Chapter 6 - THE HOSPITAL ROOM
Three days after the dinner, I returned to the hospital.
The room where my mother had spent her final hours had been cleaned and prepared for another patient. The nurse at the desk recognized me.
“Grace?”
I nodded.
She came around the counter and hugged me.
“I am so sorry.”
I began crying before I could answer.
The nurse led me to a quiet room and brought me a small envelope.
“Your mother asked me to give you this if you came back.”
I recognized her handwriting.
Inside was a short note.
My darling Grace,
If you're reading this, I hope you got here safely. I know you tried. Please don't carry guilt for the things other people made difficult.
I wanted to tell you more about your father, but I was afraid his world would swallow yours. You deserved a childhood that belonged to you.
There is a little box in my wardrobe. It has the photograph I kept from the day you were born. Look at the back.
I love you more than any words can hold.
Mom.
I pressed the letter to my chest.
The nurse waited beside me.
“Did she suffer?”
The nurse shook her head gently.
“She was comfortable. She kept asking whether you had eaten. She said you always forgot when you were worried.”
I laughed through my tears.
“That sounds like her.”
The nurse handed me a small bag of belongings.
Inside were my mother's cardigan, her reading glasses, and the little sewing kit she kept beside her bed.
I took them home.
That evening, I opened the wardrobe box.
There was a photograph of my mother holding me as a newborn. She looked exhausted and happy.
On the back, she had written:
Grace Mitchell. The best thing that ever happened to me.
Beneath it was a second photograph.
My mother stood beside a young man in a dark suit. He was looking at her, not at the camera.
I recognized him from the old family portraits in the Moretti mansion.
Giovanni.
On the back, she had written:
He promised he would come back.
I sat on the floor for a long time.
Then I called Luca.
“I found the photograph.”
He was quiet.
“Would you like me to come?”
May you like
I looked at the two pictures.
“Yes.”
