Capital healing

It was late morning, on a tuesday afternoon when Bianca Shelk found out that she had Adenocarcinoma.  Her cervix, her ovaries and her uterus we all affected.  She was three months pregnant, officially in her second trimester, and the baby was thriving.  The cancer had not spread to her lungs or her lymphatic system but she had been advised that this was in her near future if she didn't have a hysterectomy and begin chemotherapy immediately.  Her prognosis was everything she had feared it would be.

One week ago, after attending her doctors appointments Bianca had fled Mississippi, alone and scared, only $2500.00 to her name, $1500.00 of which she had saved, the rest was money that Tyler kept in the house in case of emergencies  (the Holts were always prepared for anything).  She landed in Austin Texas and instantly felt connected to it.  She had visited Austin once with her family when she was 11.  Her mother's college roommate had moved there and was getting married.  Elaine threw together a last minute trip, even though she and the roommate had become little more than distant acquaintances over the years.

The trip had always seemed strange to Bianca, until now.  She realized now that her mother, Elaine, must have known something of her cancer then, and wanted to get away with her family.  It was a beautiful trip.  the weather was the same as it was now. Early March in Austin was crisp and green. The air was light and fragrant like wood chips it was a welcomed  contrast to the dense floral thickness of Mississippi breeze Bianca had become so accustomed too. Before shr left she felt that oxfords indigenous air was smothering her.

Bianca's  pregnant nose was like that of a bloodhound. Not only did she smell everything, the aromas conjured  memories that were hibernating deep within her subconscious.  Austin smelled of happiness and family. She was staying in the Hampton Inn, the same place she had stayed with her family all of those years ago. The room, although it was likely not the same room number, looked exactly the way she had remembered.  She could still smell her mother's hairspray and her father's aftershave the morning of that wedding lingering in front of the vanity if closed her eyes.   She could smell the chlorine from the pool dripping from their swimsuits hanging over the towel rack in the bathroom drying from there afternoon swim.

Yes, Austin was going to be home now to Bianca.  It was the obvious choice.  Bianca could feel Elaine smiling down on her here, empathsizing with her escape.  She had stopped herself from missing her mother years ago because she felt like remembering her was just peeling off the scab of her anguish and keeping her from healing, but she realized now that this was wrong.  Connecting with Elaine woke something within her, a good something. A burrow of her personality that she had baracaided herself from, a sense of self and belonging. A place that provided some light in her darkness. Some hope in her dispare.