Fraying Edges

| TWENTY - EIGHT |

The hospital was busy as was its custom most times she went there, which was occasionally. The Grayson's headed to Madeline's room. The moment they stepped in, Ruby caught sight of James in a corner. She was taken aback by the smell and sight of the room. She looked all around her, soaking it in, feeling the smell of death hovering above them.

Madeline's skin looked deathly pale, her eyes sunken as she sat up on the bed. She looked up and tried to force a smile -- it looked more like a grimace.

"Hi. You guys came to visit," she managed to croak out.

"Madeline, how are you?" Dad was the first to speak up.

"I'm fine. Just chilling out here." she rasped.

James stood up from the corner he sat and left the room. Ruby followed him.

"Hey, are you okay?"

He stopped walking and turned to look at her. His eyes were red and puffy, like he had not slept for a long time. Ruby laid a hand on his shoulder tentatively. He flinched at first, then he relaxed into her touch.

He spoke up. "The doctor said her liver has been badly scarred. That she needs a liver transplant. She doesn't have health insurance, Ruby. And she has been saying crazy things." He looked her in the eye. "That she wants to go meet my Mom."

Ruby gasped and squeezed his shoulders. He gave out a sob and continued. "She says that she has nothing left. That she'd just be a burden to all of us. But she has me!"

He cried with his hands on his face, loud nerve wracking sobs ,and Ruby tried to comfort him. She tried to give him what she could - her shoulder to cry on. It was highly ironic, because she was not strong, just a cry baby at winter too. But she tried, because that was all she could do.

As the Grayson's headed back home with gloominess that matched the weather, Ruby caved into her inner sadness again, but she held on and tried to endure it.

Her Dad was the first to speak up. "Madeline is the only family James has got and if she dies, he will have nobody."

Nobody else spoke until they reached the house. Nobody wanted to speak. The gray clouds above cast long silence on them like a spell that could not be broken.

Ruby went up to her room as soon as they reached the house, her mind in turmoil. If Madeline died, who would James live with? She knew the answer, but she did not want to accept it.

As the sky turned dark and the night breeze blew, the Grayson's sat down for dinner.

"So what have you decided?" Ruby spoke up, looking at her Dad expectantly.

He cleared his throat and said, "Umm I really don't know. And Diana never told anyone who his father was, which was why I assumed it was me." He looked down at his food, thinking.

"So what is going to happen to him now?"

"He will live with us." Bridget's voice was quiet as she spoke, but determined.

Ruby looked up at her Mom with raised eyebrows and an open mouth. Her Dad too looked baffled, his eyes almost popping out from his socket.

"Mom?" She was tempted to check her mom's temperature, just to be sure she was okay.

"We will take James, do the legal work and keep him as our own. Like family." She affirmed, her eyes bold and dark, daring anyone to challenge her.

Ruby threw her head back and laughter bubbled out, tickling her throat. "Mom, don't be ridiculous."

Her Mom looked at her calmly and said, "I am not being ridiculous. I am being sensible. We just have to ask Madeline and James for their consent."

Everyone returned to their dinner, but Ruby could not eat much. She couldn't comprehend what had come over her mother.

Later, as she sat on her bed, she called Luke.

"Hey, Ruby.'

As soon as she heard his voice she told him everything. And he listened to her, telling her that maybe it was all for the best.

She sighed, wondering when her life and family had gotten to that point. She longed for the days of normality. But it seemed God had other plans for her and He was working it out whether she liked it or not. The storm was calmer, but the waves were there, occasionally washing on the shore and spilling things on it.

A/N

Please share your thoughts. I'm slowly wrapping up Fraying Edges guys! 😭😭

I'm antsy and sad, but it's all good. Love you! ❤❤

Mackenzie the 2nd. . . Out. . .