"Because I'm dying?"
"I think so. "
"Okay. You're a nice-looking kid, you know that?"
"Thanks. You're not bad yourself. "
"I'm scared, Charlie. It doesn't hurt. I used to be afraid that it would hurt, but now I'm afraid of what happens next. "
Charlie sat down on the chair next to the bed. "I think that's why I'm here, Madeline, you don't need to be afraid. "
"I drank a lot of brandy, Charlie. That's why this happened. "
"Maddy - can I call you Maddy?"
"Sure, kid, we're friends. "
"Yes, we are. Maddy, this was always going to happen. You didn't do anything to cause it. "
"Well, that's good. "
"Maddy, do you have something for me?"
"Like a present?"
"Like a present you would give to yourself. Something I can keep for you and give you back later, when it will be a surprise. "
"My pincushion," Madeline said. "I'd like you to have that. It was my grandmother's. "
"I'd be honored to keep that for you, Maddy. Where can I find it?"
"In my sewing box, on the top shelf of that closet. " She pointed to an old-style single closet across the room. "Oh, excuse me, phone. "
Madeline talked to her oldest daughter on the edge of the comforter while Charlie got the sewing box from the top shelf of the closet. It was made of wicker and he could see the red glow of the soul vessel inside. He removed a pincushion fashioned from red velvet wrapped with bands of real silver and held it up for Madeline to see. She smiled and gave him the thumbs-up, just as the nurse returned with a small plate of cheese and crackers.
"It's my oldest daughter," Madeline explained to the nurse, holding the edge of the comforter to her chest so her daughter didn't hear. "Oh my, is that cheese?"
The nurse nodded. "And crackers. "
"I'll call you back, honey, Sally has brought cheese and I don't want to be rude. " She hung up the sheet and allowed Sally to feed her bites of cheese and crackers.
"I believe this is the best cheese I've ever tasted," Madeline said.
Charlie could tell from the expression on her face that it was, indeed, the best cheese she had ever tasted. Every ounce of her being was going into tasting those slivers of cheddar, and she let loose little moans of pleasure as she chewed.
"You want some cheese, Charlie?" Madeline asked, spraying cracker shrapnel all over the nurse, who turned to look at the corner where Charlie was standing with the pincushion tucked safely in his jacket pocket.
"Oh, you can't see him, Sally," Madeline said, tapping the nurse on the hand. "But he's a handsome rascal. A little skinny, though. " Then, to Sally, but overly loud to be sure that Charlie could hear: "He could use some fucking cheese. " Then she laughed, spraying more crackers on the nurse, who was laughing, too, and trying not to dump the plate.
"What did she say?" came a voice from the hall. Then the two sons and the daughter entered, chagrined at first at what they had heard, but then laughing with the nurse and their mother. "I said that cheese is good," Madeline said.
"Yeah, Mom, it is," said the daughter.
Charlie stood there in the corner, watching them eat cheese, and laughing, thinking, This should have been in the book. He watched them help her with her bedpan, and give her drinks of water, and wipe her face with a damp cloth - watched her bite at the cloth the way Sophie did when he washed her face. The eldest daughter, who Charlie realized had been dead for some time, called three more times, once on the dog and twice on the pillow. Around lunchtime Madeline was tired, and she went to sleep, and about a half hour into her nap she started panting, then stopped, then didn't breathe for a full minute, then took a deep breath, then didn't.
And Charlie slipped out the door with her soul in his pocket.
Chapter 13