when a trip home isn't a vacation

La Sister: Aunt C says that Aunt A probably won't make it through the surgery.
Me: Say that again?!
La Sister: Aunt C told mom that Aunt A is not in good enough shape to make it through the open heart surgery.
Me: Mom didn't tell me that. No wonder she's been so pensive/moody.
La Sister: She didn't tell you that either? [Don't even ask what the other thing was - too disturbing.]
Me: I must be on a "need to know" basis with her. Or she thinks I'm too fragile to handle the hard truth from so far away.
La Sister: Probably.
Me: Do I need to make plans to come home?
La Sister: Wait till they've scheduled the surgery - they're looking at least a couple weeks from now as other procedures will have to come first. Its possible that Aunt A will have improved by then, but her situation is pretty sticky. She looked very pale today. Cousin D looked very tired, but it was probably because she went to a concert last night and then worked till 2 am.
Me: She went to a concert while her mother is in the hospital and possibly near death?
La Sister: Yep.
Me: That is really screwed up. [She is freaking 37 or 38 years old and a total mess.]

Aunt A and my mom used to be as close as I am to La Sister. That was 20 years ago. Due to various sad circumstances, mom and Aunt A grew apart (Aunt A distanced herself and our cousin from the rest of the family). I don't know what I would do if anything came between me and my sister. I'm really sad for my mom as it seems like she's going to lose her sister twice. It can't be any easier to be semi-estranged from a dying sibling.

Also, this rain is soul-suckingly awful.