The Garavaglias

Chapter 3

Part 2; Chapter 3

Summer-

When I was little, my mother used to always give me raisins when I asked for a snack. I wasn't sure why, it wasn't as if we couldn't afford food. We're a loaded family for fucks sake. Maybe it was because of her constant pills or red wine induced zombie like behavior, that she couldn't seem to remember where the other snacks were kept, but after a while I made it a point to only ask my nanny for snacks. Snacks that I would eat with her son, the first love of my life. But looking down at my mother today, her frail body curved perfectly to the outline of the hospital bed and veins so blue they looked injected with gel refrigerant, I realized that she looked like a raisin. All shriveled up and sun-dried. An angry part of me thought 'this is her punishment for feeding you raisins for half of your life', but I quickly pushed the thought away. Alarmed at how dark the mind can get when the heart is scarred.
She had been sleeping since I'd arrived at eight, it was now around one pm and I actually envied the peaceful sleep she seemed to be getting. I wonder how hard it would be to schmooze a pain prescription that good. My curiosity got the bet of me as I picked up her chart to see what they were giving her.

"Katherine May Clarence." I read out loud, a frown forming. She'd kept my fathers last name. As soon as I was old enough, I started to going by Howard, my mothers last name. I ignored the pang of disgust and kept reading. Breast cancer. Very far along breast cancer. How long had she waited to see a doctor? I shuffled through the papers but most of the words were foreign to me. The one thing I could understand was that she was on her third round of chemo since finding out. I sat down in the chair placed near her bed and watched as she slept. I wasn't great at comfort, definitely not my strong suit. I didn't know what I would say when she woke up. I was still very resentful towards her which made it considerably worse. A snort escaped my mouth as I remembered her always telling me, you never let anything go, you need to learn how not to hold a grudge. Of course there were certain conotations of my grudge holding that made sense. Right? Or am I just a raging bitch. I released a sigh and leaned back, relaxing my body as much as I could in such an uncomfortable chair. The door opened and a woman in a white lab coat (I assume is the doctor) walked in.

"Oh hello," she smiled. "My name is Doctor Romero." She extended her hand, I tried to not flinch. I always hated doctors hands, they were so cold and clammy.
My father was a doctor.
I took her hand reluctantly and tried not to think of all the patients she might've lost.

"Hello, I'm summer. The daughter." I replied trying to sound cheerful. I wasn't sure if it was the correct tone given the situation. But like I said, I'm hopeless at emotional situations.

"Yes, well I'm so sorry but, I don't think you're mother will be awake until tomorrow. We have her on some very strong pain and sleeping medication, she needs her rest for the next round of chemo." The doctor said nonchalantly, as if this was the most normal thing in the world. I felt anger bubble inside me.

"Another round? How many more will she need? Isn't that dangerous?" I spoke quickly, trying not to curse.

"The cancer has advanced since her last chemo treatment. She will likely lose both breasts in a few weeks. Right now we're trying to keep it from spreading to her lungs." I felt tears prick my eyes. As angry as I am with my mother, I couldn't live with out her.

"Well when should I come back?" I choked out trying to keep it together.

"I'm sure she would love some company tomorrow, after chemo. Around 4?" The doctor says gently, reaching out to rub my arm. This time, I don't flinch.

Beau-
I woke up that morning in a cold sweat. Summer had filled my dreams. Of course she had. She was the devil in an angels body.
I don't know why I was surprised. She plagued most of my dreams. Most of them consisted of me chasing and her laughing and running. Always two steps ahead of me. Always just out of reach. Unfairly beautiful. It was an accurate depiction of our previous relationship. If you could even call it a relationship. I rubbed my eyes and rolled out of bed. I needed water, I could tell I was hung over by the dry mouth and blinding headache. Wendy's perfume wafted from around me, I frowned and stripped off my shirt, which reeked of her, and threw it on the floor. I walked into the kitchen and filled a glass of water. I glanced at the time on the microwave, it was nearly 7 in the afternoon. I never slept all day. I thought I might be getting sick then quickly shook my head. My immune system was superb, its pretty freaky. So that definitely couldn't be it. Summer coming back was throwing me way the fuck off. I rubbed my head and tried to shake it. I downed the rest of the water and walked to my bathroom, needing to shower off last nights events.