“If she dies and I’m not here…” Her hands shook and her voice quivered.
It tore Viktor apart seeing her like that. He glanced over at Brenda. There were more tubes than there was equipment. She looked pale, gaunt and half dead already.
“Amanda, she could be like this for days. You can’t sit here for days with no food and no sleep. You’re going to get sick and you won’t be able to make good decisions.”
“Viktor, please don’t make me leave,” she begged.
“Sweetheart, you have to. You know you have to.”
Amanda just put her head in her hands and cried.
Viktor put his arms around her. “I rented rooms very close by. We can be back here in minutes if anything changes.”
“I want this to be a bad dream.”
“I know.” He kissed her head. “I know.”
Chapter 36
The next day there was still no change in Brenda’s condition. She hadn’t worsened but she also hadn’t improved. The doctors weren’t hopeful though.
Except for the couple of times she traded places with Kim so she could eat or use the bathroom, Amanda spent the entire day sitting with her mother while Viktor and Kim sat in the waiting room.
When visiting hours ended, Amanda left her mother’s room, feeling numb. Viktor put his arm around her as they walked out of the hospital. She didn’t say anything. She wasn’t crying. She just looked lost.
As they were waiting for the elevator at their hotel Amanda turned to Kim. “You don’t have to stay.”
“I want to,” Kim replied.
“You have to go back to work on Monday. There’s nothing you can do for her or me. Go home and get some rest,” Amanda insisted.
“Are you sure?” Kim asked, feeling like it would still be wrong to leave.
“Yeah. Viktor’s here. I’m not alone.”
“Okay,” Kim hesitantly agreed. “If anything changes, let me know.”
“I will.”
“You can stay another night or leave now if you want to get home. I’ll check you out of your room tomorrow,” Viktor told her.
“I’ll stay here tonight and head back in the morning.”
“Sure,” he agreed. “I was going to order room service. Let me know what you’d like and I’ll order it.”
They parted ways as Amanda and Viktor went to one room and Kim went to hers.
“How long can you stay?” Amanda asked Viktor once they were alone.
“I’m not leaving.”
“I know but at some point you’ll need to return home. Are you here for a few days or weeks? I won’t hold you to it ... I just want some kind of time frame.”
Viktor stepped forward and cradled her face in his hands. “I’m not going anywhere, Amanda. I live here now. The movers are already packing my things and will be moving them to an apartment in Boston.”
“What?”
“I’m tired of being away from you. I want to be minutes from you, not hours. Especially for times when you need me.”
Overcome with emotion, Amanda moved into his arms. “I couldn’t do this without you,” she said tearfully.
He kissed the top of her head. “I wouldn’t want you to.”
Amanda couldn’t decide on anything for dinner. Nothing sounded good to her so Viktor ordered a variety of meals along with a bottle of wine, hoping she would be able to eat at least something. Kim joined them for dinner. Amanda had a glass of wine and picked at the food.
Kim left the following morning and Viktor settled her room bill before he and Amanda went on to the hospital. When they arrived, Amanda checked in with the nurse’s station to see if there were any updates to her mother’s conditions. She was told that the doctor wanted to speak with her. A pit grew in her stomach as she waited and she felt like she might throw up.
“I’m just going to go in and see her,” Amanda told Viktor, needing to do something other than stand there and wait.
A couple minutes after she went in, a woman wearing blue scrubs with a stethoscope around her neck approached the nurse’s station and looked around.
“Looking for Amanda?” he asked.
“Yes,” the woman replied.
“She went in to see her mother,” he replied as he stepped forward and held out his hand. “I’m Viktor.”
She shook his hand. “Hi, Viktor. Are you family?”
“Not yet.”
She smiled. “Ah. Well, nice to meet you. Let me just grab Amanda.” She knocked on the door and asked Amanda if they could speak in the hall.
Amanda went straight to Viktor when she came out of the room. He put one arm protectively around her and grabbed her hand with the other as she braced herself for what the doctor had to say.
“There have been some improvements in your mother’s vitals. We want to bring her out of sedation but wanted to wait for you.”
Amanda felt so overwhelmed with relief she almost laughed. “That’s good news, right?”
“It’s an improvement,” the doctor acknowledged. “But I must warn you that things could change in a moment. She’s not out of the woods. She’s still very fragile and we just don’t know how it’s going to go. But you’ll be able to talk to her.”
Amanda tried to reign in her expectations while remaining hopeful. “Okay.”
“If you’re ready, we’ll start to bring her out.”
“Yes, please,” Amanda replied.
“Okay.” The doctor gave them a smile and then walked away.
“Oh, Viktor, I’m so relieved and terrified at the same time,” said Amanda.
“I know. Me too. But it’s a step in the right direction. Any improvement is good at this point.”
“Yes,” she agreed. “I’m going to go back in with her. I want to be there when she wakes up.”
“Of course.”
“Do you want to talk to her if she says it’s okay?”
“Absolutely,” Viktor answered without hesitation.
Amanda smiled. “Okay.”
“I’ll be right in the waiting room.”
Amanda gave him a kiss before going back into her mother’s room where she took up her post in the seat next to her and held her hand. Almost 40 minutes later Brenda slowly opened her eyes and then closed them again. Amanda sat
