A very exasperated nurse was standing next to her, trying to convince her to get back in bed. “Come on now, Lillian. You’re upset. You should lie down and take it easy.” The nurse obviously didn’t know who he was talking to. Lillian Cole had never taken it easy. She always went at things full force and when life hit hard, she hit back harder.
“Mom?”
She turned to him upon hearing his voice and stretched her arms out. He went straight to her and held her for a moment. She was so frail and if at all possible, had seemed to become smaller in this place overnight. “Oh, Robert I can’t find the dogs. And I want to go outside and look for them but these people won’t let me.”
Instead of his presence calming her, she cried harder. He walked her over to the bed where they sat down, his arm around her shoulders. “The dogs are fine, mom. They’re at home.”
“No, they’re not. I don’t see them anywhere.” Robert realized the reason she was so upset was that she thought she was at home. He hadn’t thought it possible for his heart to break any more, but it did.
A robust blonde woman in a bright blue pantsuit peeked her head around the corner. “Mr. Cole? I’m Pamela, the director. Can I see you out here for a moment?”
His mother cried harder still. “Don’t leave me.” His mother begging for anything was not something he was accustomed to. For a moment he wanted to cry as well.
“I’m just going into the hallway for a second, Mom. I’m coming right back.”
She pressed her forehead against his chest as if it were the last time she were ever going to see him, soaking his shirt with her tears. It was almost physically painful to tear himself away from her but did he did it, following Pamela out into the hallway. They stepped around the corner, the sounds of his mother’s sobs floating down the corridor, into his ears, into his brain. It took all his focus to hear what Pamela was saying.
“This has been going on for over three hours now. We’ve tried everything to calm her down, but nothing seems to be working. Does this happen often?”
“I’ve never seen her like this before at all, let alone often, so no.”
“I think we should consider giving her something to calm her down. I’ve called for the doctor and as soon as he sees her he can order something. Shouldn’t be long.”
“So you’re going to drug her to be quiet? I’m not sure if I like the sound of that.”
“Mr. Cole, I assure you it’s quite common in dementia patients. We can’t have her causing a ruckus. It’s not good for the other patients and it’s not good for her, and it won’t be good for you if we have to keep calling you all the time especially if it’s not doing any good.”
“You can call me as often as you need to.”
She could see Robert wasn’t a fan of what she was proposing and crossed her arms over her chest in defiance. “I think you’ll change your tune on that when we’re calling you at three a.m.”
“If it’s three, four, five, it doesn’t matter to me. I’m always available.”
“You have to understand Mr. Cole, this is something that’s done. Better to get started now. Your mother is only going backwards from here.” Robert wrung his hands together. Why did people have to keep saying that? Surely they were talking about someone else. Another patient perhaps, not his mother. As hard as he tried he couldn’t process the fact that she was going to get worse, and at some point, die. He stood in the hallway, leaned up against the support rail that ran all along the corridor suddenly feeling old himself. He tried to formulate a response, but none came.
As he stood there he realized his mother had fallen silent. The constant barrage of sobbing he and everyone else had been listening to since he arrived had ceased abnormally quickly. Sensing he needed to check on his mother he forgot about talking to Pamela and made his way back around the corner and to the door of her room.
Chelle, who he assumed he had left back in the cheery lobby, had followed him all the way down and he hadn’t even noticed. She was sitting with her back to Robert, kneeling down in front of his mother, speaking softly to her. Lillian’s lips had now curled up in the corners to a small smile as Chelle reached out, taking her wrinkled hands in hers and stroking them gently. She was whispering something to her as she did, although Robert could not make out what.
Robert, the nurse, and Pamela all stood watch. Enthralled at what they were seeing. For several minutes Chelle kneeled and spoke softly. There was no denying it, Robert was in awe. She had never met his mother but Lillian Cole was looking at her and smiling like she was looking into the eyes of a long lost friend. The look on her face was one of pure contentment and he relaxed fully as Chelle worked whatever magic she had. They all did.
After a time she stood, helped the old woman into bed and covered her over tucking her in. She touched her hand one more time and Lillian closed her eyes falling almost instantly into sleep. Chelle looked up noticing everyone for the first time.
“Young lady if you ever want a job, we’re hiring.”
Chelle laughed under her breath and keeping her voice low said, “Well, I have an interview today, but if that doesn’t work maybe I’ll come see you.”
“You do that.” Pamela turned back to Robert. “I’ll give you a call later on to let you know how she’s doing. We’ll go from there.” Robert nodded and Pamela made her exit, gesturing for the nurse to follow.
Robert wanted to hug her. He was so grateful that his mother was no longer suffering that he wanted to sweep her into his arms and squeeze her, maybe kiss her too, but that would risk freaking her out. Instead he came and stood close to her as they both looked down on his now sleeping mother together. “What did you say to her?”
“I just told her that everything was ok. Sometimes that’s all people really need to hear.”
“Everyone else tried that and it didn’t make a bit of difference though.”
“I don’t know,” she said locking eyes with him finally. They were so dark, so deep. This woman was a deep well of secrets and suddenly the only thing he wanted was to find out what each and every one of them were. “Old people like me.”
“Would you really come work here?”
“Depends how my job interview goes today.”
“I’m starting to think you were meant for bigger things than being a barmaid. You working for me seems like kind of a waste.”
She fluttered her eyelashes. Once, twice, three times. Robert wasn’t sure if she had done it on purpose or if it had just come naturally but the gesture caused his pulse to race and his mouth to run dry. “I like working for you.”
“Good. You’re hired then.”
She smiled. “Good. I’m glad we settled that. And your fiancé won’t be firing me again?”
“I told you. I don’t have one of those.”
“Just making sure. Because the next time someone kicks me out of there I’m never setting foot in that place again.”
Despite the fact that her tone hardened the smile never left her face. “Duly noted.”
After making sure his mother was settled they were back in the car and heading toward Oceanview Drive. “I can go straight to work. You don’t have to drop me. I was supposed to start at three and it’s after that now.”
“I told you there are no openings until tomorrow. You’re gonna be a real keener, I can tell.”
Chelle reached out and playfully smacked his arm. “Stop it, Robert. We both know you’re short staffed. You need me tonight.” He was beginning to realize that was true in more ways than one.
“I don’t. Get some rest. You didn’t look so good this morning. You look better now, but I need you firing on all cylinders. I run a tight ship.”
“You’re also kind of pig headed.”
Robert looked down the end of his nose at her, feigning offense. “That’s no way to talk to your boss Miss. Canary.”
“My apologies, Mr. Cole.” Both of them were laughing now. Snow fell on the road before them and they stared out the window as the car wen
t silent. As Robert hit the turn signal to head for her street she said, “You should drop me on the corner. Right in front would be suspicious.”
“Are you going in now?”
“Everyone’s having dinner so I should be ok.”
He stopped the car and Chelle reached for her backpack, but Robert got to it first. He held it for a moment before handing it over, not wanting to let her go. “Chelle, I hope we can be friends.”
She reached forward prying the backpack from his fingers and smiling again. “We are friends.”
“Good. I’m glad. I hope we can do this again sometime. My cell number is on that card you know, so…if you need anything…”
“It’s ok. I know where to find you. See you tomorrow, boss.”
Backpack in hand she exited the car, swinging it over her shoulder as she did. Any sign of injury seemed to have left her as she strode down the street, moving with much more ease than she had just this morning. Robert watched, holding his breath as she pulled up her hood, darted up the driveway and into the house. When she was safely inside he let the breath out. For a moment he sat in the car, telling himself he was crazy for being involved in any way with someone like her. Then he noticed that even as the thought crossed his mind he was smiling. He felt better than he had in months and decided he wasn’t going to question it.
Chapter Sixteen
Hyori Gwok was annoyed. Of all the times her husband’s father could have picked to have a massive heart attack did it have to be when they were wintering in Florida? She so hated this time of year and the only reason they were setting foot back into it was because they believed the old man to be on his last legs. Now that they’d made their way home to Canada, at great expense, he was expected to live. If he was going to cost them all that money he could have at least had the decency to die.
As they put the key in the lock they were arguing, loudly. But what else was new? Ever since he’d retired they had spent all of their time together, which was proving to be more of a nuisance than a pleasure. They had looked forward to his retirement but had failed to spend any time in preparation for it. His years had been filled with work, hers with children, and it seemed now they were each living with a complete stranger.
They were so busy arguing that they didn’t notice the broken lamp on the coffee table, or the cracked glass of the sterling silver picture frame their oldest son had given them as an anniversary present. The message light on the phone was blinking and Ye-Gin picked it up, dialing into the voicemail. He was about halfway through the first in a string of messages about his father when from across the room, he noticed his crowbar. It was normally tucked away in the storage closet, but for some reason it was sitting on the kitchen table, and somehow bent in half.
He hung up the phone without listening to the rest and rubbed his eyes, picking it up in disbelief. He was holding it up, staring wordlessly at it when Hyori walked in, standing next to him to stare as well. The argument they’d been having was suddenly forgotten as they looked at each other, then back to the crowbar, than back to each other again.
It was two in the morning and both of them, irritated and edgy from lack of sleep and proper food were immediately frightened. Ye-Gin held the deformed crowbar like a weapon now as his wife slid behind him and proceeded to check the house. On this pass through the living room they finally noticed the broken lamp and damaged frame. They looked at each other again and silently continued on.
Something was definitely off, they both felt it, and as they rounded each corner of each room, bristled with fear a little more. They found nothing until they made their way into the bathroom. After hesitating nervously for a moment they yanked back the shower curtain. Something red stared back at them from the porcelain. It wasn’t a large amount, but it was definitely there. Blood. Turning once again toward the counter they noticed something else. A toothbrush. It was then that they went from simply nervous, to sufficiently horrified.
If someone was in the house they certainly weren’t upstairs. Everything had been checked in or under and so the only place left to look was the basement. Hyori stayed in the kitchen as Ye-Gin headed for the stairs. At the last second he turned around, pleading with his eyes and gesturing with his hands for her to come with him. She simply shook her head ‘no’ furiously and waved her own hand at him, motioning for him to go on without her. Now he was not only terrified, he was irritated. The stairs creaked as he took them slowly. The quieter he tried to be, the more noise they made. This was something he had never noticed before but if he lived to tell about it the first thing he was going to do was have that fixed. Or move to Florida permanently. This wouldn’t be happening if they were staying in a hotel.
Something dark caught his eye as he made his way to the bottom. His heart thudded in his chest so furiously that all other sound was distant and muffled. He thought he heard his wife call out to him. If she had he wished she’d shut up, lest risk disturbing whoever or whatever was down there with him.
Holding his breath he forced himself to look at the dark figure on the floor. Slowly, ever so gently, he reached up and flicked on the overhead light. He couldn’t believe what he saw. A woman was in a sleeping bag, snoring softly like she hadn’t a care in the world. She stirred as if knowing she was being watched and opened her eyes, rubbing them in confusion.
When she realized what was happening she began screaming. So did he. He raised the mangled crowbar over his head in panic. It was all over in a matter of seconds.
***
There was no time to formulate a response. No time to even raise her hands over her head. She heard herself scream for a brief second as an angry, frightened Korean man raised the crowbar, or at least what used to be a crowbar, swinging it down and making contact with the top of her head.
She’d been knocked unconscious and had woken up to the bright florescent light of the QE2 Health Sciences Center, where she was handcuffed to a stretcher with a young police officer standing watch. From there she’d been checked again, told she had a concussion, but not a serious one, and handed over to police who brought her back to the station where she now sat in a cell waiting to be questioned.
Despite the situation she was in the wings remained absent, mostly she guessed because she didn’t feel threatened at all. In fact, she was quite calm. A good dose of Demerol had seen to that. She hadn’t felt this calm in years.
She lay down on the small cot in the tiny cell and realized that although it wasn’t much, it was way more comfortable than a sleeping bag on a concrete floor. She lay back and closed her eyes, dozing for what seemed like hours when she was awakened unceremoniously by a cop, who escorted her into a little room where she was then handcuffed to a table.
With more than a little cynicism in his voice he said, “Are you stable?”
She didn’t know what he meant by that. Stable? She was certainly wobbly and tired from the drugs. “I have no idea.”
“You don’t know if you’re crazy or not? If I take those cuffs off you are you gonna jump across the table and attack me?”
The thought of that made her laugh. Without the wings she was weak as a kitten. She couldn’t attack anyone on her best day, let alone with heavy sedation.
“I’m not crazy. I’m just sleepy.”
“It would seem so. You were so sleepy you decided to sleep in the laundry room of a house you didn’t own. Your I.D names you as Chelley Amanda Carrey. Is that right?”
“If that’s what the plastic says, that’s what it is.”
“Don’t get smart, Chelley. You’re in a lot of trouble. Is squatting a habit for you?”
“Define habit.”
“Are you on drugs of any kind?”
“Drugs? Jesus Mary and Joseph, why do people keep asking me that?”
He looked frightened, which Chelle thought was funny. He was at least twice her size and she was tethered at that. She broke into peals of laughter, lowering her head onto her arms and snorting. “Something funny?”
“
You’re funny.”
“If you don’t smarten up this is going to get very hard, very fast.”
Chelle snorted again. “That’s what she said.”
Finally the officer sighed, realizing he wasn’t going to get anywhere for the time being at least. “Alright Chelley, maybe we’ll just let you sleep off the painkillers before we talk again. Perhaps once you can feel the bump on your head you’ll realize just how much trouble you’re in.”
Without waiting for a response he left the room. Another, younger officer came in and escorted her back to her little cell where she promptly lay down, falling into a sound sleep. When she awoke some four hours later, still groggy but with a great deal more clarity she realized what had happened. “Ah, shit,” she whispered to herself.
“Ah, shit indeed,” a voice said from across the room. “We’re going to have that little talk now.”
“Oh no we’re not. I know my rights. I’m not talking to anyone.” Truth be told she really didn’t know her rights, but she had seen enough one hour cop dramas to know that it was the thing to say in such a situation. She followed it up with the next piece of obligatory dialogue. “I want a lawyer.”
“Oh you have a lawyer do you? You don’t even have a place to live. How can you possibly have a lawyer?”
Chelle took him in. He was at least six foot two and quite broad. Despite that he seemed like what her father had always called, ‘a little wiener.’ She decided she was better off keeping that opinion to herself though. “I want to make a phone call.”
The cop rolled his eyes and begrudgingly let her out of the cell, showing her to a courtesy phone. Although her jacket had been taken away with Robert’s business card in it, she knew the number for Cole’s Bar off by heart. “What time is it?”
“It’s two in the afternoon. Hope your lawyer isn’t taking an extra-long lunch today.”
She wanted to tell him to go fuck himself more than anything in the world, but bit her tongue and dialed the bar. Robert always answered the phone in the office when he was there. She bit her lip and prayed. He answered on the third ring. “Cole’s Bar.”
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