"That's good. And I don't think less of you if you don't," he added. I laughed.
Then I thought about it and said, "I wouldn't be happy if you did." He held me tighter.
We didn't have to say anymore. Our bodies and our minds spoke silently to each other. I closed my eyes, upset that I wouldn't be secure in his arms again tomorrow and fearful of what the next day in New Orleans would bring.
I doubted that the worst was over.
16
The Real Thing
.
Despite her fatigue, Mommy rose before either
Jack or I did. We heard her moving about, and then I heard her call for me. I got up quickly and rushed out to her. She wore a distraught and confused expression.
"It all seems like one long nightmare," she said and then, like one who had woken from more than just a night's sleep, she firmly added, "We must get home."
"Good morning, Madame Andreas," Jack said, emerging from the bedroom. Mommy glanced at me oddly for a moment.
"You remember Jack, Mommy." "Yes. I'm sorry. I'm just so mixed up this morning. Good morning," she said.
"Did you sleep all right on that sofa? It's very comfortable. I've fallen asleep on it often," he said, smiling.
Mommy's lips relaxed. "I slept in places a lot less comfortable in the last few days," she said.
"How about some breakfast? I'll make coffee," Jack suggested.
"We've got to go," Mommy said, almost in a whisper to me.
"First, put something in your stomach, Madame Andreas. You'll need your strength," Jack insisted. "Yes," Mommy said. "We will."
She was very quiet while we drank coffee and ate fruit and toast, but her eyes kept shifting from Jack to me. She watched his every move and seemed to have her eyes on us whenever Jack and I gazed at each other.
"Shouldn't we call Daddy and tell him you're on the way home, Mommy?" I asked.
"What? Oh, yes, of course," she said, still acting a bit dazed. "I'm just not thinking too straight yet. My head feels stuffed with clouds."
I called home. Aubrey got Daddy on the phone immediately when he heard I had Mommy waiting to speak to him.
"You found her!" Daddy cried. "Oh, thank God. And thank you, Pearl. Please let me speak to her."
I handed Mommy the phone.
"Hello, Beau. . . . I'm fine now. We'll soon be on our way home." She listened and then started to cry softly. "I'm sorry," she said in a cracked voice. "I'm very sorry." She couldn't say another word. Instead, she shook her head and handed me the phone. "Ruby, Ruby?" Daddy was calling.
"She's all right, Daddy. She's just overwrought right now. We'll just finish our breakfast and then we'll be on our way."
"Hurry, but drive carefully," he said.
Mommy had sat down again. I asked Daddy softly if he had heard anything new from the hospital.
"No. No change," he replied.
"See you soon, Daddy," I told him and cradled the receiver. I went to Mommy and put my arm around her.
She cried softly. "No matter . . . what I do, I make more trouble," she said with a sigh.