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ROWAN
“How is she?”
I lean back against the headrest and blow out a breath. Opening one eye, I peer at the clock glowing from the dashboard—3:04 a.m.
It’s been a long night.
“She didn’t recognize me this morning,” I mutter.
Kellan releases a long exhale. “That must have been hard.” His hand slips over mine, resting on the console between us. As if feeling the sudden shift in the air, Banjo drops his jaw on my shoulder, his furry little head squeezed between the driver’s seat and driver’s window. I reach back, give him a scratch behind the ears.
“Talk to me,” Kellan says, gently caressing his thumb along the back of my hand. “What happened?”
“She was awake when I got up this morning, which was unusual.”
“What time was that?”
“Five-thirty.” I roll down the window, suddenly needing air. “She usually sleeps until past eight. I walked into the kitchen and she was sitting, fully dressed, at the kitchen table, just staring at the wall. The overhead lights were off. Her hands were folded on her lap, her posture was rigid… I don’t know, like she was in a waiting room or something.”
“Like she thought she was in a waiting room?”
“Exactly. It startled me, seeing her. I turned on the light and she just stared at me…” A knot grabs my throat. I’m tired, hungry, angry, but wound up like a spindle. I should be home. I should be sliding into bed next to my husband. I should be asleep. Instead, I am sitting in my car with my partner, in the middle of the woods, in the middle of the night.
“She was totally dead behind the eyes; do you know what I mean? Vacant… void of life—void of anything.”
Kellan nods, but says nothing. He’s good at that. Listening when he should, speaking when he should. A rare quality in a man.
I watch a bat zip past the windshield, a tiny flash of black against the rising moon in the distance. I startle, a jolt of fear slicing through my body. Thankfully Banjo doesn’t notice the tiny little devil-creature.
I continue. “I said, ‘Aunt Jenny, you scared me. What are you doing?’ And she frowned as if she were confused. That’s when I realized she didn’t recognize me.”
Bored with me now, Banjo slips onto the floorboard, rests his head on the console, requesting a scratch from Kellan.
“What did you do?” Kellan asks, scratching between Banjo’s ears.
“I recalled what her doctor told me to do—to avoid asking if she knows who I am, and instead, to revert to routine and act like everything is normal. I’m supposed to understand that this can be very stressful for her, too, not recognizing the person she’s with.” I take a deep breath. “So, I tried to be as calm and cool as possible. I made breakfast, casually talking about the weather, current events, family, anything I could think of to spark her memory.”
Kellan shakes his head then moves to scratch Banjo’s other ear.
“She watched me closely the entire time and I could tell her mind was racing. About an hour later, she seemed to calm and she called me by my name.”
“Did you report it?”
“Yes, to April, the nurse that picks her up every morning and takes her to the nursing home for the day. She’s new. Took Inez’s place.”
“And what did April say?”
“That I did good, did what I was supposed to do, and that she’d have the doctor call me about adjusting Jenny’s medication, which he did, and we’re increasing her dosage.”
“Good. How was Aunt Jenny when they dropped her off this afternoon?”
“Her normal, happy self.” I snort. “She told me my hair was too dark.”
Kellan grins. “She tells you that every day.”
“She sure does.” I grab a strand that had escaped the ponytail and examine the end. My hair was blonde as a child, which is what I assume my aunt is remembering. “Anyway, she went to sleep at seven and then I left at eleven-thirty tonight to respond to the Kaing homicide. I’m hoping she’s still asleep; I’m sure she is. She usually sleeps through the night.”
Yes, I’ve omitted much from this update, namely how my husband came home drunk, how he thinks I’m a dried-up hag, how I think he’s having an affair, and also that he shattered a glass against the wall.
