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Sometimes, it’s not even them and it’s just a bad situation.”
    Dave had a faraway look in his eyes and Kim wondered if she had seen this look on him ever before. The hurt in his eyes radiated pain so strongly that she forgot all her worries for a minute and felt pulled into that pain. Dave realized the two hadn’t spoken a word for a few minutes, he looked at Kim to see her staring at him in concern.
    He quickly got back to the topic before Kim began to worry. “So we’ll do our best to make your parents comfortable and then take it from there,” he said and pressed his lips lightly on her head. He pointed to the pile of clothes on the bed. “Wear that… Richard will not be able to stay mad at you for more than a minute if he saw his girl in that.” He pointed to pair of jumpsuit that he was told, was a champagne pink color with white bows printed on them.
    The drive to Kim’s parents’ house could not have been more uncomfortable. She seemed to have a nervous tick. Her knees seemed to twitch as they drove to meet Kim’s parents. 
    “How many coffees have you had?”
    Kim shot him a look.
    “Ok!” He knew silence would serve them better, but he also knew if he didn’t do or say something to Kim to calm her down now, she would erupt at the slightest push. He couldn’t afford that to happen now, especially that Richard was back in the hospital and they could not visit him at home.
    “Kim,” he said and placed his hand on her knee, which effectively reduced the intensity of her jitters. “Will it help if we reschedule this?” It was a rhetorical question. He knew Kim well. He knew she would never agree to postpone this. It was a safe bet, intended to get her to calm down.
    “No,” she said with a heave and took Dave’s hand into hers. “I know I am being a handful, but... I don’t know… This is just…”
    She let the words hang there. What would she have said? I don’t want this. Or I am doing this just to make my point. But what was ‘this’? She wasn’t sure of what she was doing, let alone knowing why she was doing it.
    The rest of the drive was in silence. She almost went into some sort of emotional catalepsy and, for a change, Dave didn't know what was going through her head.
     
    ***
     
    At the hospital, Richard was under medication and was asleep when Kim and Dave walked in. Judith was sitting by his bedside with her tablet in hand. Even though she had known that Kim was coming in to see Richard, she couldn’t hide the look of surprise when she actually saw her, and that was followed with a look of relief. Maybe a part of her still didn’t believe that Kim would come after all. And if she knew her daughter at all, she knew very well that if it were not for Dave, Kim would never have come. For that, she was grateful to Dave. Perhaps, that realization made it easier for her to bring up a genuine smile when Dave greeted her.
    The conversations were superficial. They spoke mostly about Sam, Judith’s work, Kim’s work, and the weather as though they were overcautious to stay clear of anything that could and would trigger the underlying tension and accusations that Kim and Judith had for each other.
    Then, Kim sat on the bed and gently stroked Richard’s hands. “How much longer, Ma?” Kim finally dared to get to the point.
    “Not much.” The words caught in Judith’s throat. It had been long since she had allowed herself to think of that. Her take-one-day-at-a-time mantra was the only reason she was able to pull through these years ever since she was told of Richard’s terminal illness. “Not much,” she said again, and this time the words came out louder and stronger, but the prickling tears betrayed her forced bravado.
    A pang of guilt pierced Kim. What was she doing? She wanted to go hug her mother like the many times she had after every fight with her. That hug said it all. But today, she just couldn’t get herself to take those few steps towards her mother and hug her.