"There's no change, Fanny. I have to be honest, it could go either way. We have him heavily sedated. There's no point in coming to the center. There's nothing you can do. I wish I had better news. Simon and your children are devastated. You need to be strong, Fanny."
"No she doesn't, John. She's not married to Ash anymore. Don't tell her something like that!" Bess could be heard in the background. "She's given up enough of her life to that man. I mean it, John, I don't want to hear you say things like that to Fanny."
"My spouse has spoken, Fanny. My apologies. She's right of course. You do whatever feels right to you. I know what you're thinking, Fanny. I saw it in your eyes last night. You are not Sallie Thornton. You are Fanny Thornton. No one can make you do anything you don't want to do. No one, Fanny. I'll call when I have something to report."
Bess was back on the Hne. "Don't mind John, Fanny. Where's Simon?" The words were asked in a half whisper.
"I think he's still outside by the gate. I don't want to talk about Simon."
"Do you want me to come up, Fanny?"
"No. I need to do some thinking, and I need to be alone to do that. You can do me a favor, though. Since I ripped the phones out of the studio I have to come up here to the house for messages. Keep checking with John and call me here, and I'll call you back. Ash isn't going to die. I'd feel something if he was. Thanks for being such a good friend, Bess."
"It's easy to be your friend, Fanny. Things will work out. Remember Sallie's famous words, God never gives you more than you can handle. Believe that, and you'll be okay."
"Mazie!" Fanny bellowed, after hanging up the phone. "I'm sorry, Mazie, I didn't mean to yell like that. Will you please fry up some hamburger and mix it with rice for my new friend here. Bring it down to the studio when it cools off. Make up a whole bowl so it lasts me a couple of days. Call Chue and ask him to get me some puppy food. Don't answer the phone. Let the machine take the messages. I think I'd like some stuffed peppers for dinner this evening."
"Come on, little lady, time to go home,*' Fanny said, putting the puppy down by the door. She watched 2is Daisy scurried outside, squatted, waited for approval, which Fanny gave happily. Together, they walked back to the studio.
From the front window of her studio, Fanny stared at the horizon that was as bleak as her life.
23
Fanny entered the Thornton Medical Center, Billie Coleman at her side. It looked the same as it had thirty days ^o, when Ash had his accident. She glanced around at the filmed desert scenes on the walls, at the bluish gray, heavy-duty carpet and matching drapes. Something should have changed. "Take a deep breath, Fanny." Billie said. "You can do this. I'm here, 2ind Bess will be meeting us in the waiting room. I think we make a pretty united front. I forget, who are we trying to intimidate?" she asked in a light tone.
Fanny shrugged. Her shoulders straightened, her head went up a notch. Directiy in her line of vision was a portrait of Sallie Thornton, the medical center's benefactor. "I wonder if she knows what's going on. What would she do? Would she stand quiedy and listen to that gaggle of doctors or would she ask questions and make her own decisions? How would she handle the kids? BilHe ..."
"It's Simon you're worrying about He's respecting your wishes. Isn't that what you wanted?"
"It's what he wanted, BiUie. Would you feel any differendy if you had asked Admiral Kingsley to marry you and the word no exploded from his mouth?"
"Of course not, but I do think I would listen to why he said no."
"Perhaps. I needed to do it, to get married, right then and there. I'm lost now, BiUie. I'm chained to Ash all over again. I know it, you know it, the kids know it, the doctors know it. The whole damn world knows it. Who else is there to take care of him? You don't think for one minute the kids are going to put their hves on hold and do it, do you? Simon isn't going to do it. I don't see anyone standing in line to offer their sissistance. I'm the only one left. If Simon had
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agreed to marry me, I wouldn't be in this position. Fm Sallie all over again, and it's scaring me. I think I'm entitled to feel bitter."
"Of course you are," Billie said soothingly. "There are options, Fanny. We have a fine rehabilitation center in Austin. There must be one here that's associated with the hospital. We can look into it before we leave today. You don't have to make any kind of decision right now, Fanny. Thad always says you have to get all of your ducks in a row and then you make a decision. I think it's sound advice. Here comes Bess. We need to fix her up, she's starting to look dowdy."
"She's fi-azzled, Billie. I left it to her to deal with the business, Simon, and the kids during my thirty-day . . . hiatus. It wasn't fair. Bess has too much on her plate, too many irons in the fire. We could try, though. What do you suggest?"
"How about a pajama party. A httle wine, some good rich food, some high-spirited conversation, sharing secrets. A shopping expedition. Fanny, we're all free; we can do as we please. We earned this time in our lives. Just once, let's set aside commitment, responsibility, and do something for us. We can moan and groan about it later. Personally, I'd like to see all of us go away together for a week or so. Just us girls. I need to do some wound licking myself."
"I think the Coleman, slash, Thornton fsimilies are jinxed. Sallie saw it early on, why didn't we?"
"I guess because each of us has to find her own way. SaUie was a guide. It was up to us to decide if we wanted to follow her."
"Anything new, Bess?" Fanny asked. Bess did look frazzled.
"Simon's here. I don't think I've ever seen a more miserable human being. Your kids are picking up on it."
"Ask me if I care."
"They're rolling out the proverbial red carpet for you, Fanny. All those top-notch doctors Su Li recruited are waiting to talk to you in the doctors' lounge. John will be there too."
"They should be talking to Simon and the kids, not me. How did this happen?"
"I don't know," Bess said. "If I had to t2ike a guess, I'd say Ash got to the kids someway. He wants you."
"Doesn't anyone understand that we're divorce-d? Let's get this over with."
Nothing in the world could have prepared Fanny for the hostility on her children's faces, or for the misery she read in Simon's face. Her step faltered. Billie reached for one arm, Bess the other.
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Introductions were made. Fanny nodded curtly, her eyes on the doctors. They took turns speaking. Fanny Hstened. When they were finished, Fanny let her gaze rake the room. "Let me be sure I understand what you've all just said. Mr. Thornton, my ^x-husband, refiises to go into a rehabilitation center for therapy. He thinks he will get better care from me, his ex-wife, in my home. Because there is plenty of room on the mountain, Mr. Thornton feels the therapists can 'live in' and give him twenty-four-hour care which will speed up his progress. It's my understanding that Mr. Thornton has a nine-room penthouse apartment here in town. It would seem to me that live-in therapists would have plenty of room in a nine-room penthouse apartment. It would also seem to me that this fine medical center should be more than willing to write off Mr. Thornton's medical bills. If they aren't, I'll have to take a hard look at the funding of this fine institution. What role do you see Mr. Thornton's brother and children playing in Mr. Thornton's recovery? Isn't anyone going to answer me? No. Well then, gentiemen, I think I've said all I have to say."
"Bravo," Billie Coleman whispered.
"That goes for me too," Bess whispered.
John Noble's voice was sharp when he said, "Bess . . ."
"Don't say it, John. You know my feelings. You sit on one side of the medical table, and I sit on the other. Don't make me choose up sides here."
Suddenly they were all talking at once—her children, the doctors, and Simon. Fanny's heart was shattering inside her chest. She looked down at the floor, certain she was going to see bloody pieces of her heart at her feet. She felt BilHe Coleman cringe at her nieces' and nephews' vitriolic words.
Birch spoke first "Dad will die. He'll give up. How can you refuse him? He was right about you, wasn't he. Mom? You are cold and heartless."
Fanny sucked in her breath. She would not cry, she absolutely would not. This was her oldest son, if only by a few minutes, speaking to her like this. She'd labored to bring him into the world, nurtured him, loved him as only a mother can love a son. She was about to speak when Sunny advanced a step and shouted. "Birch only saic the half of it. Dad knew you were fooling around with his brother. He never said anything because he hoped you'd come to your senses. He said everyone makes mistakes, and he was willing to forgive yours."
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Fanny could hear Simon's angry' voice beyond the diundering in her ears. She could feel Billie and Bess's fingers digging into her arms. Again, her step faltered, but her voice was strong when she said, "WTiat your father told you isn't true. I can forgive you, Sunny, and you, Birch, because you're my children, and I will love you no matter what. However, what you've said is unconscionable. Your father Hed to you. Doctors, I apologize for my children's rude be-hador and for my own as well."
Su Li moved then, as did her coUeagues—four of the finest doctors in the country—to stand next to Fanny. She spoke, her well-modulated voice circling the room. She addressed herself to the children. "Your mother spoke the truth. One should never speak in haste. Do not ask for my help again."
"Well, la-de-da, and whose family was it that pulled you 2uid your brother out of the gutter? WTiose family paid for your years of medical training? You and Chue have been on a gravy train from the time my grandmother took you out of the laundry. This is how you repay our family by siding with her!" Birch snarled.
Fanny shook off Bess and Billie's arms. She turned, walked back across the room to stand in front of her son. The sound of the slap Birch took high on his cheekbone bounced around the room. ''That I will never forgive."
"VVTiat the hell kind of family is this?" Simon bellowed.
'Tou tell me, Simon," Fanny shot back. "I rue the day I ever set eyes on your brother."
Outside in the heat of the day, Fanny doubled over. "I want to throw up and take a bath at the same time," she moaned. "My God, that was my family! Can we just go home?" Fanny said brokenly. "No, not home, someplace else. Someplace Sallie knew I would need someday."
"Fanny! Fanny, wait!"
"Go away, Simon. Go back to New York and take your brother with you or leave him here for his children to take care of. Just go."
"Fanny, please, you need to listen to me. I love you. You love me. We're destroying each other and for what?"
"For your brother. I told you this would happen. 1 knew it, that's why 1 asked you . . ."
"It wouldn't have changed anything, Fanny."
"It was important for me to believe that it would. Now I'll never know if it would have or not. I just want you to know something, Simon. I loved you more than I ever thought it was possible to love
a man. You should have trusted me. You know your brother as well as I do. You should have been prepared for this."
"Fanny, I didn't mean I didn't want to marry you. I meant not that instant, not that day."
"Well, I needed to do it that instant, that day. Send me a Christmas card. Good-bye, Simon."
Fanny slid behind the wheel of the car, tears sliding down her cheeks.
"There were tears in his eyes," BiUie said.
"He really and truly loves you," Bess said.
"It doesn't matter," Fanny said. "Do either one of you think . . . Ash will. . . give up and . . . and die?"
"Do you really expect us to answer that, Fanny? You know what cynics we are."
"He wants that trust money. In his condition, he's still fighting me. Obviously there is nothing wrong with his head, even if it's fractured. He's insidious enough to go right down to . . . what do I want to say here, dying, his deathbed, and then when I capitulate, he'll make a miraculous recovery?"
"Where are we going, Fanny?" Billie asked.
"To a place no one knows about. A place Sallie gave me for just this reason. SaUie said I would need it someday. I think this is the someday she was talking about."
"What's it called, Fanny."
"It had a name once. The Sallie and Devin's house of happiness. Maybe someday I'll give it my own name. For now, it's a sanctuary. For us."
In a room filled with flowers, on the top floor of the Thornton Medical Center, Ash Thornton stared at his brother and his children. "She said no." His voice was a low whimper.
"That's what she said. Ash," Simon said. "I'm leaving here when I walk out of this building. Before I do that, I want you to tell your children you were . . . mistaken when you told them Fanny and I were having an affair while you were married. It's not true, and you know it isn't true. I would do anything humanly possible to aid in your recovery. The one thing I cannot do is force your ex-wife to take care of you. If you don't tell your children the truth, you and I are finished as brothers. You owe me, Ash, and it's time to pay up.
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You need to let it all go, Ash, and get on with your life. I'll help in any way I can."
"I don't want or need your help, Simon. If you say you didn't have an affair with my wife, that's good enough for me. I can't speak for the kids. Sunny, sweetie, see if you can cajole the charge nurse into giving me my pain pills a little early."
"Sure, Dad." Sunny turned to her Uncle Simon. "I'm willing to take your word for it. I was taught early on that Thorntons don't Ue."
"I guess that means you owe your mother an apology for your outburst in the doctors' lounge."
Ash was the consummate actor when he said, "Sunny, you promised me you wouldn't do or say anything to hurt your mother's feelings. Did you break that promise?" He closed his eyes, struggling to take deep breaths.
If he had been certain that Ash wasn't putting on an act for his benefit, Simon would have felt sorry for him. "Now, what, Ash?"
"I don't know, Simon, one day at a time. The boys have been keeping me apprised of what's going on with the construction. Things are almost at a standstill. Did you make a decision yet about Thornton Chickens?"
"I haven't had a chance to talk to Fanny. The last time I mentioned it, she said she wants to keep it in the family."
"Why did Mom give her control, Simon? Do you know?"
"Because she loved Fanny, and she didn't trust either you or me. The account is almost dry. Ash."
"I know. I have some ideas. There are places where I can get financing."
"I know the kind of places you're talking about. Ash. Don't do it. If you do, you'll be selling them your soul. I can lend you some money."
"How much?"
Simon's eyebrows shot upward at his brother's snappy question. "Compared to what you need, a spit in the wind. Two million with a promissory note."
"You got it."
"I'll transfer the money when I get back to New York. When are you leaving here?"
"I was scheduled to leave tomorrow, but since Fanny didn't agree to helping out, we have to make other arrangements."
"Ash, your kids owe Fanny a huge apology. I hate to leave here
thinking they were acting on your orders. I was ashamed of them. You might notice I'm not addressing them, because they don't deserve any kind of recognition for what they did. I know you and I have two different views of family life, Ash, but trust me when I tell you those kids were shsimeful. Call me, if I can help in any way."
Sage approached his father's bed when Simon left the room. There was wary speculation in his eyes when he said, "You backed down. Did he or didn't he have an affair with Mom?"
"It got us two million dollars, didn't it? Sunny, where are the pills?" Ash said, ignoring his son's question.
"The nurse said no. She said they can't risk you getting addicted. It's just ten more minutes, Dad."
"It doesn't matter. What does anything matter? We're going to lose the casino, we're just weeks away from filing for bankruptcy. We
'll all be out in the street. I'd like it if you'd all leave now. No father wants his children to see him cry."
Outside in the waiting room, the young Thorntons looked at one another. "I'd like to hear someone say something," Billie said. When no one spoke, she said, "I'm damn sorry I sided with the three of you. I must have been out of my mind. Do you have any idea what we all did to Mom? Did you see her face this morning? My God, what kind of people are we turning into?"
"Aren't you forgetting Dad back there in that room? There's every possibility he won't walk again. He's in constant pain," Birch said, refusing to meet his sister's eyes.
"That's not Mom's fault," Billie said. "I feel like crawling on my hands and knees to her and beg her to take me back. I won't do that, though, because I'm too ashamed. I don't know about the rest of you, but I need a job, my savings are almost gone. It's a pretty sorry state of affairs when your family fires you. I'm going to New York this afternoon to look for a job. I don't care what the rest of you do."
"What about Dad?" Birch said.
"What about him. Birch? Didn't you catch that little scene he played out for us. What was it he said, oh yeah, it got us two million, didn't it? My ears snapped open at that. Why are you all looking at me like I suddenly sprouted another head?"
"You're going to New York? You're leaving us here with . .. Dad! That's a pretty shitty thing to do if you want my opinion," Birch said coldly.
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"I didn't ask for your opinion. I like to eat. I like a roof over my head. In order to have those things, I need a job. We're old enough to stand on our own two feet and earn a living. You all can keep diddling around with Dad or whatever you want to do. Know this though. Mom is not going to touch that trust. No matter what Dad does. That's what this is all about, and you all know it—^you simply refuse to say the words out loud."
"Like you know everything," Sage blustered. ^Dad was hurt, we rallied around. That's what families do."
"That's what nomw/families do. We are not a normal family. Dad has always had ulterior motives. Mom did her best to keep things as normal as possible. We screwed it up. Well, I'm bailing out, cutting my losses. Someday I hope Mom and Uncle Simon will be able to forgive my part in all of this. I guess this is good-bye."
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