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Felicia sat in a chair by the window in her room, wearing a track suit and covered up with a heavy quilt. Just looking at her made Cody sweat a little more. That was one thing to look forward to about getting old: he wouldn’t feel so overheated.
“Hey, Grandma,” Cody said. “How are you?”
Felicia looked blankly at him a moment. “Hello. Is it dinnertime already?”
“Nope,” Cody said, and pulled a chair up close to sit and reach for her hand. Her skin was thin and soft, and her hand cool. He gently held it to his chest and smiled at her. “I’m your grandson, Cody.”
“Cody?” She frowned, then her expression brightened. “Oh, Cody! I haven’t seen you in years.”
“Well, it’s been a while, but not quite that long.” He looked over to where Demmy hovered by the bed. “Do you remember my friend Demetrius?”
Felicia looked at Demmy, then back at Cody, her expression serious. “He’s been with you a long time.”
Cody smiled over at Demmy as he stroked his grandmother’s hand. “That he has.”
“Hi, Felicia,” Demmy said, coming around the bed. “How are you?”
“I think I’m doing all right.” She gave a little shrug. “What do you think?”
“I think you look beautiful,” Demmy said, standing behind Cody and putting his hands on his shoulders.
“Well, aren’t you a smooth talker?” Felicia said.
“You have no idea,” Cody said, then flinched as Demmy pinched his shoulder.
“Did you see Molly when you came in?”
Cody glanced over his shoulder at Demmy and frowned at the sudden change of topic. “No, I don’t think I know Molly.” He looked back at her. “Is she a new nurse?”
“No, she’s the yoga instructor here,” Felicia explained.
Cody snorted a laugh before he could stop himself. “Yoga?”
“Sure,” she said, pulling her hand back and looking offended. “I can do yoga, you know. I sit in the chair and do everything she does.”
“Well, that’s good,” Cody said. “I’m glad to hear it. So, no downward dog or anything like that?” He flinched at another pinch from Demmy.
“We do arm and leg lifts and bend side to side.”
“That’s great. Did you just finish a class or something? Why did you ask if I’d seen Molly?”
Felicia turned and pointed out the window. “She was just out there singing to me. It sounded so beautiful, I wanted to get up and go out to her, but I couldn’t get my legs to cooperate.”
Cody looked out the window and felt a chill skitter up his spine. Years ago, Nicolae had stood outside his grandmother’s window in silver wolf form. When Cody had gone out to confront him, incorrectly thinking he was armed with a gun loaded with silver bullets, Nicolae had chased Cody through the independent living condo complex, nearly catching him. Now, however, all Cody could see was the bird feeder that kept his grandmother occupied most days, and which needed to be filled, and a row of hedges that gave her some privacy from the parking lot. He knew his grandmother got confused easily, and could very well have dreamed or imagined seeing Molly the yoga instructor for seniors singing to her, but something felt off about it.
“I’m glad she likes you enough to sing to you, but just remember you can’t go wandering around outside, okay? No matter who wants you to leave the building.”
“Oh, you sound just like those nurses.” She waved his concerns away. “Where’s your brother been?”
Another mental whiplash as he tried to follow her train of thought, and he was cautiously happy she had remembered Dave had moved back to town. “Dave’s been busy with work.”
“David? I was talking about Roman. He hasn’t come to see me lately.”
They spent thirty more minutes with Felicia, talking about each of Cody’s brothers as well as his parents. He had to repeat his updates an average of five times, and Felicia repeatedly asked the same questions, but all in all, Cody was glad he’d stopped to see her. She had always been a bit of a firecracker, and he was glad to see she still had some spark left, though it was definitely dimming.
He got up and bent over to kiss her cheek. “I’ll come see you again soon, okay Grandma?”
“All right. And you tell David he’s overdue for a visit as well.”
