CHAPTER TWO
Willow Martin rushed towards the hospital reception desk to ask which room her mother had been admitted to. "Which room is Elizabeth Martin in, please? She was brought in a couple of hours ago."
The nurse on duty took a quick look at Willow and returned her attention to the screen in front of her, tapping a few keys on the keyboard. "She's in room 414. Go along this corridor on your left, take a right at the end of the corridor, through two sets of double doors and then take either the elevator or stairs to your right, up three floors and turn left."
"Thank you," she replied, as she rushed towards the corridor, hoping she'd remember the directions.
"Please check in with the nurses station before going in." The nurse called out after her.
Willow had just arrived home to visit her mom for a few days only to be met with silence, instead of the loud eighties music she expected to hear blaring from the kitchen. Her mom's neighbor had explained that an ambulance had taken her mom to the local hospital but didn't know much more than that. Fearing the worst, she'd dumped her overnight bag where she stood and jumped into the same Uber that had dropped her off and headed straight to the hospital.
She was out of breath as she reached the top of the stairs, wishing she'd waited on the elevator. She really needed to work out more, well start really, but she wasn't willing to go into that right now. Making her way towards the nurses station at the end of the hall, she looked around looking for room 414, hoping for even a peak at her mom. Her imagination was running riot and she needed to see her mom for it to stop, or at least lessen.
"Hi, I'm looking for Elizabeth Martin, room 414. I'm her daughter," she informed the group of nurses at the nurses station. Breaking away from the group, a nurse smiled and motioned to follow her.
"Don't look so worried," she told Willow. "She was brought in earlier with a broken arm and slight concussion. We're keeping her in for observation for the concussion but the arm has been set and should heal nicely. She'll be in a cast for six to eight weeks."
The news didn't lessen her worry. Her mom needed her arm for her business as a chef to many of the city's richest inhabitants. She knew her mom was working all the hours of the day to keep on top of the growing demand for her services. Annoyingly, she repeatedly refused to hire help, even although she could easily afford to hire someone or even two someones and reduce her workload.
Her mom was sitting up on the bed, looking cheerful, despite her injury. "Oh honey, don't look so worried. You look worse than I do."
Willow had always been one to worry, while her mom took things in her stride. It had been just the two of them since her dad had died ten years ago, when she was twelve. Her mom had never remarried, choosing to throw herself into her business instead, saying she didn't have time to date and would rather spend her time with Willow or in the kitchen, often combining the two.
"I was so worried when I arrived home and you weren't there, then Mrs Giordano told me you'd been taken away in an ambulance but didn't know what had happened."
She moved over to give her mom a hug, needing that closeness to reassure her that her mom was going to be fine. "What happened?"
Her mom looked down and her cheeks began to heat up as she explained, "I was getting some supplies down from the top cupboard and lost my footing on the chair and fell. I must have hit my head on the side and when I woke up my arm was at an awkward angle and my head was pounding, so I called an ambulance."
Willow gasped at the news. What if it had been more serious? She was all alone, no-one to look after her.
"I'm getting out of here in a few hours," her mom continued. "In the meantime I just want to enjoy some time with my only daughter. I've missed you so much. So, tell me what's been happening in Boston?"
She knew she wouldn't get anything more out of her mom so didn't even try. At least she was here until Sunday, when she was supposed to fly back 'home'. While she was here she could help her mom cook and make all the deliveries to her customers, pretty much what she'd planned on doing anyway.
Although she'd loved helping her mom in the kitchen growing up, when it was time to choose a career, she wanted a degree in something more practical. Not that you could really get anything more practical than cooking. She'd chosen marketing and business, and after graduating earlier this year, she'd got a paid intern position with an up and coming digital marketing agency in Boston. It didn't pay much and she couldn't say it was exactly what she wanted to be doing, but it covered all her bills and got her a start on the career ladder. This had been her first visit home since graduation.
Welcome home.