Free The Perfect Mistress by Reshonda Tate Billingsley Page B

to rush her here.”
    â€œPassed out? Why? Was she dehydrated?”
    Esther shifted uneasily.
    â€œEsther, what’s going on with my mother?”
    She looked over at her friend, released a sigh of regret, then said, “Your mother has brain cancer.”
    The words made Joyce fall back against a chair. She had to grab one of the arms to steady herself.
    â€œWhat?”
    Esther nodded. “Yes. Advanced. She didn’t want to tellyou, because, well, she found out around the same time you lost the baby, and you’ve been going through so much. And she knew you’d just lost your daddy.”
    Joyce had to take slow, deep breaths to keep a panic attack at bay. She was going to lose her child, her father, and her mother in the same year? What kind of cruel God would do that?
    â€œSo, she’s known and she didn’t tell me?” Joyce managed to say.
    Esther just shook her head. Joyce couldn’t believe that her mother had been dealing with this while she wallowed in self-pity.
    Before Joyce could ask any more questions, her mother’s eyes fluttered open. “Joyce, baby, is that you?” Her voice was weak. Her light skin was pale and splotchy. Seeing her so fragile made Joyce’s heart feel like it was enduring major surgery with no medication.
    â€œYes, Mama, I’m here.” Joyce raced to her side and took her hand.
    â€œI’m sorry you had to find out like this.”
    â€œI can’t believe you didn’t tell me,” Joyce said, swallowing the lump in her throat.
    â€œY-You’ve just been going through so much.” Her mother was wheezing, as if it hurt to talk.
    â€œOkay, shhh,” Joyce said. “Just rest.”
    Her mother shook her head. “I want you to know I love you, and I need you to be strong. Y-You’re dying, baby. You have to live. Vernon loves you. Those other women don’t mean anything.”
    â€œMama, hush,” Joyce said.
    â€œYou just tell my grandchildren that I love them something fierce.”
    â€œYou can tell them when you get out of here.”
    She coughed, caught her breath. “You know I’m not getting out of here,” she said wearily.
    A doctor stepped in, interrupting them. “Hi, I’m Dr. Owen. Are you her daughter?”
    Joyce nodded. “I am.”
    â€œCan I talk to you a minute?”
    Joyce looked back at her mother. She’d already closed her eyes, like she needed to rest.
    â€œI’ll stay with her while you talk to the doctor,” Esther said.
    Joyce followed the doctor out into the hallway, her heart pounding.
    â€œIs there someone you can call to be here with you?” the doctor asked.
    The fact that that was his first question meant the news he was about to relay was not good.
    â€œCan you just tell me what’s going on with my mother?”
    He slipped into a doctor’s clinical monotone as he said, “Your mother’s cancer has spread. It has covered about eighty percent of her brain and is causing her internal organs to shut down.”
    Joyce could feel the floor dropping away. “Well, can you do something about it?” she said weakly.
    Before the doctor could respond, Esther came running to the door.
    â€œI think she’s having a seizure!” she cried.
    Joyce raced back into the room with the doctor to find her mother’s body convulsing like she was going into cardiac arrest.
    â€œCode Blue!” a nurse shouted as she ran into the room. Inthe middle of the chaos the machine her mother was hooked up to emitted a long beep. Several other hospital staff rushed in, their faces filled with alarm.
    â€œLadies, can the two of you please step outside?” one of the nurses asked Esther and Joyce.
    Joyce considered demanding that she be allowed to stay, but she knew that their attention needed to be focused on her mother. Esther took her hand and led her out of the room, both of them trying desperately to keep