support and prayers. They all promised as one, to give them both just what he asked for.
~~~
‘Valentina, wake up.’ A hand shook her shoulder and Valentina woke at once, sitting up straight on the chair in Zoey’s hospital room where she’d nodded off.
‘ Zoey? ’ her voice held traces of anxiety.
‘ Zoey, is just fine,’ her mother-in-law, who bent down in front of her, hastened to reassure her, ‘but you should go home, Valentina, you have slept at the hospital every night since her operation. Rest now. You will do her no good when you take her home tomorrow if you are sick yourself.’
‘ But I can’t leave her here alone,’ Valentina protested, looking over at the painfully small hospital bed where Zoey slept with monitors beeping and heart wrenching tubes protruding from her every oracle it seemed, ‘Stash got called earlier to a construction project to take care of an emergency only he could handle. If I go home, she’ll be all by herself.’
‘ You go, I stay,’ Stash’s mother’s command was firm. ‘I will watch over my granddaughter myself; make sure she is all right tonight.’
Val entina’s eyes filled with grateful tears gazing at the small woman who had put away her mournful black clothes to wear bright colors every day on her visits to the hospital to boost their spirits. Making sure, she and Stash slept on chairs pushed together in the room, bringing them covered platters of delicious homemade Greek food, even when they’d protested they weren’t hungry then ended up devouring everything on their plates.
Val entina felt humbled by her mother-in-law’s heretofore-unseen strength. Felt ashamed she’d ever looked with distaste at a poochy stomach and saggy bosom that had proven to be a comforting haven when she’d been cradled close against them as she’d wept during the long fearful hours while the operation took place. Stash had looked on; maintaining his own white- knuckled grip on his chair in the waiting room until they’d heard the joyful words from the scrub-wearing, smiling doctor, ‘the operation appears to have been a complete success. Zoey will be just fine.’
‘ Thank you... mana mou ,’ Valentina whispered now.
Her mother-in-law smiled at her, sat beside her in the chair next to hers and squeezed her shoulders in a warm embrace. ‘You know, Valentina, when you called that day for Anastasio at my house a year ago, he was so confused. So upset,’ she shook her head sadly, ‘I know he wanted so badly to go home to you then, but Athina, his sister, she was so sick and we all needed him too. That was not fair of us – so wrong – to keep a husband from his wife.’
Valentina remembered the call she’d made to Stash at his mother’s house that next day – after Valentine’s Day – after the scene in the kitchen at their home. Recalled her tearful plea to him.
J ust come home, Stash! Please.
‘ I can’t come, Valentina,’ Stash had replied, his voice sounding unbearably strained, ‘it’s Athina, she’s –’
S he’d hung up the phone before he could finish his sentence, had packed her bags and left. He’d made his choice, she’d thought then, and it clearly hadn’t been her. But still she’d waited for him to call her back. To come look for her. Not quite believing that he never had.
‘ You go home now, Valentina,’ Anastasio’s mother said with a decisive nod. ‘You take good care of your husband! Make him a nice meal. He needs his wife. He has missed you for a very long time.’
~~~
Stash opened the door to the apartment hearing the clock on the hallway wall just finishing chiming out eight times. ‘Bloody eight p.m.’, he muttered, fatigue settling over him nudging down his shoulders a notch. That meant it had been eight long hours on the site in the frigid Chicago weather. He’d left the hospital right before noon, right after receiving a call from his anxious
~~~
‘Valentina, wake up.’ A hand shook her shoulder and Valentina woke at once, sitting up straight on the chair in Zoey’s hospital room where she’d nodded off.
‘ Zoey? ’ her voice held traces of anxiety.
‘ Zoey, is just fine,’ her mother-in-law, who bent down in front of her, hastened to reassure her, ‘but you should go home, Valentina, you have slept at the hospital every night since her operation. Rest now. You will do her no good when you take her home tomorrow if you are sick yourself.’
‘ But I can’t leave her here alone,’ Valentina protested, looking over at the painfully small hospital bed where Zoey slept with monitors beeping and heart wrenching tubes protruding from her every oracle it seemed, ‘Stash got called earlier to a construction project to take care of an emergency only he could handle. If I go home, she’ll be all by herself.’
‘ You go, I stay,’ Stash’s mother’s command was firm. ‘I will watch over my granddaughter myself; make sure she is all right tonight.’
Val entina’s eyes filled with grateful tears gazing at the small woman who had put away her mournful black clothes to wear bright colors every day on her visits to the hospital to boost their spirits. Making sure, she and Stash slept on chairs pushed together in the room, bringing them covered platters of delicious homemade Greek food, even when they’d protested they weren’t hungry then ended up devouring everything on their plates.
Val entina felt humbled by her mother-in-law’s heretofore-unseen strength. Felt ashamed she’d ever looked with distaste at a poochy stomach and saggy bosom that had proven to be a comforting haven when she’d been cradled close against them as she’d wept during the long fearful hours while the operation took place. Stash had looked on; maintaining his own white- knuckled grip on his chair in the waiting room until they’d heard the joyful words from the scrub-wearing, smiling doctor, ‘the operation appears to have been a complete success. Zoey will be just fine.’
‘ Thank you... mana mou ,’ Valentina whispered now.
Her mother-in-law smiled at her, sat beside her in the chair next to hers and squeezed her shoulders in a warm embrace. ‘You know, Valentina, when you called that day for Anastasio at my house a year ago, he was so confused. So upset,’ she shook her head sadly, ‘I know he wanted so badly to go home to you then, but Athina, his sister, she was so sick and we all needed him too. That was not fair of us – so wrong – to keep a husband from his wife.’
Valentina remembered the call she’d made to Stash at his mother’s house that next day – after Valentine’s Day – after the scene in the kitchen at their home. Recalled her tearful plea to him.
J ust come home, Stash! Please.
‘ I can’t come, Valentina,’ Stash had replied, his voice sounding unbearably strained, ‘it’s Athina, she’s –’
S he’d hung up the phone before he could finish his sentence, had packed her bags and left. He’d made his choice, she’d thought then, and it clearly hadn’t been her. But still she’d waited for him to call her back. To come look for her. Not quite believing that he never had.
‘ You go home now, Valentina,’ Anastasio’s mother said with a decisive nod. ‘You take good care of your husband! Make him a nice meal. He needs his wife. He has missed you for a very long time.’
~~~
Stash opened the door to the apartment hearing the clock on the hallway wall just finishing chiming out eight times. ‘Bloody eight p.m.’, he muttered, fatigue settling over him nudging down his shoulders a notch. That meant it had been eight long hours on the site in the frigid Chicago weather. He’d left the hospital right before noon, right after receiving a call from his anxious
Similar Books
