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“Great.” Maybe helping Carolina would make his worthless feeling disappear.
* * *
CAROLINA WAS STILL smiling from Sage’s goodbye kiss as she entered the hospital. But it slipped a little. Sage had asked again why seeing Dolley had upset her. She’d lied and said she was worried about her mother.
She hated lying to Sage.
Up on her mother’s floor, she waved at the nurses at the nursing station. Teri, one of Mamá’s nurses, beckoned her over.
“Is Mamá all right?”
“She’s having a tough day,” Teri said. “Try to keep her calm.”
She clutched the edge of the counter. “Did she have a seizure?”
“No. But she complained the light was going strange. That’s sometimes a precursor to a seizure.” Teri patted Carolina’s clenched fist. “She was due for her meds, so that seemed to stop it. But they’re still trying to regulate her dosage.”
“I’ll try not to upset her.”
This wasn’t the time to tell Mamá she was going to sing at the restaurant. And no way would she tell her mother that she’d met another Fitzgerald. She shivered. Dolley thought she looked like a cousin on her father’s side of the family? Carolina had cousins in addition to her half sisters. People she’d never met.
She pushed through the door. Mamá was flipping through People magazine, while the television played in the background. Her pink dressing gown was a nice contrast to her rich, dark hair.
“You look so pretty.” Carolina kissed her cheek. The flowers she’d bought a few days ago looked sad and tired.
“I don’t look pretty.” Her mother tossed the magazine and it slid to the floor. She pointed to a black mark behind her ear. “They tattooed me!”
Carolina came closer. “It’s not that big. Your hair will hide it.”
“You should have been there. They made me lie on the table. Permanent tattoos.” Her mother’s hands waved around. “I wore a mask and couldn’t move. It was horrible. And I can’t dye my hair. How can they tell me what to do with my hair? It will probably fall out again.”
“Take a deep breath,” Carolina warned.
“I want to leave. I want to walk on the beach.” Mamá picked at the ruffle on her gown. “Why weren’t you with me?”
“I had to work.” Carolina pulled the guest chair over to the bed. It squealed on the floor.
“Stop.” Mamá covered her ears. “It hurts.”
“I’m sorry.” Carolina tried to stay calm, taking her mother’s hand.
Mamá shoved her away. “I don’t want to be here.”
“I know.” Exasperation made her voice shrill. Carolina took a breath, seeking tranquility. They both needed to calm down. What would take her mother’s mind off being in the hospital? “I’m… I’m going to sing at the restaurant.”
Her mother looked at Carolina. “Sing?”
Carolina cringed. She hadn’t planned on saying anything. “We’re still working out the details.”
“For the Fitzgeralds?” Mamá spat the name out like it was poison.
“I’ll make more money.” And she was living free in the apartment—not that Mamá knew that—all because Abby was kind.
“They kept what should have been ours!” Her mother’s hand slapped the sheets. “Where’s my bird?”
The chair squeaked again as Carolina dashed to get the bird off the shelf. “Here.”
“When are you going to bring me something else?” Her mother stroked the bird like it was a puppy.
“I can’t. I work there.” She sat on her mother’s bed and tucked her shaking hands under her legs.
“I deserve something. Bring me something.” Her mother’s blue eyes narrowed. Her voice rose like a grand crescendo. “You said there were more birds. Bring me more birds.”
“That’s stealing.” Carolina lowered her voice, hoping her mother would follow suit.
“They have it all. They have the cuff links I gave your father and my globe. Poppy’s globe.” Mamá picked at her dressing gown. “I want them back. I want my globe back.”
“Please calm down.”
Her mother kept picking at her gown. “Get me something.”
Picking at her clothes led to full-blown seizures. Carolina pushed the call button. “I’ll see what I can do. Please relax. Deep breaths. I’ll… I’ll get you something.”
“Tomorrow.” Her mother inhaled and exhaled, but her fingers worried the ruffle of her dressing gown. “I want what’s mine.”
