Chapter 70: Chapter 70

“I swore I wouldn’t cry,” she said, reaching down for her purse.

“We’ve all cried, honey,” Pauly said, as Lori slipped back into the chair to wipe her eyes.

Maggie patted Lori’s knee in a motherly fashion. “Go and call your grandmother. Then we can go get something to eat. Pauly hasn’t eaten today.” She looked up at him, “Or yesterday by the looks of him. The surgery won’t be over for a couple more hours, I’m sure.”31

The Next Morning

Lori sat reading the book David had put in her hand as she had raced to catch the plane. She was looking at the book, but she couldn’t tell anyone what it was about or even the names of the characters. She kept glancing at the still figure in the bed and at the machines that beeped their incessant beeps or flashed the steady stream of lights and squiggles. She wasn’t sure what they meant, but as long as they didn’t change, and certainly if they didn’t stop, she knew that Cameron’s life remained constant: comatose but at least alive.