Forgotten

Lauren hurried down the street, almost tripping as she kept looking at her watch. It was almost 7 p.m. and she really wanted to be there. She made sure to visit her mom at least twice a week but she had gotten swamped with work. A bunch of days had passed since her last visit. It’s not like she had a lot of time on her hands. She had just recently started at her new job. Head media designer at a big company. All of a sudden, responsibilities got thrown her way, with which she hadn’t previously had experience. Expertise and talent weren’t anything she lacked but she was nonetheless intimidated by the amount of work she was facing. It wasn’t exactly a healthy workplace environment either. Plenty of men with big egos who felt the need to prove themselves to the boss over her.

Lauren rarely left the office before 7 p.m. Leisure time was a strange concept to her at the moment. By the end of a workday, she was a wreck. However, visiting her mom charged her batteries. Something she hadn’t expected beforehand. It wasn’t easy on her seeing her mother like that. Evelyn was but a shadow of her former self. She was lonesome and Lauren was the only one she had left. Well, there was Jacob but you couldn’t count on him. Lauren couldn’t blame him. The person that gave him everything after he had nothing was slipping away.

Lauren finally made it through the door of the nursing home shortly after seven. Visiting hours weren’t over until 7:30. She let out a sigh of relief and slowed her pace to catch her breath.

It was a nice home with lots of color and big windows to let the daylight in. Thankfully, she could afford it with her new job. And she wanted to keep it that way.

Halfway along the corridor Rita, one of the nurses, came towards her.

“Hey Lauren”, she said with a smile. “Your mom just finished dinner. You can go in and see her.”

“Great! Thanks!”, Lauren said and she was passing her. “How is she doing?”

Rita turned around and walked backwards. “You know her, nothing could damper that lady’s mood!”

She was right about that.

At the end of the hallway, she took a right. It was the first room on the left. Lauren entered.

The room was tiny but it was filled with life. A vase with white orchids stood on the bedside table. The bed sheets had painted water lilies on them, like the ones she had always admired at the botanical gardens on her lunch breaks. Next to the bed stood a small desk. On the wall above it was a pinup wall decorated by a collection of photographs. All of her favorite students were on them smiling and posing with Evelyn.

Lauren crossed the room and stepped on the small balcony, where Evelyn was sitting, her face turned towards the sun.

“Hey, Mom!” She gave her mother a kiss on the cheek and sat on the chair next to her.

“Hello, Honey”, Evelyn said softly and endearingly. “How are you?”

“I’m great!” In truth she wasn’t that great. 12-hour work days took their toll but no need to worry her mom. Lauren had used to talk to her about anything. There had never been a need to hide the bad stuff from her. Evelyn had been strong and always had had the right thing to say. Now it was different. Lauren made sure to never jeopardize a good day because the bad days really earned their description. Just a white lie, she kept telling herself. “How are you doing?”

“How can this beautiful weather and the chirping of the birds not put you in a good mood?”

She was glowing and seemed genuinely happy. Maybe this really was one of the good days, Lauren thought.

“Where’s Jacob?”, Evelyn asked.

Spoke too soon.

Suddenly the elderly woman’s smile disappeared. “I’m really worried about him. I hope he’s okay.”

Lauren put a hand on her mother’s shoulder. “He’s fine, Mom. You don’t need to worry about him.” Just a white lie.

Evelyn looked at her with an empty expression, as if her soul completely vanished from her body. Then, just as abruptly life returned to her. She began to smile, brushed Lauren’s auburn hair behind her ear and looked deeply into her crystal blue eyes. “You’re so beautiful. You’ve got the eyes of your father, you know?”

Lauren smiled back at her. “I know.” Even though she had heard it a thousand times before, she still wasn’t sick of it. She looked at her watch. “I’m sorry, Mom, but I have to get up early in the morning. I’ll come by in a couple of days, okay?”

“Of course, Honey! You go right ahead. You’re young! Experience new things! No use hanging around an old hag like me.” Evelyn winked at her.

Lauren giggled and kissed her on the forehead.

As she was leaving, she caught a glimpse of the painting which hung over the bed on the far side of the room. James Hamilton’s The Last Days of Pompeii. It was Evelyn’s favorite. Lauren had been baffled at that.

“What’s so great about an apocalyptic picture of a volcano’s eruption swallowing a city and burning thousands of people alive within seconds?”, she had asked her mom. Evelyn’s response has stuck with her to this day.

“This dark and foreboding painting is enormously expressive. I’m in awe of and simply humbled by the sheer force of nature it depicts. Did you know, that probably most of those people who perished on that day, hadn’t even realized what happened? Our lives could end in instant, so we better cherish every moment of it.”

As an art teacher Evelyn had always been passionate in discussing art, but Lauren had never seen her mom’s eyes glow like that before. She had hoped, by looking at it every day, Evelyn could keep some kind of remembrance of her life. Ironically enough, she never forgot anything about art, she had just forgotten her son.

When Lauren exited the room, Evelyn’s doctor approached her.

“Hi Lauren”, Dr. Burke began. “We need to talk about your mother.”

The famous words no person wants to hear. Lauren didn’t say anything, she just listened attentively.

“I’m afraid her cognitive functions are deteriorating at an alarming pace. There’s not much we can do.”

Lauren’s heart sank. Of course, she knew this was coming. She had only hoped to have more time.

“You should think about getting Evelyn’s affairs in order while she’s still lucid.”

Affairs? Her mom was an art teacher. There weren’t many affairs to get in order. The only thing she had was the house. However, something entirely different came to Lauren’s mind.

She let Dr. Burke finish without really paying attention to her words. She had to get out of there and talk to Jacob.

Lauren managed to get off from work fairly early in the afternoon the next day. She was determined. This time she would convince her brother.

She found him in his downtown atelier just finishing his class. He was teaching young adults to paint.

“Good job, guys!”, he called after the leaving students. “Ben, you’re making great progress, proud of you!”

Judging by his demeanor, he was genuine. Lauren knew he was. It was one big thing Evelyn was able to pass on to him, even though he wasn’t her biological son.

As he noticed Lauren coming through the door, his expression changed. Of course, it did. He knew his sister wouldn’t just show up to his class.

“Hi Jake, got a few minutes?”, Lauren asked.

“Would it matter, if I didn’t?”, Jacob said bluntly.

“Come on, don’t be like that!”

Without a word Jake took a seat on his stool in front of his canvas.

Lauren knew she only had a small window to get this out, so she just broke it to him directly. “Mom hasn’t got a lot of time left. You need to go see her.”

Jacob breathed heavily through his nose, picked up his brush and palette, and started working on the painting in front of him.

His sister took a step towards him. “Please, Jake. You will regret it, if you don’t.”

“She won’t remember me anyways”, he said without looking at her. The stroke of the brush filled the silence in the room.

Lauren bent over to try to get into his eyesight. “She asks about you every single day.”

Jacob abruptly stopped painting to look at her. There it was in his eyes, the vulnerability he so desperately tried to hide. He put down his painting utensils and sank in his stool for a few moments staring at his feet. With both hands he rubbed his face before he said: “Alright.”

Together they entered Evelyn’s room. Jake dragged his feet with every step. Their mother sat in the reclining chair next to the bed watching TV. She didn’t seem to notice them.

Lauren sat down on the edge of the bed. “Hi, Mom.”

“Hey, Honey“, Evelyn said with her usual smile.

Lauren looked to her brother, who was still standing in the middle of the room a few feet away like a shy boy afraid of talking to a stranger. His sister hastily waved him over. Hesitantly Jake took a seat next to her.

“Look, who’s here to see you”, she said to Evelyn.

Slowly the old woman looked at her son and smiled. “Hey.”

Jacob’s face suddenly brightened up. “Hey, Mom. I’m glad to see you.”

Evelyn kept her smile as she turned her gaze back to Lauren. “Where’s Jacob?”

Jake let out an insecure laugh. His sister opened her mouth but she was at a loss for words.

“I’m really worried about him. I hope he’s okay.”

“Mom…”, Lauren started saying but Jacob stormed out of the room. “Jake! Wait!” She immediately went after him.

At a quick pace Jake was walking down the hallway.

Lauren caught up to him and grabbed his shoulder. “Jacob!”

He swooped around pushing her away as he did. “What?!”, he yelled.

“Please don’t go.”

“It’s no use! She can’t remember my face!” Tears were filling up his eyes.

“I’m sorry.” She got teary-eyed as well.

“How can she not remember me?!” He pleadingly held out his arms.

“I don’t know.”

His voice started to crack. “I would be lying in a ditch somewhere, if she hadn’t come for me. And she didn’t have to, you know? I didn’t deserve it.”

“I’m glad she did.”

She fell into his arms and buried her face into his shoulder. As did he. They hugged for a minute, crying in each other’s arms.

Lauren sniffed. “Please, let’s just try again.”

They broke away from each other. Jacob wiped his watery eyes.

“I don’t know…”, he said nasally. “It’s too painful.”

“I’m sure there’s a part of her that still recognizes you.” She took his hand. “Come on.”

Lauren was able to lead her brother back to their mom, who didn’t seem to have noticed their leaving. Once again, they sat down on the edge of the bed.

Back to one, Lauren thought. “Mom, Jacob’s here to see you.” She grabbed him by the shoulders to center him in Evelyn’s view.

“Hello”, Evelyn said smiling.

Jake was fixated on her lips. As was Lauren, hoping, praying even, she would recognize her son this time. Alas, she did not. Instead, she turned to her daughter once more to repeat the words: “Where’s Jacob? I’m really worried about him. I hope he’s okay.”

Tears flowed down Lauren’s cheeks. She looked to Jacob about to stop him from leaving again but to her surprise he didn’t get up. On the contrary, he moved closer to Evelyn and took her hand.

“Oh, hello”, Evelyn said realizing yet again that there was another person in the room.

“Mom…” Jake put his other hand on top of hers. “It’s me, Jacob. Your son.”

All of a sudden there was a softness and determination in his voice Lauren had seldom heard from her brother. If ever.

“You're such a handsome man”, Evelyn complimented. “You know, I have a son who looks just like you.”

Jacob’s lips started to quiver.

“He grew up into such a profound man. He’s had some tough times but I’m really proud of what he’s become. Comes after me actually.”

She wore the proudest of smiles on her face. Jake silently cried in front of her while Lauren put an arm around him.