What if all of his orders and barging in and trying to rearrange her life are what has brought on this high blood pressure? What if it would have been another heart attack or stroke instead? “It would be my fault entirely,” he thinks to himself. Getting out of the car and hesitantly walking up the path to the emergency room doors, he wonders if he should even go in, hasn’t he done enough damage already? He might as well just leave town tonight and cancel the home health agency, and leave her as she was. But no, he couldn’t. Not now, not now that he had put her in this condition. He had to at least know that she was going to recover and be alright.
Bo walks in the main doors of Southeast General, to go find some coffee and snacks for Katy and Viola. As he finally finds his way back to the emergency department, he sees Katy sitting there by herself and walks up to her and hands her a cup of coffee and a Snickers bar as a peace offering.
“Where have they gone with Mammy?” Bo asks.
“They already took her into triage,” says Katy, “I’m not sure if they will bring her back out here to wait or if they will take her right back to a room.”
“I’m sorry, Katy,” says Bo. “I’m sorry for everything, for coming here, for barking orders at my grandmother like I suddenly have authority over her life just because she is getting on up there in age. Sorry for thinking you went behind my back and cancelled my arrangements with the home health agency.
“Now look at what I have done, I have put her in the hospital. What a big hero I am!” he says sarcastically.
“Well, if it makes you feel any better,” Katy replies, “this isn’t entirely your fault. Actually, you might have even helped to get her condition diagnosed by getting her all fired up the way that you did. She has been having these symptoms for a while now, so don’t blame yourself too much. I can see where you are coming from by trying to help her, but you should have known beforehand what condition she was in, instead of coming here assuming that she was an old lady who couldn’t manage on her own anymore.“
“If that was meant to make me feel better, it may have helped a little, but I still feel like a jerk. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I just feel like I am missing something. My Mammy was a huge part of my life growing up. I thought maybe she was it, and if I could get her to come live with me then I would feel, fulfilled, or something. I don’t know what I thought I would feel, I guess I just needed to feel something. College was pretty cut-throat, becoming partner in my firm was extremely cut-throat. Buying out the other guy who wanted my apartment building was really cut-throat as well. I feel like all of the hard work that I did to get where I am today has taken a little bit, if not all, of my soul with it, you know? I want to feel whole, and happy, I want to feel secure.”
“Have you ever thought of going back to church?” asks Katy.
“No,” says Bo. “How do you know I don’t go to a church in Dallas, anyway?”
“Because we most likely would not be having this conversation if you did. You probably wouldn’t even be here.”
“What do you mean?” he asks.
“You need to feed your soul,” says Katy. “After all of the worldly things that you have accomplished and all of the not so nice things that you have had to do to get there, you need to put some back of what has been taken away. Do you understand? Do something for charity, make a donation, volunteer. Take a minute to relax and go to the beach. Go fishing, take a yoga class, get back in touch with you, instead of trying to keep up with the world. Come to church on Sunday and hear some of God’s word. You know what they say, ‘Seven days without Christ makes one weak.’”
“Ha ha, yeah, I have heard that a few times before in my life. From mammy, of course,” says Bo.
“I’m serious, Bo, you need to come back down to reality. Life isn’t all about winning the next big case and making the next great investment. It’s about helping others and doing the right thing, enjoying the things that God gave us.”
Just then, a doctor walks into the waiting room and Katy and Bo jump out of their chairs.
“Mr. and Mrs. Brogan, your grandmother is going to be just fine.” Bo and Katy look at each other oddly, and Katy tells the doctor that she is just a friend.
“She must be a pretty special lady to have such a young, pretty and caring friend like you,” says Dr. Mackey. Katy, obviously seeing how unprofessional he is being, gives a slight grin so as not to be rude and looks at the ground.
“Mr. Brogan, your grandmother’s vitals are all back to normal now. I presume that the high blood pressure spurt was stress-related. She needs to take it easy for a while. We are going to keep an eye on her overnight and then she can go home in the morning, with strict orders to rest and keep stress to a minimum.”
“Yes, sir,” replies Bo, “may we see her now?”
“Of course,” says Dr. Mackey, “room 208, third door on your left.”
Katy and Bo reach door 208 and Katy can see the sadness in Bo’s eyes, knowing that he knows he is the reason that she is here.
“Hi Mammy,” he says in a light sweet tone as he enters the room.
“Hey, sugar,” she replies, “hello, my Katy bug.”
“I am fine, I feel just great. I don’t know why they want me to stay the night here. I guess I will need the two of you to run home and pack me a bag. I will need a night gown, clean undies, my rollers, my toothbrush, a tube of lipstick and my slippers. Oh and an outfit for tomorrow. Katy, you make sure you are the one that picks that out, ok, dear?”
“Yes, ma’am,” she says with a smile, happy to see that Viola is feeling well enough to be her humorous self.
“Well, off you go. If I don’t get my hair in those rollers soon, I’m going to look like a poorly groomed poodle in the morning, and that cannot happen. Have you seen that, Dr. Mackey?” she says while fluffing her curls.
As Katy and Bo walk out to get in the car, she stops him in his tracks, steps in front of him, grabs him by his arms and says to him “this is not your fault”, and gives him a delicate hug. At that moment, Bo Brogan, attorney-at-law forgot about the stubborn little pain that has been in the way of him getting what he wants since he got back to town, and saw her as the beautiful, genuine, kind-hearted person that she is. As he gave her a strong squeeze back and held on for just long enough with a bowed head, she realized just how sorry he was and how unintentional this accident had been. All he wants is his grandmother to come live close to him. For that second, she forgot about the arrogant, big city, cut-throat attorney-at-law and saw him as a sensitive, loving, lost soul that needed someone to help him. How lucky he is that helping people is one of her favorite things to do. The fact that he is the best-looking guy she has seen around this town in a long while, is just a plus.
As they arrive at the house, Bo tells Katy, “Alright, you get the undies, rollers and outfit, I will get everything else, kay?” She smiles and they walk up the steps feeling a little differently about each other, like they had connected in some way.
They gather all of Viola’s things and fold them nicely and put them in a suitcase.
“Is that everything?” asks Bo.
“Yup,” replies Katy. “Let me just grab her one of her favorite books. She didn’t ask for it but I know she will want it.”
She walks over to the bookshelf in the living room and grabs “Say Good Night Gracie” from the shelf. Even though Viola has read the book many times since she was a kid, it is still her favorite.
When they arrive at the hospital, they come up to room 208 and hear Viola telling the nurse that she doesn’t need to fuss with her and to go and help someone who really needs it. Typical Viola.
“Knock, knock,” Katy says as they enter the room.
“Oh there y’all are. For heaven’s sake, what took so long? I told you I need to get my hair rolled in a hurry!”
“We got back as fast as we could, Mammy. Katy even grabbed you your favorite book.”
“Oh, thank you, Katy. You know I will read it, there is nothing else
to do in here, I tell ya.”
“I sure am going to miss you at the house tonight, Mammy, it’s going to be lonely,” says Bo.
“I’m sure Katy wouldn’t mind keeping you company now, would you, Katy bug? There are extra blankets and pillows in the hall closet, why don’t y’all have a little slumber party and talk about when you were kids? Try and figure out where you two went astray, I’m sure it was when Bo made the varsity football team when he was a sophomore and he thought he was just too cool for school and traded his sweet temperament for the cocky jock kind. Well, I’m just guessing, but why don’t you two go figure it out? Y’all are adults now and need to put the past behind you and get along.”
“Don’t you just have it all figured out,” says Bo, rolling his eyes, “I’m going to pull the car around.”
Bo kisses his grandmother on the cheek and tucks her bed sheets in around her. Seeing Bo care for his grandmother like this makes Katy’s heart go pitter-patter. You know they always say that how a man treats his mother or grandmother is how he is likely to treat his wife, and Katy is long overdue for some caring attention from a man.
As Bo walks out of the room and gives his mammy a little wave, Viola calls Katy over to her bedside. “Now, you make sure to take the couch, and make him sleep in the recliner,” she says.”
“You know, Miss Viola, I don’t think I have ever noticed it this much before, but he sure is handsome!” Katy exclaims.
“He sure is,” replies Viola, “but don’t you dare tell him, his head’s too big already.”
They snicker, and Katy gives Viola a kiss on the cheek and tells her she will bring her some goodies from the bakery in the morning.
“Oh no, honey, I have some bread rising on the counter that I have been working on for three days now. I will need you to put it in the oven tonight, and then if you wouldn’t mind, dear, make me some French toast in the morning and bring it here. This hospital food is just horrible. Of course, that is after you and Bo have had some,” she smiles and bats her eyes at them both. She knows she is being a pain in the rear and is having way to much fun in doing so.
“I hate to be a pain,” says Viola, “but if they insist that I stay in this place, the least I can do is eat some good food. I have been waiting on that French toast all week.”
“Of course, we would be delighted to finish the bread and bring you some good home-cooked breakfast, don’t you worry,” says Katy.
As Katy walks out to the car, she ponders the pitter-patter feeling that she felt in the room earlier. Was it a fluke? Was it real? Could she possibly have some sort of feeling for Bo Brogan, the arrogant, egotistical, materialistic man she hasn’t seen in years? His attitude bothered her to death in high school, but like Viola said, now that they are adults, they need to put the past behind them. Maybe there is something to him that she is missing, something deeper.
Bo has pulled his little pink Volkswagen beetle around to the front of the hospital entrance to pick up Katy. She cannot help but giggle as she walks out the sliding doors. His head nearly touches the top of the roof and his seat is pushed all the way back. She opens the door to get in.
“Are you sure you wouldn’t be more comfortable if I drove?” she asks giggling.
“Hey, I am finally getting the hang of this. I think I will be ok. What do you say we stop by Andersons Diner? That’s the only place I know of that is open at this hour, and I am starving.”
She gives him a weird look.
“It is still Andersons Diner, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Katy replies, “I am just surprised that you remember, that’s all.”
“And Florence, does she still run the place? I always loved that old gal.”
“Oh well, there comes some of your Southern accent, and your spunk too. What, did you do have too many cups of coffee?”
“No,” replies Bo, “I have just been thinking a lot about what you said. I do need to lighten up, take a break, goof off… go to church. I need to be revived. I feel like everything that I have worked so hard for for all of these years has just sucked me dry, you know what I mean? Coming down here was the best decision I have ever made, I feel free. I feel like I don’t have to look at my watch every five minutes to see if I am going to be late for a meeting. I can just be me. I kind of feel like a kid again. Do they still have the super mega ice cream pile? Let’s have that for dinner!”
“Bo, I don’t think we can eat sixteen scoops of different types of ice cream without puking all over each other,” she says, laughing hysterically at the inner child that has finally shown himself.
Seeing Bo this way and hearing him talk like this brings something out in her that has been missing for a long time as well - HER inner child. All she does is work, volunteer, go to church, sleep, eat, and repeat. She never really does anything for herself. She can’t remember the last time she did anything spontaneous, or adventurous. There goes her heart again, pitter-patter. “Oh goodness, make it stop!” she thinks to herself.
Love scares Katy, pain scares Katy, and the thought of falling in love with Bo Brogan could most definitely bring some pain. “God, please, if these feelings are real, and this is what Your will is for me, please let me know, she prays.”
As they get out of the car and see all the lights on in the diner and it is halfway filled up with people, she thinks to herself, “Are people always out eating this late? Is this normal? Oh dear, I have the bedtime of an eight-year-old.” She laughs at herself and ever so naturally grabs Bo’s hand and skips into the diner. They sit down and order the super mega ice cream pile.
“Here’s to supper!” says Bo as they dig in.
People are looking and whispering about them but they are both so engrossed in conversation about their childhood that they have not a care in the world about what people are thinking. They are enjoying each other’s company and that is all that matters to them.
As they finish not even half of the super mega ice cream pile, they sit back and put their hands on their bellies.
“This was a great idea,” says Katy.
“Really?” asks Bo. “I wouldn’t have thought you for a girl that would go for an ice-cream supper this late at night.”
“Me either,” she replies. They flag the waitress over and pay their bill, leaving a very gracious tip. Bo is already coming up with things to do next. “Hey, whadaya say we take a drive down to Rock Hill Creek?” he says.
Katy ponders for a second, letting her uptight side take over for just a second, and then says “What the heck, we are already out, let’s make a night of it.”
As they are driving, reminiscing about old football games and how horrible the high school dances always were, and how snotty the “popular” crowd was, they pull up to Rock Hill Creek.
“Hey, Bo, I hadn’t thought about it on the way over here, but, what are we going to do out here? It’s the middle of the night, we don’t even have swimsuits,” Katy says.
“I’m sure there is something to do. Let’s go skip rocks or something, contest? I bet I will beat you.”
“Oh no, you won’t,” she says, jumping out of the car and scooping up pebbles along the way.
They race to the water and begin to skip the pebbles over the water to see who can get theirs to go furthest.
“Slow down, killer, you are losing form,” says Bo. “You aren’t going to beat me like that. This is what I did to ease the stress when I was younger. I would come down here, pick up a handful of pebbles and stand here forever, seeing how far I could get them to go, thinking, calming down.”
“What did you have to calm down about? Your life seemed pretty peachy to me,” Katy says.
“There’s a lot you don’t know, there is a lot Mammy doesn’t know. There is a lot no one knows about my life, now or then,” he says.
“Well, we are here, all alone, out in the middle of the night, if you want to talk about it. It always helps when we talk about the things that are weighing on us. Oh, I’m sorry, out comes Nurse Katy,” she
says. “We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
“It would be nice to let someone in, for once. It’s just hard, ya know, everyone thinking you are something that you know you aren’t and having to live up to some image that everyone has of you. It can get draining, to say the least.”
“I can understand that,” says Katy, “so start dishing. You obviously need someone to listen to you and I’m all ears. I promise, no judging.”
Small Town Tango Page 4
