Page 35 of Starry Tides
Rebecca rolled her eyes into laughter. “My sister is very dramatic.”
“I understand her,” Helena said. “It’s awful to be cooped up and not know when you can get out there again.” She’d been living that life for years and years.
“Helena,” Valerie said thoughtfully. “You aren’t the Helena from social media? The artist that everyone is talking about?”
Helena couldn’t believe it. “I don’t know. I guess so?”
Valerie and Rebecca gave one another knowing smiles.
“We were literally just talking about you,” Rebecca said. “I want to buy one of your paintings for my restaurant. I’ve been meaning to reach out to you!”
When Helena glanced over at Bethany, she saw the sick woman beaming at her.
“That would be incredible,” Helena said quietly.
“We’ll have to come by your studio and see the rest of your stuff,” Valerie said. “What’s your number? Let’s set something up!”
19
It wasn’t till the week before school began, the final week of August, that Bethany was allowed to return home. They made her promise not to work. Take it easy. Bethany begrudgingly agreed, because she wanted to be back in her own bed. She wanted to hear the sounds of her children downstairs or safe in their rooms. She wanted to watch movies with them, eat snacks with them. She wanted to feel Rod, turning over in bed.
Rod helped her into the passenger side of the car, then leaned over to kiss her. “You’re coming back!” he said, happier than she’d seen him in weeks.
When they got back home, Bethany was shocked to find that her three teenage children had made dinner and dessert. Homemade pizzas, plus tiramisu, because they remembered what their mother loved. Together, they sat on the porch overlooking the Nantucket Sound, drinking diet sodas and watching the sunset. Bethany demanded more stories about the weeks they’d spent here without her, about their work, about Phoebe’s final performance at Alana Copperfield’s theater camp. They didn’t disappoint. Maddie told her that, eventually, Johnnyhad come crawling back, begging Maddie to be his girlfriend again.
“He told me that he couldn’t live without me.” Maddie rolled her eyes.
“Where did he learn that line?” Phoebe asked. “It’s the cheesiest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Just wait till you start dating,” Maddie said.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Rod said.
But Bethany knew that there was no slowing her children down from the lives they wanted to live. There was no pressing the brakes, not now that they’d gotten their first taste of what it meant to be alive and make their own decisions.
After dinner, Rod convinced Bethany to go to the sofa and relax for a while. Maddie suggested that they watch a film together as a family, and Phoebe set to work, popping popcorn and filling water bottles. Within half an hour, they had a Marvel movie on television, one that Tommy and Maddie had been wanting to watch for a long time. Although it wasn’t exactly Bethany’s thing, she allowed herself to get lost in the story. After a satisfying, explosive ending, she “hurrahed” along with her kids.
Upstairs, Bethany and Rod got ready for bed. Bethany was so happy to curl up against him and feel his hands on her pregnant belly again. She was so grateful not to hear the endless beeping of hospital machines. He kissed her in the dark.
They lay there in silence for a while, waiting to slip off.
But then, Bethany’s thoughts turned to Helena, who’d visited her in the hospital as recently as two days before. She couldn’t get her out of her mind for long.
“Rod?” She breathed. “Are you already asleep?”
“Hmm?” Rod turned over, his eyes still closed. “I’m listening.”
“I was thinking about Helena,” Bethany said. “You know what she told me the other day? She said that she’s been waiting to die for years. She’s just been alone at home, waiting for her liver to give up on her. I can’t imagine what that would do to someone’s psyche.”
Bethany could, of course, imagine. She’d seen it happen to many patients before. She’d seen that lack of hope and surrender destroy someone from the inside.
Bethany carried on, telling Rod about Helena’s divorce, about how she’d lost her parents in quick succession, about how her husband had had an affair with a close friend of theirs. “It’s been one thing after another for poor Helena. I can’t imagine. And I can’t help but think…” She trailed off. “I mean, there’s nobody in her life to donate a liver to her.”
At this, Rod’s eyes popped open. “Bethany…” He sounded reproachful.
“I know. I’m too sick to do it now,” Bethany said. She’d never been too sick to do anything before. This was a debilitating thought. “But Rod, what if there was someone else?”
“I don’t think Helena wants you scouting around, looking for a liver for her,” Rod said.
