Liv hugged River tightly, then passed her Mocha’s leash. “She’s going to grumble,” Liv said apologetically.
River chuckled. “Oh, I know. I don’t think grumble is quite the right word for it, though.”
Liv smiled apologetically, then headed out the door. Mocha started howling in protest, her feet and nails clicking against the floor as she tried to get to Liv.
It was just temporary, she reminded herself. Once Gram was better, and home, Mocha could come with them. Mocha would make her feel better, after all. There was nothing like a dog to aid your recovery.
Once she got to the hospital, she went in through the front doors and gave the Receptionist her name. “She’s in the medical floor,” the woman assured her. Then she gave her a room number.
Liv headed upstairs, her hand on her pocket. Maybe she should text Ryan, let her know what was going on. But surely Ryan was busy. Maybe she would text Ryan after she talked to the doctor and had more concrete information.
When she got to the third floor, she located Gram’s room. Down one hall, third door to the left. It was a nice hospital, or nice enough, but it was a hospital nonetheless. There were a few gurneys against the wall, and the central nurse’s stations left no illusion that they were somewhere else.
There was someone in Gram’s room when Liv arrived. She stopped in the doorway, not certain whether to enter.
“Are you her granddaughter?” The woman inside looked up from the computer she was typing on.
“Yes.” Liv took a step in, then another one.
“I’m Rose. I’m her nurse.” The woman extended a hand, and Liv shook it, almost weak with relief.
“Do we know anything yet?” Liv asked, not certain if Rose could tell her.
“She’s had an MRI and CT scan, and we’re waiting on the radiologist,” Rose told her. “The doctor will come in and talk with you when we have the results.”
“She’s still asleep?” Liv turned to look at her Gram, asleep on the bed. She was breathing, but her eyes were closed.
“She’s starting to come in and out of consciousness, but she’s not quite there yet.” Rose nodded.
“I’m guessing you don’t know when she’ll be home?” Liv asked. It wasn’t entirely a pointless question, but she knew it wasn’t likely to have an answer this early in the process.
Rose shook her head. “I'm sorry,” she said, and it sounded genuine.
“Thanks.” Liv smiled at her, but it was a sad smile. She took a seat next to Gram’s bed, holding onto her hand. Rose came in and out, to check the IVs and the bags. But all Liv could see was Gram laying there, her eyes closed, so pale, occasionally tossing her head from one side to another, but not aware yet.
“Are you Olivia?” Another voice she didn’t recognize came from the open doorway.
“I go by Liv,” she said automatically. “Who are you?”
“I’m Marie. I’m the social worker here.” She took a half-step in the room. “Is it okay if I come talk to you?”
Liv looked at Gram, who was resting. “I’ll come out there.” She squeezed Gram’s hand, then headed out of the room, closing the curtain to protect Gram from the eyes of onlookers.
Marie was tall and stocky for a woman, but her face was kind. “Here, we’ll go to my office. It’s just across the hall.”
Liv followed, numbness settling in her bones. Was there a specific reason the social worker wanted to talk to her, or was it something else? “Do we know anything yet?”
“No, not medically,” Marie said smoothly. “But I wanted to go over some of her past history.”
“I don’t know how much she went to the doctor,” Liv said awkwardly. She wasn’t certain how much any of her family had gone to the doctor. True, someone had given her the Alzheimer's diagnosis, but Liv hadn’t been there, even though she wanted to be.
“That’s just it,” Marie said. “We have very few records of her and I was wondering if you could update us on anything we might be missing?”
“I talked to the ER,” Liv started.
“And that information was quite helpful.” Marie nodded. “I was wondering if you knew anything about any doctors she had seen previously, so we could try and track them down to get any records that may or may not be relevant to her current condition.”
Anything. Liv would do anything to get her Gram out of the hospital and home. But she wracked her brain and came up with little. “I know she went to doctors a few hours away,” she said. “Maybe up in Seattle?”
“Do you know why?” Marie looked at her, surprise in her gaze.
Liv did, but she wasn’t certain she wanted to say it. “She didn’t want the locals to know she wasn’t feeling well.” That was true enough.
Marie leaned back in her chair. “That’s going to make her records harder to find,” she admitted. “Seattle is huge.”
Liv nodded. It was one of the biggest - if not the biggest - city in Washington. That was probably why Gram had chosen it over Portland or any of the closer cities.
There was a soft knock on the door. Liv looked up, startled to see Rose there. “The doctor is ready to talk to you?”
“Go.” Marie smiled, and made a shooing motion.
Liv didn’t have to be told twice. She was up on her feet and followed Rose back to the room. “He’ll be here in a few minutes,” Rose assured her before she left.
Liv stood there for a while, just looking at Gram. She knew that they had grown up isolated, but she hadn’t realized just how bad it was. Liv had to have vaccination records, or she wouldn’t have been able to go to school. But where were they? Which doctor had she gone to?
There were a lot of questions she would never know the answer to, not with her mom gone.
“Miss Evans?” There was a
