“I can carry you,” Nikhil offered again. When she just stared at him blankly, he reassured her. “I had to pick up a body double today to get ready for when the Bronze Shadow pulls the Silver Siren from a train hatch.”
Marley still stared at him with no expression.
“Hey, himbo,” Shayne said. “You stay here. I’ll get her into bed.” Shayne guided her upstairs. The cat followed close behind them.
Nikhilwantedto help, but he was only getting in the way.He went back to the kitchen. He needed to make the tadka, the tempered spices for the daal, anyway.
He was swirling spices and dried chilies in a small pot of ghee when Shayne came back downstairs.
“That smells like heaven.”
“She’s okay?” Nikhil asked.
Shayne crossed his arms. “That’s the third time you’ve asked that. Are you too neurotic to take care of her?”
Nikhil cringed. Maybe he needed to ease up a bit. “She looked like she was in so much pain.”
Shayne nodded. “She is. The painkillers will kick in soon. She’s a lot stronger than she looks.” He headed to the living room. “Traffic was brutal. I need to head to the airport in a half hour. Let me show you her medication chart.”
Marley had been prescribed a cocktail of painkillers, anti-inflammatories, and antibiotics to prevent infection. Shayne showed Nikhil each bottle and marked on the chart when she would need each one. Then he showed Nikhil the drain chart. “She should be able to empty her drains on her own, but she may need help rinsing the bulbs out after measuring the output. You’re not squeamish, are you? It’s kind of gross.”
Nikhil patted his midsection. “Stomach of lead. Will she need help in the… bathroom?”
Shayne snorted. “Probably not. She’s quite mobile, just slow. She’s not allowed a full shower until her drains are out. Her cousin will be here in the morning to help her clean and change.” Shayne handed him a handwritten note with a bunch of phone numbers. “That’s her cousin Reena’s number, plus my grandmother’s, Marley’s other cousin Ruby, and Marley’s mother. Call people in that order if there is an emergency.”
Nikhil nodded, frowning. Why wasn’t Marley’s mother higher on the list?
“I’ll have my phone on me the whole time, so text me whenever.” He handed Nikhil another printed piece of paper. “Here are her post-surgery instructions.” He then handed Nikhil more stapled pieces of paper, these ones with even more writing. “Here is everything you need to know to take care of McQueen. He gets wet food at dinner, and the automatic dispenser gives him dry food in the morning. The last two pages are the instructions for the plants. They’re all named—you can find the names on the bottom of each pot. Make sure you turn Baryshnikov every day.”
Nikhil nodded. This was a lot of information. He hoped he wouldn’t screw up. Shayne then gave Nikhil a tour of the house, including the basement laundry room and the room upstairs that Nikhil would be staying in. Marley’s room was next to Nikhil’s, but the door was mostly closed. Shayne checked his watch when they got back downstairs. “I gotta go.” He looked at Nikhil. “You sure you got this?”
Nikhil nodded. “Yes. I’ll take good care of her.”
Shayne pointed upstairs. “I love that girl more than life itself. Take care of her, Superman.”
“I’m the Bronze Shadow.”
Shayne squeezed Nikhil’s bicep, nodding. “Yes—yes you are.”
“I’ll take care of her. And the cat. And plants.”
After Shayne took his bags and left, Nikhil opened a can of cat food, which made the cat run down the stairs and rub against his legs, meowing. He spooned some food into McQueen’s bowl. Should he check on Marley now? See if she wanted any food? She was probably resting, maybe even sleeping now that she had drugs in her again.
He might as well settle in. Unpack his own things. He took his bag up the stairs to his room. Shayne’s grandmother’s quilting room was small, but there was an empty dresser to put some things in. The furniture, like all the furniture in the house, was straight out of the seventies, and the walls were covered with floral wallpaper. In the rest of the house, Marley and Shayne had clearly added some touches so the decor looked fresh and intentional, but here it just looked old. And cluttered. The closet was filled with plastic bins of fabric, there was a sewing table with two sewing machines on it, and an ironing board was against the wall. The bed was a narrow twin, which was, of course, covered with a multicolored patchwork quilt.
As he was putting his clothes into the empty dresser, he heard a feeble “Hello?” from the room next to his. Marley’s room. He rushed over.
“I’m here. You okay?”
She was on her back on what looked like a dozen pillows. She even had two brightly patterned ones wedged under her arms.
“I can’t reach the TV remote.” She nodded toward the bedside table on the far side of her bed.
Nikhil smiled. He fetched the remote and handed it to her. Marley’s bedroom was bright, with cream walls, a pale wood-framed bed, and a long wood bench at the end of it. Wispy floor-length cream curtains lined one wall, and the flooring was blond wood. It was clearly all new. “I thought you were sleeping.”
“The painkillers make me a little wired.”
“How’s the pain?”
