Tranquility
Page 23
Abby roamed around the room, checking every corner. She put on gloves and looked through the wastebasket. I watched her go into the shower room. She checked the shower area and the toilet stall. I even heard her take the lid off the toilet tank and replace it a few seconds later.
This is ridiculous, I thought. Where the hell does she think Edie got a gun?
She came back out a minute later and stood looking at me. Her eyes went to my pockets.
I let go of Edie’s hand and stood up. “Check them.”
“Pardon me?”
“I know what you’re thinking. I don’t want there to be a question in your mind about what really happened here today. Check my pockets.”
She stepped forward, looked through all my pockets, nodded and stepped back.
I heard the sound of male voices and heavy footsteps approaching. “We both know there’s no gun,” I said quickly. “Maybe you should talk to Sheila again. And talk to Edie when she wakes up later. She’s the only one who can or will tell you what really happened.”
Abby had no time to respond. The door opened and we stepped back to let the paramedics do their job. The police questioned us. They also spent a long time in the bathing room after the paramedics took Edie away. I worried they might search the room after hearing Sheila rant about a gun.
Tracey had no such concerns. “They didn’t find the camera,” she said as we crossed the parking lot after work. “Even if they searched the room they wouldn’t look up there. Think about it. Edie’s tiny. There’s no way she could have put a gun way up there.”
“Okay, but what if they did find it? There’ll be footage of me leaving the room after I set it up.”
“Sarah, stop worrying. We’ll look first thing tomorrow.”
I was torn between going straight home to see Gran or to the hospital to see Edie. I sat in my car indecisively for a few minutes before I finally called Mom and explained the situation.
“Sarah, everything’s fine here. Go to the hospital and I’ll see you when you get home with Kayla.”
It felt strange to walk into the hospital and not go directly to Gran’s old room in the ICU. I went to the third floor and stopped at the nurse’s station to ask directions to Edie’s room.
Tom was there, slumped over in a chair beside Edie’s bed, holding her hand. He straightened up when I walked into the room. “Sarah!”
“Hi, Tom. I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were here. I can come back later.”
“No, it’s okay.” He waved me in. “She’s still asleep, but she’ll be happy you stopped by.”
I stood next to him and looked down at Edie. She was a little pale, but her breathing sounded good. “How’s she doing? Has she woken up at all?”
“The doctor said they couldn’t find anything wrong with her. They aren’t sure why she won’t wake up. They ran some blood tests and they’re just waiting on the results. Do you know what happened? All the doctor could tell me was that the paramedics who brought her in thought she slipped and fell in some water.”
“That’s what it looked like. She went into the bathing room around seven-thirty. Sheila, the support worker who gives the residents their baths, came running out about twenty minutes later, calling for help. I went in and found your mom lying on the floor.”
Tom was quiet for a moment as he digested what I’d said. “Would you let a resident walk on a wet floor?”
“No, I wouldn’t. Maybe Sh—”
A loud voice behind us made me jump. “What is she doing here?”
Tom cringed and looked at me apologetically. I turned to face Anne. “I came to see Edie, of course.”
“You have some nerve showing up here. If you girls had been doing your jobs properly this never would have happened. Tom and I are seriously considering talking to our lawyer about a lawsuit.”
“That’s your prerogative.” I looked at Tom. “Thanks for letting me see her. I’ll be going now.” I turned to walk away.
“Sarah, wait. Stay,” Tom said. His voice shook, but he sounded determined.
“What are you doing?” Anne growled from between clenched teeth.
Tom stood up and faced her. “Wh-what do you think I’m doing? You spent our whole marriage telling me what to do. You treated my mother like a second-class citizen and I stood by and let you.” With each word his voice grew louder and he stood taller. “I can’t do it anymore. It’s done, over. I want you to leave. I’ll stay at a hotel tonight and come get my things tomorrow.”
“You—you don’t mean it, Tom. You’re not thinking straight. You need to—”
“No!” he yelled. He lowered his voice, but spoke firmly, with conviction. “That’s the thing. I don’t need to do anything anymore if I don’t want to. Now go.”
Anne stared at Tom in disbelief. Finally, without a word, she turned, pushed past me and strode angrily out the door.
I didn’t say anything, but inside I was cheering. Edie was right, Anne was a tyrant and poor Tom had been a doormat long enough.
Tom sank into the chair and put his head in his hands. His shoulders shook silently.
I stood there awkwardly for a moment, unsure of what to do. “Uh, is there any way I can help?”
His shoulders shook harder and he began to make awful, choking noises.
I moved closer and put my hand on his shoulder. “It’ll be okay, Tom. You—”
He looked up at me. My mouth fell open. He was laughing. He took a deep, shuddering breath and blew it out hard. “Tissue, please.”
I looked around, spotted them on the little bedside table and handed the box to Tom.
He mopped the dampness from his face. “I’m so sorry you had to see that, but I’ve been wanting to do that for as long as I can remember.”
“There’s no need to apologize to me. You just do whatever you have to do.”
“I plan on it, from now on.”
“Tom, is that you, lad?” Edie’s weak voice was barely a whisper.
Tom’s face lit up. He stood and took his mother’s hand. “I’m here, Mom.”
“Is Anne with you?”
“No. I sent her away.”
Edie struggled to keep her eyes open. “You what?”
“I sent her away. For good.”
“Oh, my. Well, it’s about time.”
“I know, Mom. We’ll talk about it later. Sarah’s here now.”
I moved closer and smiled down at Edie through tears of relief. It was so good to hear her voice.
“Here now. There’ll be none of that,” she said, struggling to sit up.
I reached over the side rail and pushed a button to raise the head of the bed. Tom went to the other side. We each took an arm and pulled her upright. I fussed with her, arranging the pillows and straightening the blankets, until she slapped my hand away.
“Enough, now, lass. I’m not an invalid.” She slumped back against the pillows in exhaustion. “Although I could use some water if you don’t mind.”
Tom went out into the hallway to find a nurse. She came in with him a few minutes later, carrying a pitcher of ice water and a cup with a bendable straw.
“Well, hello, Mrs. MacAdams, It’s nice to see you awake. That was some sleep you had.” She poured a cup of water and handed it to Edie. “Are you able to do it yourself?”
Edie sighed loudly. “As I told these two, I’m not an invalid.” She guided the straw into her mouth and took a long drink.
“No, of course you’re not,” the nurse said. She took the cup from Edie, placed it on the tray table and clipped the call bell to the blanket where Edie could easily reach it. “Here’s your call bell. If you need anything, push the button and I’ll be here as soon as I can.”
Edie managed a tired smile and stifled a yawn. “Thank you, lass.”
As soon as the nurse left, Edie said, “Tom, dear, do you mind leaving me and Sarah for a bit. We need to talk.”
He cleared his throat. “Uh, sure. I’ll go down to the café and get a coffee.”
* * *
I pulled up to the school just as the bell rang.
“Remember what I said,” I told Kayla on the drive home. “Gran might not look the way you remember. She’s hooked up to all those tubes and machines I told you about. It might look a little scary at first.”
“I know, Mommy. And I have to be quiet, right?”
“A little bit, yes, but only when you’re in her room.”
“‘kay, I’ll use my inside voice in Gran’s room.”
I smiled. Kayla rarely had an “inside” voice unless she was sick or sleeping.
Her excitement seemed to fade when we walked into the house. We took off our boots, hung up our jackets and went down the hall to Gran’s room. Kayla stopped outside the door and stood twirling her hair around her finger nervously.
I went to her and put my arm around her shoulder. “Are you ready?”
She looked up and shook her head hesitantly. Her eyes were full of apprehension.
“I’ll be with you the whole time.”
“I’m scared, Mommy.”
“Oh, sweetie. She’s still the same Gran you’ve always loved. She still loves you, even if she can’t say it, and she’s been waiting a long time to hear your voice again.”
Kayla looked thoughtful for a minute. She took a deep breath. “Okay, Mommy. Hold my hand and we’ll go together.”
It didn’t take Kayla long to get over her fear. After the initial shock of seeing Gran unconscious and surrounded by tubes and wires, Kayla spoke to her as though she’d never left. I got the stool from the laundry room and put it on the floor beside the bed so Kayla was able to climb up beside Gran. She spent most of the rest of the day in there, coloring, doing puzzles and watching TV.
* * *
That evening, after Kayla was asleep, I went in to Gran’s room to talk to Mom. She was sitting in the chair beside the window, staring out into the darkness. I doubted she’d left Gran’s side for more than a few minutes all day. I flopped down on the double bed and stifled a yawn. “I thought it went well today with Kayla,” I said.
“It did. You look exhausted.”
“I am. It was a tough day.”
Mom nodded sympathetically. “Do you want to talk about it?”
I rolled onto my stomach and looked at her. “Later. It was a tough day for both of us. You arranged for help with Gran in the mornings, right?”
“The nurse will be here every day,” she replied, looking away.
“Mom, we’ve talked about this. You need to have a support worker come in and help out so you can take a break every day.”
“I can do it myself. Most of the time I’m just sitting here reading or watching TV anyway.”
“That’s not the point and you know it. It’s emotionally exhausting. How much good are you to Gran if you can’t function?”
“We’ll try this for a few days. If I think I need help, I’ll arrange it.” She put up her hand when I tried to argue. “No, I appreciate your concern for me, Sarah, but I want to do this.”
I smiled. Mom was taking charge and acting like the mother in our relationship for the first time in ten years. I was proud of her. “Fine. We’ll talk about it again in a few days.”
I helped Mom with Gran’s nightly care. I washed her face and smoothed on moisturizing cream. We put lotion on her arms and legs and massaged it into her feet, hands and elbows. I rubbed balm gently onto her dry, cracked lips, repositioned her and placed pillows where needed. While we worked, I told Mom the details of what had happened that day.
“Do you think it’s possible she had a gun?” Mom asked. “Why would Sheila say such a thing if it wasn’t true?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t think she had a gun. I was the first one in the room, I would’ve seen it. Abby checked the whole room, even the toilet tank.” I snorted at the thought. “There was something going on that Edie’s not telling me, though.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not sure. Edie was off this morning. Something wasn’t right. I’m wondering if she antagonized Sheila into losing her temper.”
“Why in the world would she do a thing like that?”
“Edie and I had talked about Sheila. Edie had this idea that she could push Sheila into doing something so we’d have proof of her mistreating residents. I told her not to, but…” I sighed and pulled the blankets up over Gran. “I wish I had talked to her this morning.”
Mom reached across the bed and patted my hand. “It’s not your fault, sweetheart. You couldn’t have known what was on her mind.”
When we finished with Gran I went to my room to get ready for bed. There was a message on my phone from Jay. I called him and we talked for nearly an hour. We didn’t talk about Edie. I hadn’t felt much better after my conversation with Mom and talking to Jay about other things was a welcome distraction.
Before we hung up, he said, “I know you’re working all weekend, but I’d like to see you, even if it’s just for coffee. I missed you this week.”
My stomach fluttered at his words and I realized I’d missed him too.
* * *
The next morning, Tracey stood guard while I went into the bathing room to get the camera. All my worrying had been for nothing. The camera was right where I’d left it. The halls were quiet and we saw no one. I took the camera to the change room, put it in my locker and went to work.
Tina was in the staff room when I went in for my morning break. She was unusually friendly and babbled excitedly about the incident the day before. “Abby told Carol that the doctors said Edie was drugged. Sleeping pills apparently. Not enough to kill her, but enough to knock her out for a while.”
“But how?” I asked. “Residents don’t have access to drugs.”
“I know. That’s why people are wondering if it was Sheila.”
Not Sheila, I thought. “Really?” I said, pretending surprise. “Sheila drugged Edie? Why would she do that?”
“Who knows? She obviously lost it. I mean, she was ranting on like a mad woman about Edie having a gun.” She laughed. “Imagine, that sweet, old woman holding Sheila at gunpoint. Just the thought of it is crazy.”
“What do you think happened then?”
“I have no idea. Maybe Edie slipped on the wet floor and fell and Sheila panicked. Or maybe Sheila really did go crazy. Maybe she drugged Edie before her bath. I guess we won’t know anything until Edie starts talking. She’s awake, you know.”
“Mmhmm, I heard that.”
“But she says she doesn’t remember anything.”
I shook my head in mock wonder. “Imagine that.”
* * *
It was strange not having Edie around. Georgia was a little lost without her and didn’t know what to do with herself. I tried to keep her busy. I left her and Rose in the lounge sorting a basket of socks. Later, I took them to the auditorium for Time for Tots.
Connie had filled Lloyd in about the situation with Edie and he’d called to say he would be picking Georgia up early. I was in the main hall after lunch, helping her get settled into an armchair to wait, when the police walked in. Abby was on her way back from Hall A with her medication cart. The two officers intercepted her outside the nurse’s station. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I saw Abby nod her head stiffly before turning to lead them toward Hall B. She stopped when she spotted me and waved me over.
I reminded Georgia to wait there for Lloyd and walked over to the group. My heart pounded against my chest.
“Sarah,” Abby said. “These officers have some questions about the incident yesterday.”
I remembered Officer Moore from the day before.
“Hello Sarah,” she said with a smile. “This is Officer Fletcher.” She turned to Abby. “Is there somewhere private we can go to talk?”
Abby hesitated.
“I think the staff room is empty.”
“Great. I’m sure Sarah can take us there. Thanks for your help.”
Abby nodded shortly, took her cart and wheeled it into the medical supply room. She didn’t look happy about being so politely dismissed.
I led the officers into the staff room. Officer Fletcher closed the door and they sat across the table from me. I put my thumb to my mouth, caught myself and folded my hands tightly in my lap.
They asked me the same questions officer Moore had asked the day before. They also asked me some pointed questions about Sheila and Edie.
“You told me yesterday that Edie is your resident,” Officer Moore said. “How was she yesterday morning?”
“She was a little off. I asked if she was okay and she said she hadn’t slept very well.”
“Was she on any medication for that?”
“I don’t think so, but I’m not responsible for the residents’ medications. You’d have to talk to the nurse about that.”
“Did you see Sheila yesterday morning before the incident?”
“No. The first time I saw her was when she ran out of the bathing room.”
“Are you a support worker?”
“Yes.”
“Is Sheila a support worker as well?”
“Yes, she is.”
“And do you or any of the other support workers have access to the room where the residents’ medications are stored?”
“No. Only the nurses have access to that room.”
“Did you, at any point, yesterday morning, see a gun?”
“No!”
They asked me again to tell them what I remembered about the incident. They took notes and interjected some new questions while I recounted the story.
“Okay,” Officer Moore said when I’d finished, “that’s all we need for now. Thanks again for your co-operation.”
I looked at the clock as I stood up to leave. It was one-thirty. We’d only been in the room for ten minutes. It had felt like forever.
“Oh, one more thing, Sarah,” Officer Moore said as they followed me out the door.
I turned to her. “Yes?”
“Is Tracey Armstrong working today?”