The Inheritance

by Ali Vali

  “Hey,” Monique said, waving her over. “We need to get you one of these since it’s Grady’s favorite place in the world.” Grady immediately dove for her when she sat down and stood on her thighs as she held his hands. He was a strong little guy who loved to do that baby bounce when he pulled himself up.

  “Dada,” Grady said, right before he fell forward against her chest. The word left them both a little stunned.

  “I think it’s because you look so much like him,” Monique explained quickly as if not to make her uncomfortable. “Only with better hair.”

  “He’s so young, but it’s like he misses him too.” Of all the things that had happened since Jim Bob’s death, that one truth made her feel like there was something good left behind.

  “His daddy was truly wild about him, and he was from Grady’s first breath.” Monique stood and sat right back down as if she was light-headed. “Sorry, I skipped lunch and it’s coming back to bite me.”

  “Let’s go inside then, but hang on to me.” Tucker held the baby and Monique until they were on the sofa before she went back out for the food.

  “Thank you so much for everything, Tucker. I’d like to talk to you later, about my sister.”

  “I’ll be happy to, but eat first and take it easy.”

  They ate and she watched as Monique checked her blood sugar then injected insulin. Monique was so tired that she stayed on the couch as Tucker bathed, fed, and rocked Grady to sleep. He hummed as she sang him a lullaby, seeming to enjoy her rubbing the top of his head.

  “Take it from experience, buddy,” she said as she combed his hair back, only to have it pop right back up. “You’ll lose this orangutan stick-straight-up look by the time you’re three and not any sooner. Trust me, your mom will embarrass you with pictures of this fuzzy stage, but the girls will love it.”

  She took him to his room and watched as he slept splayed out like he was trying to use as much of the crib as he could. This kid had stolen her heart, and she couldn’t wait for what came next as she watched him grow up. And she’d be around for all of it, if Monique allowed. Perhaps with time Monique would find someone else to love, but hopefully she’d still want her around to help with Grady.

  Monique was lying on the couch with her eyes closed when she joined her in the den, and her breathing was somewhat labored. Her color didn’t look good, and she hated to wake her but she had to make sure she was okay. But no matter how much she tried to get her to open her eyes and respond, she couldn’t. Tucker’s heart started to race and she shook her a little harder.

  “Come on.” She shook Monique by the shoulders and tried to rouse her without hurting her, but Monique was unresponsive. “Open your eyes for me, darlin’.” Nothing worked, though, and Monique appeared even paler, so she had no choice but to call 911 and explain what was happening.

  “She’s still breathing?” the operator asked after reporting that help was on the way.

  “Yes, but it’s really shallow. I don’t understand—she was fine a few minutes ago.”

  “Just monitor her and open the door for the paramedics.”

  It felt like it an eternity, but she let the paramedics in ten minutes later and answered their questions as best she could. One of the guys smelled Monique’s breath and radioed in that it smelled fruity. Tucker didn’t know what the hell that meant, but from how fast they were moving, it wasn’t a good thing.

  “We’re headed to the hospital,” the female medic said as they hustled out the door. “Do you want to ride with us?”

  “I can’t. There’s a baby—” She couldn’t leave Grady, but she couldn’t let Monique go through this alone. “Where are you going?”

  “The closest place is Tulane, and the emergency team is ready for us.”

  “I’ll be right behind you.” She searched Monique’s purse for all the information she’d need, then moved to get Grady ready. The baby bag in the room was full, and that would help when she called her mom to come get him.

  The emergency room receptionist led her to waiting room that was quieter than the pandemonium of the outer space, but she still paced, wanting to know what was happening with Monique. Grady slept on her shoulder like a trouper, and she suddenly realized she didn’t have Monique’s sister’s information. They’d spent their time getting to know each other and sharing the pain they had in common, and she knew that Monique had lost her mother. But they’d never gotten around to sharing specifics. What a stupid oversight, especially after the way Jim Bob had died.

  “Jeff,” she said when he answered, sounding surprised to hear from her. He was their only common denominator and if he didn’t know how to get in touch with her sister, she was screwed. The explanation was as short as she could make it and it sent him into a panic.

  “I’ll be there as soon as I can and I’ll try to reach her sister. That’s the only family she has.”

  “Get her here, because she’s not doing well.”

  It didn’t take long for the doctor to come out and introduce her to another smallish man with the shiniest bald head she’d ever seen. He was the partner of Monique’s regular doctor, and the hospital had contacted him.

  “Do you know the extent of her condition?” Tucker shook her head at the memory of being in this same position not that long ago, and it was making her want to run and hide from any more bad news.

  He immediately launched into the list of what was wrong, starting with the fact that Monique’s health had been failing and her kidneys were so weak, he didn’t know how she was still working and taking care of Grady. That and a few other factors were what had brought on the diabetic coma she’d slipped into. The prognosis was grim.

  The word coma made Tucker ill. Her knees went weak and she slid onto a chair. “There has to be something you can do.” She spoke so loudly it startled Grady awake. “She’s so young—you can’t give up on her.”

  “That’s the last thing we’re going to do, but I wanted to be honest. Right now our goal is to stabilize her heart rhythm so we can attempt dialysis. It’s a waiting game, but it’s vital she start dialysis as soon as we can manage it. From there it will be day by day.”

  She closed her eyes when they left and had a conversation with Jim Bob in her head. You have to do something, brother, because this isn’t right. Talk someone into a miracle because Monique has to be around to raise your son. It won’t be fair if he loses both of you.

  “Thank God you have the baby,” Jefferson said when he walked in. One glance at him and she knew how upset he was. “How is she?”

  She did her best to repeat everything the doctor had said. They both cried and he held her hand tightly as if he was trying to hang on to his sanity. Losing one of his best friends was hard, but this seemed to be too much.

  “Did you find her sister?”

  “The company says she’s offshore, but they’re contacting her assistant to see exactly where she is.”

  “She’s offshore?” That was an interesting location, though oil jobs were common around here. “Why?”

  “She’s an engineer for Suntrust and she’s working, I imagine.” Jefferson scrubbed his face with his free hand and blinked furiously to clear his eyes of tears. “They’re really close, and like I said, they’re the only family they have.”

  “Let me know if I have to do anything. I know the helplessness of this and she deserves to be here in case something happens. I can send a chopper out to get her if I need to.”

  Jefferson’s phone rang and it took about a minute for him to get visibly pissed. “Tell him to fuck himself.”

  Those words weren’t what Tucker was expecting. “What’s up?”

  “Her assistant said the manager on call told her they can’t spare the expense to fly her back in, but she does know where she is.”

  “Where?” This was ridiculous and reinforced why she didn’t want to do business with an asshole like Mann, since orders like that came from the top. Jefferson gave her the name of the rig. If she remembered right it wa
sn’t far from Stella III. She made a call. “Syd, get in touch with Trout and tell him to make a pickup for me.” The doctor came back in and told her she could go in and see Monique, and it was important to bring the baby. “Jeff, tell Trout to pick Monique’s sister up and bring her to the closest helipad he can find. Syd will be standing by when they land.”

  He got on the phone and started talking as she picked up Grady and headed to Monique’s room.

  She entered the room where Monique was lying so still that Tucker checked to make sure her chest was still moving. The nurse told her to talk to Monique. She believed the patient was still aware of what was happening around them.

  “Hey, darlin’, you have to know this isn’t your time. I still have plenty to learn when it comes to Grady, so both of us still need you. Just fight your way back and wake up. Your sister’s going to want to talk to you.”

  Grady was awake and fussy, but he quieted when she placed him next to his mother on the bed. “There’ll be no dying today.”

  * * *

  Willow was aggravated, but Trout hadn’t given her a chance to say anything since he’d been on the phone the whole time since he’d woken her two hours earlier than she wanted. Whatever was wrong, he was making plenty of plans with whoever he was talking to. If the world was coming to an end or an early hurricane was heading their way, it sounded like he was taking her with him.

  “We’re on Suntrust’s Aquila Red, so aim him our way. If he left twenty minutes ago he should be here in about fifteen if he hauls ass.” Trout nodded as if the person he was talking to could see him. “Willow, pack up and be ready to go.”

  “Where am I going? And who are you talking to?” She knew exactly how much an unexpected helicopter ride to the middle of the Gulf cost, and she didn’t want to be that indebted to anyone. God only knew what they’d want in return. Had something gone wrong with Apache Delta? Were they already preparing to sink Willow’s career?

  “Jefferson’s at the hospital with your sister,” Trout said, then had to grab her to steady her. “Your company won’t cover the cost to bring you back, so he called up a ride for you. The helicopter’s on its way.”

  She took a deep breath and filled her bag, paying no attention to what she threw in it. None of this crap really mattered. “Did he say what was wrong? If he’s flying me back, it has to be bad.”

  “Finish here and you can use my phone. He didn’t give me details.”

  She quit packing and snatched the phone out of his hand. Jefferson answered right away. “Tell me.” Jefferson’s explanation was short but the desperation in his voice was hard to miss. After the words coma and dire, her brain shut down and all she could do was try to stay on her feet.

  “Is the laptop yours?” Trout asked.

  “Yes,” she said softly.

  Jerry and Trout finished packing for her and led her out to the helipad after getting her in some rain gear, since it was still pouring. They could see the lights in the distance and stood in the safety zone while the guy circled and finally landed.

  “There’ll be a ride waiting for you at the helipad,” Trout yelled over the helicopter as he and Jerry carried all her stuff onboard. “Call me when you’re done, and we’ll talk about that job. We’ll be praying for you, sweetheart.”

  She hugged him for his kindness and almost wished he was coming with her. She didn’t want to be alone in this nightmare, flying through a storm to a sister she shouldn’t have left in the first place. The pilot waited until she was buckled in and called into the station next to the Superdome to be cleared for landing. If they could land there, it would save her the forty-minute drive from the lake to the hospital. Jefferson was really being generous, and she briefly wondered who he’d called to make this happen.

  The guy waiting by a black SUV was someone she didn’t recognize, but he quickly loaded her stuff and dropped her at the emergency room entrance with a promise he’d wait for her no matter how long she was. When she saw Jefferson standing right inside the door with red eyes she wanted to drop to her knees and scream. There was no way she could lose Monique now—not while they hadn’t completely mended their relationship.

  “Please—don’t tell me I’m too late.”

  Jefferson moved to her and held her against his chest. “No, but it’s not good.”

  She leaned against him but it was time to move. “Where is she?”

  “Come on.”

  The sight of Monique lying so still was her worst nightmare, but she was young and could beat whatever this was. Monique needed to because she was the one, the only one, Willow could count on.

  “Willow.” Monique’s doctor, Kate Smith, acknowledged her as she entered the room with a few other people. “Step out and we’ll talk while the team gets her ready to move. For now she’s as stable as we can make her, but we have some obstacles to overcome.”

  “How did this happen?” Monique had always been so careful and had taken care of herself. “She hadn’t mentioned any problems lately.”

  “We reached a critical point with her kidney function, but she said she needed more time to decide next steps. She said there was some stuff she had to get done before she started her new regimen.”

  “What regimen? She never said anything about that.” Her mind was on overload, then zeroed in on one thing. “Jefferson, where’s Grady?” She loved Grady, but his birth was costing her the most important person in her life. “It was because of the baby, wasn’t it? You kept telling her how dangerous it was getting pregnant, and she didn’t listen to you.”

  “It could’ve added to the whole picture, but the sole blame can’t be put on Grady. We’re talking about the toll the disease has taken from the time she was five.” The transporter and two nurses came out of the room with Monique still appearing lifeless on the bed.

  “Do whatever you need to, but save her.” She held Monique’s hand and kissed her forehead when the aides were ready to move her. “I need her so much.”

  “Follow us and I’ll let you in when she’s stable.” Kate went into the intensive care unit and left her with Jefferson.

  “You never said. Where’s Grady?”

  “He’s safe, and probably asleep by now.”

  Good enough, for now. She could concentrate on Monique.

  A monitor went off, and a group of people rushed past them. Not a good sign. She took a chance and followed them, grateful that Jefferson was right behind her. No one asked them to leave as they watched the group try to revive Monique, but the damned monitor only showed a flat line that was a harbinger of what Willow’s life would be without the one true constant who’d been her shelter from the storm. She leaned into Jefferson, unable to stand on her own. When the doctor called time of death, she choked on her sobs, her tears mixing with Jefferson’s as they cried together.

  The medical personnel seemed drained when they came out, taking all the equipment with them. Only a couple of nurses stayed behind to start removing all the leads and other things attached to Monique. Kate asked her to step into a meeting room and explained that while Monique’s kidneys were extremely weak, it was her heart that had finally given up.

  “If there was a possibility of dying of a broken heart, that’s what happened to her.”

  Willow was sure of that, since her sister hadn’t been the same since Jim Bob had died, and if there was a possibility of him luring her to the grave, he’d done it. Damn him to hell.

  “This has been coming for months, Willow,” Kate said as she put her arm around her. “When diabetes is as uncontrollable as hers was it ravages the body. The only surprise here is that Jim Bob beat her to the finish line, so maybe he died of a broken heart because he couldn’t bear to go on without her.”

  “Can I see her?” Their last conversation would be one-sided, and never enough.

  “They should be done. Go on and take your time.”

  Her world was completely devastated, but Monique appeared completely at peace. “You can’t know how much I’m going
to miss you, but don’t worry about anything. I’ll take care of Grady and tell him all about you, so he’ll never forget the mother who loved him more than life. I hope you find peace and the happiness you were cheated out of. Thank you for the way you loved me and took care of me when no one else would. I love you more than I can ever express, and that’s all the love I’ll pour into Grady now.” She sobbed, holding Monique’s cold hand, feeling the weight of being alone in the world more than she ever had. If this was what Monique had felt when Jim Bob died, Willow had truly let her down. The knowledge made her cry harder, curling into herself as a way to fend off the nightmare.

  She sat there for an hour before Jefferson came in, and they cried together. “This wasn’t supposed to happen, but you have me to depend on.” Jefferson took her by the hand and led her away. “She had the forethought to get her affairs in order, which makes me believe she was stronger than the both of us.”

  “That should be easy. Everything should go to Grady, and I’ll watch over him until he’s an adult.” The words were flat, but logical.

  Jefferson stared at her, making her stop right outside the unit.

  “What? Go ahead and tell me, because it’s something.”

  “Maybe we should wait until tomorrow to talk about all this. It’s really late and it’ll give you time to process what happened.”

  “Now, Jefferson. Start talking.”

  “She made some changes and asked me to make an introduction.” Jefferson’s speech was stilted, like any word out of his mouth might provoke her into beating the shit out of him, and the odds on that were fifty-fifty.

  “Who?” She had to hear it, but she already knew.

  “Tucker Delacroix.”

  That was all she had to hear. Rage momentarily replaced anguish. The Delacroix were done taking things from her. “Let’s go.”