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I glanced over at Nora, who looked exhausted. I didn’t have just me to think about. So I nodded. “Can I make sure you have both our numbers in case anything changes?”
“Of course.” The nurse walked over to a white board and picked up a marker. “You can write them right up here, so it’s easy for whoever is on duty to call if they need you or if there’s any change. I’ll also make sure your numbers are in our computer system.”
“Thank you.”
Nora had come in the ambulance, so we called an Uber since neither of us had a car. The sun was coming up as we wound our way up the Smoky Mountains. I’d never given the name much thought, but the haze of thick, bluish fog below made it self-explanatory. Shades of purple and orange rose above through the peaks of mountains.
“Wow.” I stared out. “It’s beautiful.”
“We got up to watch the sunrise the last two days.” Nora swallowed. “I’m really glad we did that now.”
It was hard to think there might be a sunrise in the future without my grandmother around to see it. My throat swelled with emotion as I realized that reality might arrive sooner rather than later. Nora and I stayed silent, each staring out our windows until we slowed at a plateau and a hotel came into sight.
“This is us,” she said. “Louise and I always get two room keys and give each other one, for backup. So I have her key, if you want to stay in her room.”
“I think I’ll see if they have anything available. That way if she gets…” Realizing what I’d said, I stopped myself. “When.Whenshe gets out, everything is how she left it.”
Nora forced a smile and nodded.
The hotel turned out to be pretty empty, so they had plenty of rooms available. The clerk remembered Nora’s name and set me up with a room right next door. We walked from the elevator with a gloomy feeling following us.
When we arrived at Nora’s room, she stopped at the door. “What time do you want to go back to the hospital?”
“Why don’t you get some sleep? I’ll go back in a few hours by myself, and you can come when you wake up.”
She shook her head. “No, I really want to go.”
I looked at my watch. “How about ten? That’ll give us about four hours.”
“That’s good.” She looked me up and down. “I’d say I would lend you a shirt or something, but I don’t think anything of mine would fit you.”
I shrugged. “The lady at the desk said there was a toiletry kit in the room. That’s all I need.”
“Okay. Well, you know where I am if you think of anything.”
I nodded. “Get some sleep.”
The door to my room was almost shut when I heard Nora yell. “Wait! Beck!”
I stepped back into the hallway. “Yeah?”
Nora smiled sweetly. “I didn’t say happy birthday. I suppose now it’s happy belated birthday. Your grandmother told me, and I had planned to text you, but then things went awry.”
“Thank you. I’ll see you in a few hours.”
When we were at the hospital, I’d thought I would be too wired to sleep, but one look at the big bed, and I let out a giant yawn—though I needed a quick shower before I could get in. So I peeled off the suit I’d been wearing since yesterday morning and laid the pieces over the back of the chair in the corner. I was in and out in less than five minutes and just needed to brush my teeth. But when I dug back into the complimentary toiletry bag, I realized there was no toothpaste, just a toothbrush. I debated sayingfuck it, but I’d had too many cups of coffee to count, and it would drive me nuts.
Nora’s room wasn’t only next door, there was an adjoining door. So I put on the hotel robe and walked over to listen to see if I could tell whether she was still up. There was definitely movement, and I thought the TV might be on too. So I knocked lightly.
“Beck?” It sounded like she was standing right on the other side of the door. “Was that you knocking?”
“Yeah. Sorry. Could I borrow some toothpaste?”
“Oh, sure. Hang on.”
The door opened, and she held out her hand with a tube of Crest, her eyes pointed to the floor. I went to take it, but it struck me as odd that she hadn’t raised her head.
“Nora?”
