A Promise Kept

A Promise Kept by Robin Lee Hatcher

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Authors: Robin Lee Hatcher
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book club. Could you—”
    “Sorry,” she interrupted her friend. “I don’t think I’ll be there tonight. I’ve got to go down to Boise. I’m getting ready to leave as we speak.”
    “Is something wrong?”
    “It’s Tony. He’s in the hospital.”
    “Oh, Allison. Would you like company? I’d be glad to join you if you need me. I’m not leading the discussion at book club, so I don’t have to be there.”
    Allison felt torn. On one hand, she would love to have Susan’s company. On the other, she wasn’t sure she wanted her friend to see Tony. Though why it should matter, she didn’t know. He was her ex. She wasn’t responsible for him or for what he did or for how he looked or for what others thought about him.
    “Let me pray for you,” Susan said.
    Allison’s throat tightened. She wasn’t about to turn downprayer, but the kindness of the gesture made her want to cry. “Okay.” She closed her eyes.
    Her friend’s words were few, but they seemed to lift a weight Allison hadn’t realized was pressing upon her.
    “I could be at your place in less than fifteen minutes if you want me to go with you,” Susan added.
    “No. It’s sweet of you, but I think I’d rather go alone. I don’t know how long I’ll be down there. It could be really late before I get home.”
    “What about Gizmo?”
    “I’ll take him with me. I can leave him in the car.”
    “It’s hotter down in the valley than here.”
    True. She hadn’t thought of that. She couldn’t safely leave him in the car for any length of time. September in Boise could be as hot as July.
    “Listen,” Susan said, “you gave me the key to your house and the code for your alarm. You go on, and I’ll take care of the dog. He can stay with me for the night.”
    “Oh, Susan. That’s asking way too—”
    “You didn’t ask. I offered.”
    More kindness. Allison drew in a shaky breath and let it out slowly. “Okay. If you’re sure.”
    “I’m sure. And I’ll keep praying for you.”
    “Thanks.”

    Allison had grown to hate hospitals. She hated the sounds. She hated the smells. She hated the anxiety that rose up inside her as she entered the lobby through the automatic glass doors.
    At the information desk she learned Tony had been admitted and was given his room number. She didn’t bother to ask about his condition. Even if the volunteer behind the deskknew the answer, she wouldn’t have told her. Privacy laws didn’t allow it.
    On the ride up in the elevator, she tried to remember the words of Susan’s prayer. She reminded herself she was there for Meredith’s sake. Not for her own sake and not for Tony’s. She was there for Meredith. Period.
    But the self-talk didn’t help much.
    She found Tony’s room at the end of a long hallway. The door was half open, and she had to step around a drawn curtain before she could see the bed and Tony in it.
    Memories from the past crashed over her. So many trips to the hospital during the years of their marriage. So many that they ran together in her head until she couldn’t distinguish one from another. She didn’t want to be in this hospital room. She didn’t want to ever look at Tony in a hospital bed again. She needed to leave. She couldn’t—
    He opened his eyes and saw her. “Allie,” he said softly, offering a wobbly smile.
    “Meredith called me.” She needed him to know that was the only reason she’d come.
    “She’s a good kid.”
    Reluctantly, Allison moved to the side of the bed. “Yes, she is.”
    He grimaced, as if in pain, but she could tell he was heavily sedated.
    “She said it might be your pancreas again.”
    “Yeah. Looks like it.”
    Allison didn’t have to ask if it was because he’d been drinking. She knew the signs. She’d seen him like this before. She wanted to remind him he could die from pancreatitis and ask him why he was so stupid. Didn’t he realize he was killing himself by inches?
    It isn’t my business. It isn’t my business. It isn’t my

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