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“Yes. Everything’s more horrible when it happens to little people.”
She turned away and continued staring at the floor. She had the look of someone who wasn’t hearing or seeing anything, but after another few moments, she turned back to me.
“How is your father? Hurt bad?”
“Banged up, broken arm, and a slight concussion, but he was lucky.”
“He was by himself?”
“No. My stepmother was with him,” I said. “She has severe head injuries. She may not live.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“It wasn’t my father’s fault,” I said. “A truck swiped the side of his car, and he was forced off the road.”
“Oh.”
“But it wasn’t the truck driver’s fault, either.”
She looked at me strangely and then returned to staring ahead.
I looked around to see if Cassie would reappear, but she seemed to be gone. When she had said, “Now there’s nothing to fear,” she made it sound as if she was saying good-bye. Surely, she wanted to be sure that Daddy was really all right, that everything would be. I closed my eyes and rested my head against the wall behind me. The sound of conversations became a low murmur. I felt a tightness in my body loosen until I was very relaxed. Somehow I fell asleep.
I woke when Ethan shook my shoulder.
“Hey,” he said. “You all right?”
For a few seconds, I couldn’t remember where I was. Then it all came crashing back. The woman who had been sitting beside me was gone and replaced by a teenage boy who had a bandage around his head. There was a large bloodstain on the bandage. There seemed to be quite a few more people waiting as well.
“We’re taking your father home now, Semantha. Uncle Perry is getting him into the car. Let’s go,” he urged.
“What about Lucille?” I asked as I stood.
“They won’t do anything until tomorrow, after the doctor your uncle sent for arrives and examines her and evaluates the tests and pictures they’ve taken. Come on.”
He held his arm out for me, and we left the lobby and stepped into the parking lot. A nurse was helping Uncle Perry guide Daddy comfortably into the car.
“Okay,” Uncle Perry said as we approached. “I’ll follow you guys. Dr. Moffet and the nurse should be there when we arrive.”
We got in, and I turned to look at Daddy lying there with a pillow behind his head and a light blanket. His eyes were closed.
“Are you comfortable, Dad?” Ethan asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine. This is unreal,” he said without opening his eyes. “This is a nightmare.”
“That it is,” Ethan said. He started the engine and drove out slowly.
“Maybe it’s all been a nightmare,” I said. I think I was talking mostly to myself. “Maybe I’ll wake up, and Mother will still be alive, and so will Cassie.”
Daddy moaned.
Ethan glanced at him in the rearview mirror and then at me. I thought I could read his thoughts.
Look at this rich and powerful family, broken, in great physical and emotional pain. Money can do only so much for you in this world. It really can’t buy you love, and without love, you can’t have happiness, no matter how big your bank account.
We drove on in silence. Dr. Moffet and the nurse he had brought were waiting for us when we arrived. Uncle Perry was right behind us. While he and Ethan helped get Daddy up to his room, I went to the kitchen to finish cleaning up from our dinner. The De Stagens wouldn’t be back until morning, but I thought I heard Gerad moving about down by his room. I left the kitchen to see. I heard his music, Edith Piaf, and for a moment remembered when Ethan and I had heard her “La Vie en Rose” and vowed to make it our love song. These songs Gerad was playing, however, were different and seemed appropriately sad. I knocked on his door.
“Just a moment, s’il vous plaît,” he said, and opened the door after he had put on his robe. “Ah, yes?”
