Family Sins(42)

As he held her, he wondered how many times she’d cried like this alone, and why life was so damn hard to get through. His parents had been the happiest two people he’d ever known, and look what had happened to them.

He and Talia had been so ready to begin a life together when another man’s fate ended their dreams. When she buried her father, the sacrifice she’d made for him would be a thing of the past, but his mother was still waiting for justice. Life sure wasn’t fair.

A few moments later Marshall gasped. Talia flew out of Bowie’s arms and ran to her father’s bedside just as someone knocked at the front door.

“That’s probably Erin,” she said, and quickly let her in. “Dad’s really struggling,” she told Erin abruptly, and ran back to the bed.

Erin saw Bowie cleaning up the remnants of a meal, and since they’d already met, she nodded a quick hello.

Bowie headed for the kitchen with the trash and then walked out onto the back porch to call home. Even though he’d told Talia he would stay, he was torn about where he belonged. He needed to make sure all was well back home.

He made the call and then, as he was waiting for his mother to answer, noticed the helipad was easily visible from here and wondered if Talia had seen him arriving.

“Hello?” his mother said.

“Mama, it’s me. I’m at Talia’s.”

“How is she? How is Marshall?”

“That’s part of why I’m calling. She thinks it’s just a matter of hours.”

“Oh, bless her heart. Who’s there with her?”

“The hospice nurse just got here...and me.”

“Don’t they have any family in the area? Isn’t there someone from the church? She shouldn’t face this alone. You should stay.”

“I wanted to, but I had to make sure you would—”

“Oh, good Lord, Bowie! We’re fine. Polly is here right now, and Samuel already called to let me know he’d do the evening chores. We’re all in a state of wait-and-see, and you know it. You’ve lit a fire under the authorities. Now we have to wait for them to do their job.”

He breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

“Thank you for understanding. I’ll call or text you later.”

“I love you, Bowie. Be happy with her, and tell her we love her and are sending her our prayers.”

“Yes, ma’am, and I love you, too,” Bowie said, and then went back inside.

Erin was at Marshall’s bedside assessing his vitals while Talia stood at the foot of the bed, watching. Bowie walked up behind her and wrapped her in his arms. She curled her fingers around his wrists and leaned against him, grateful for his strength.

“Was I right?” Talia asked.

Erin looked up and nodded.

Talia’s shoulders slumped, and then she stepped out of Bowie’s arms and moved to her father’s side. She touched his arm, his cheek, leaned over and kissed his forehead, then whispered in his ear, “It’s okay now, Daddy. It’s time to go home.”

Bowie couldn’t hear what she said, but he knew she’d just let her father go. He took a deep breath and focused on a picture on the wall above the bed to keep from crying. He knew what she was feeling. Even if the circumstance were vastly different, the loss was still the same.

Erin McClune was filled with empathy for Talia and what was happening. She’d been in this place so many times before, and it never changed. The medical staff who helped bring babies into the world always had their moments of elation, while Erin and others like her had their own sense of quiet accomplishment knowing they were helping families as their loved ones passed on.

For all three of them standing watch, time seemed to stop. It was as if the only sound in the little house was the faint, intermittent inhale and exhale of Marshall Champion’s breath.

Bowie wondered if Marshall was in pain, and wondered if, in his father’s last seconds, the pain had faded for him. God, he hoped so. His father had died alone. Marshall would not, and yet neither man would have ever imagined the way he would exit this world.

Talia had always heard that when someone died, their life flashed before their eyes. She didn’t know what her father was experiencing, but she was being bombarded with precious memories of their life together.

Once she glanced up at the clock. It was almost three in the afternoon. They’d been standing there waiting for more than two hours, and in that time Bowie had not budged from the foot of the bed. She hurt for the tears on his cheeks. This had to remind him of losing his dad, and yet he’d stayed.

She looked back at her father just as he exhaled again, and waited for him to take the next breath. When he didn’t, the hair stood up on the back of her neck.

Erin already had her stethoscope on his chest, listening for a heartbeat.

Talia’s fingers tightened around the bed rail as they waited. Bowie walked up behind her, then put a hand on one shoulder, just so she wouldn’t feel alone.

Erin glanced at her watch and called it.

“Time of death, 3:15 p.m.”

Talia took that deep breath her father had not needed as she laid her hand on the crown of his head.

“Rest in peace, Dad. You have so earned it.”

She was crying again, but Bowie didn’t think she knew it.

“What happens now, Erin? Is there anything I can do?” he asked.