My Mother

back at me. “Well. She looks awful.”

Something inside me went still.

“She’s very sick,” I said.

“I can see that, Claire.”

Lily stirred at the sound of my mother’s voice. Her eyes opened halfway.

“Grandma?” she whispered.

For one second, I hoped.

My mother stepped closer, placed one cool hand on Lily’s foot through the blanket, and said, “You scared everybody,continue reading …