Brent sighed. “Yes, they should be here soon.”
They started talking about shit I didn’t care about and I couldn’t take it anymore. Pushing past them, I bolted inside and headed straight toward her room. I wanted to see her. However, before I got to the door, I stopped to draw in a ragged breath. Everything was quiet, so achingly still that I could hear my heart beating in my ears. I turned the corner to her room and froze when I saw her lying in the bed. At a glance, you’d think she was sleeping, but when you looked at her chest there was no movement. Her head was to the side, and in her arms she held the teddy bear I used to sleep with as a child. Tears fell down my cheeks, all hot and foreign as they hit my skin. I’d almost forgotten what it felt like to cry. The ache in my chest was what killed me. When my father died, I mourned him, but the pain was nothing compared to how I felt now.
I sat down beside her, placing my hand over hers. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t here. I never should’ve gone to that game.”
“Yes, you should have,” Brent murmured from the doorway. He walked over and sat down across from me. When his gaze landed on the bear, he broke into tears too. “She held that thing the entire game. There were many nights I caught her sleeping with it. She said it made her feel close to you.” He chuckled and ran a finger over the bear’s fur. “You used to carry that thing around everywhere.”
“I know.” The thought made me smile. I could still remember the day our parents gave it to me. They had come home from their first trip out of town without me and Brent. We had stayed with my grandmother while they were gone and I remembered missing them, especially my mother.
A knock sounded on the front door and Brent stood. “The guys from the funeral home are here. I’ll let them in.” He kissed our mother’s forehead and sucked back the tears. “I love you, Mama.” Without another glance, he stumbled out of the room. It had to have been hard seeing our mother’s health failing every day for the past couple of years. If my father were alive, it would have torn him apart. He loved my mother more than life itself.
Leaning over, I kissed her cheek. “Goodbye, Mama. I know Dad will be happy he has you back.”
The guys from the funeral home waited silently by the door. My mother still clutched the teddy bear, but I carefully slipped it out of her hold and held it to my chest; it smelled just like her. I walked out of the room and joined Brent in the hallway.
“At least she’s not suffering anymore,” he murmured in a low voice.
I placed a hand on his shoulder and bowed my head when they wheeled her body out of the bedroom to the car. We watched them drive away and I could feel the hole in my heart growing bigger. She was gone.
“Thank you for taking care of her all this time. I’m sorry I wasn’t here to help you.”
He shrugged. “You had a life outside of here, Jax. I don’t blame you for that. Mom and Dad were so proud of you. You should’ve seen her face when she watched you tonight—especially that last kick.”
Eyes wide, I faced him, my eyes burning like hot coals. “She saw that? That was the end of the game.” That meant she had passed away less than an hour after that final kick.
His jaw clenched and he nodded. “She watched you hoisted in the air by your friends and carried off the field. It was as if that was what she had to see before she took her last breath. I got up to get her some water and when I got back, she was gone.”
We stood in silence while I processed the information. If I’d just gotten back sooner, I might have been able to see her alive one last time. Brent placed a hand on my shoulder and sighed before going back inside. I sat down on the porch steps and pulled out my phone.
Bristol answered on the first ring, her voice smooth and angelic; it instantly calmed me. “Jack, hey, how are you?” I swallowed hard and I tried to talk, but the words just weren’t coming. “Jack?”
“I’m here.”
“Oh my God, what’s wrong?” I didn’t have to answer because she already knew. “Jack, I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine what you must be going through. I wish I were there with you.”
I wiped away the tears. “Me too, love.”
“Is there anything I can do?”
Closing my eyes, I lay back on the porch, envisioning her in my mind. “Just keep talking. I want to hear your voice.”
Chapter 17
Bristol
The sun always rises; even when it was hidden behind the clouds it was always there. We’d had rain for the past week, but this morning was different. The sun shone bright, the cars glittering below as they rode the streets of downtown. I could smell the hint of coffee coming from down the hall, but I didn’t want to leave the window to get any. The glass was cold from the frosty November morning, but the sun would soon shine against it and make it warm. However, no amount of beautiful skies or delectable coffee could take me away from my thoughts. All I could think about was Jack, hoping he was okay.
He had been gone for over a week and I was dying to see him. The only link I had to him was Angela, who stopped by to drop off dinners for me. It made me fall for him even more. She said she had made enough for three days, but her idea of a portion size was completely different from mine. Those three meals lasted me the entire week. I was hoping she’d be able to tell me a little more about how Jack was feeling, but even she hadn’t talked to him much.