“Sir, you have to move your vehicle. This is a restricted area,” she heard someone tell Corey.

She ran to the nurses’ station. “Eloise Dubois?” she asked. “She was brought in after fainting.”

“Mya!” Maureen called.

Mya raced toward her aunt. “How is she?”

“I don’t know yet, but she was awake by the time we got here.”

“Thank God,” Mya cried.

“Come on.” Her aunt took her elbow. “The nurse said she’d come find us in the waiting room.”

Mya followed, anxiety still shooting through her veins. She crumpled into the closest chair, not trusting her legs to hold her up a second longer. She cradled her face in her hands and took a couple of slow, deep breaths. Aunt Mo sat in the chair next to her and rubbed her hand up and down Mya’s arm.

“How’d this happen, Aunt Mo?”

“Because she’s hardheaded and doesn’t like to take care of herself.” Maureen shook her head. “I know part of it is my fault. With everything going on this week with Daddy’s funeral, I haven’t been paying as much attention as I should. I usually make sure she checks her blood sugar.”

“Don’t start blaming yourself.”

“Oh, I’m not blaming myself entirely. She’s a grown woman, and she knows what she should and shouldn’t do. But like I said, she’s hardheaded. People have been bringing food over to the house around the clock, and she’s been nibbling on everything. I know they mean well, but it just makes it harder to keep the wrong foods out of Mama’s mouth.”