Daddy watched her go for a moment and then turned to me, a little suspicious. “How was your day at school, Semantha?”
“It was good, Daddy. No problems.”
“I’m sure there won’t be any more. I’ve got to run back to the office for a few hours. Help Mrs. Bledsoe with anything she needs, will you, honey?”
“Okay, Daddy. I’ll just go put my school things away and change. I’ll be right down, Mrs. Bledsoe.”
She nodded and smiled at me, and I followed Cassie up the stairs. She was waiting for me at the top with her shoulders drawn up, which always made it seem as if her head and neck were sinking into her body. One look at her face, and I could see immediately that she was even more enraged, angrier, than I could ever remember. She wagged her head and smirked at me.
“I heard you. ‘Okay, Daddy. I’ll be right down, Mrs. Bledsoe,’” she imitated. “How nauseatingly sweet.”
“What should I have said, Cassie?”
She turned away, started toward her room, and stopped. “Why did he bring her here? We don’t need her. I can do everything for Mother. I was doing it before, wasn’t I? Now we have a stranger right in the middle of our personal lives and personal business, a stranger in a Heavenstone home. Bledsoe. Her name is quite appropriate, don’t you think?”
“Why?”
“Bledsoe … bled … Mother hemorrhaged. She nearly bled to death. Get it?”
“Oh. It’s just a coincidence.”
“There are no coincidences in life. Everything has a purpose, a reason. She won’t be good for Mother and especially not good for us. Don’t be so nice to her. Once she sees how unwelcome she is, she’ll leave.”
“But Daddy wants her here, Cassie.”
“He’s … just being overly cautious now. It’s absolutely the wrong tactic. He’s still babying Mother. She won’t get stronger if she has a crutch like that hanging around.”
“He’ll be upset at us,” I warned.
She thought a moment and then smiled. “You’re right. Forget what I just said. You can be nice to her. Don’t worry. Just follow my lead,” she said, and went to her room.
Forget what she just said? I had no idea what she meant by following her lead. Confused, I went to my room to change. Afterward, I wondered if I should go down to see what Mrs. Bledsoe needed, as I had promised Daddy, or wait for Cassie. What did Cassie want me to do? I stepped out of my room and looked across the hallway. Her door was open. I went to it, expecting to see her, but she wasn’t there. She wasn’t in her bathroom, either.
When I came out and started toward the stairway, I heard a door open and close and saw Cassie come out of the guest room Mrs. Bledsoe was using.
“What were you doing in there?” I asked.
She looked at Mother’s bedroom door and brought her finger to her lips, waiting to get closer to me before whispering, “I wanted to be sure everything was all right with the guest room. Daddy just assigned her the room without checking to be sure she has everything she needs in the bathroom. We haven’t had anyone use that room for some time.”
“Oh,” I said, surprised that she was concerned for Mrs. Bledsoe now.
She saw it in my face. “This is the Heavenstone house, Semantha. We don’t run a third-rate boardinghouse.”
“I know.” I looked toward Mother’s bedroom.
“I checked on her. Don’t worry.”
“She was awake?”
“She was for an instant but fell back to sleep.”
“I thought we weren’t supposed to go in.”
“No one tells me when I can and can’t see my mother. She’s groggy, so for now, we’ll let her sleep. Let’s go down and see what we can do to help Mrs. Bledsoe in the kitchen,” she said.
“Help?” I wanted to be sure I heard right, that Cassie really did have a change of heart and maybe was beginning to see things Daddy’s way.
She paused and turned back to me. “There are ways to help, and there are ways to help, Semantha,” she replied, and continued to the stairway.
What did that mean? Why must Cassie speak in riddles? I followed her down. Mrs. Bledsoe was in the kitchen, obviously searching for things. She was squatting by one of the lower cabinets and was taken by surprise when she turned and saw Cassie and me standing in the doorway, watching her silently. It flustered her for a moment, and she dropped a pan.
“Oh.”
“Let us help you, Mrs. Bledsoe,” Cassie said in a sweet, soft change of voice that surely would make anyone wonder if she was schizophrenic. “I’m sorry we got off on the wrong foot before. We do want to be cooperative for Mother’s sake.”
“Oh, thank you, dear. I was looking for a blender.”
Cassie nodded to me, and I stepped into the kitchen and retrieved the blender from one of the lower cabinets.
“What are you blending?” Cassie asked.
“I have this nutritional supplement I give all my patients who need to be built up. Anemia can be so devastating. Your mother told me she’s fond of apple juice, so I’ll blend it with that. I’d like her to have the supplements between meals. Perhaps in a day or so, we’ll get her moving about. I’m sure she’ll be fine in a week’s time.”
“Perhaps sooner,” Cassie said.
“We’ll see.”
“I’m going to prepare one of Daddy’s favorite meals,” Cassie continued. “It’s a meat loaf. I’m sure you would agree that Mother could use some meat.”
“Maybe in a day or so. I’d prefer she eats a lighter meal for her first day back,” Mrs. Bledsoe said. “I’m just going to give her some eggs and toast tonight.”
“Eggs. Okay. She likes the way I scramble them. I use just the right amount of milk and cheese and …”
“We’ll see,” Mrs. Bledsoe interrupted, and began to blend her supplement with the apple juice.
Cassie went over to look at the canister of powder. She read the ingredients. “It does have many good things in it. Maybe we should all take this. Do you, Mrs. Bledsoe?”
“Not regularly now. I do take vitamin supplements, however. Don’t you girls?”
“Oh, we eat really well here, Mrs. Bledsoe.”
“Nutrition is a science,” she replied, “and is especially important when someone is run-down, someone like your mother.”
“Then we’re lucky we have you,” Cassie said. If a smile could poison someone, Cassie’s could, I thought. Mrs. Bledsoe just nodded and continued preparing her nutritional drink.
Cassie turned to me. “Help me prepare dinner,” she said, and started to gather the ingredients for her meat loaf. She kept an eye on Mrs. Bledsoe as she worked and assigned different tasks to me.
As soon as Mrs. Bledsoe left with the drink for Mother, Cassie pounced. “You see? You see how bad this woman will be for Mother? Here I tell her I can make the eggs the way Mother likes them and she hesitates. She wants to be in complete control. ‘Nutrition is a science,’” she said bitterly. “I know the type. She lords it over poor, unfortunate sick people who can’t put up any resistance and whose loved ones are terrified of disagreeing with her. Mother won’t improve at all under her care.”
“Maybe she’ll change her mind about your preparing the eggs,” I suggested.
“The eggs? It’s not just the eggs! It’s the whole situation, Semantha. Christmas trees,” she muttered, and returned to her preparations for dinner, working in silence.
“You girls can go up to see your mother any time you’d like now. She’s awake,” Mrs. Bledsoe told us on her return.
“Thank you,” Cassie said, not in any way revealing that she had already seen Mother. She nodded at me, and we left the kitchen and went up to Mother and Daddy’s bedroom.
I hurried ahead to Mother’s bedside. She smiled up at me, and I quickly kissed her. Cassie did the same.
“How are you girls?” she asked.
“We’re fine,” I said. “But we missed you.”
“I know, dear. I’m sorry.”
“It wasn’t y
our fault,” I quickly told her.
She looked at Cassie. “Were you here before, Cassie?”
“Yes, but you were asleep.”
“I thought it was a dream.”
Cassie looked at me, raised her eyebrows, and then sat on the bed. “Do you think that maybe you came home too soon, Mother?”
“I don’t know. I couldn’t stay there anymore. I could see what the nurses and the nurses’ aides were thinking every time they looked at me. To go so long toward term and then lose your baby … I was drowning in their pity.”
“Daddy didn’t have to hire this nurse. I can take care of you quite well, Mother,” Cassie said.
“I’m sure you can, but I don’t want you missing any more school on account of me.”
“I’m wasting my time there, anyway. I should be taking college courses, and you know it.”
“Yes,” Mother said. “My brilliant daughter. I’m proud of both of you. You’ve been taking good care of your father and the house.”
“You’ll be up and around in no time, Mother,” I told her.
Cassie nodded at the drink Mrs. Bledsoe had brought. There was still quite a bit left. “You don’t really like that stuff she prepared for you, do you?”
“It’s okay. I’m just … just still a little tired and have little appetite.”
“Well, even though she’s here, I’ll be nearby if you need me, Mother,” Cassie said. She leaned toward her and whispered, “If you want something to eat that she won’t give you, just let me know, and I’ll see that you get it.”
“Thank you, dear.”
“I’m preparing that meat loaf you make, just the way you make it. Daddy loves it.”
“That’s very nice, Cassie. It helps me to know you’re so competent and can take my place.”
“No one can take your place, Mother,” I said sharply, even with a little hysteria in my voice.
“I know, dear. I was just referring to now, when I’m still unable to fulfill my duties.”
“You will soon,” I insisted.
“I’ve got to get back to work,” Cassie said, standing quickly. “That nurse insists on preparing you some eggs. I know you would prefer the meat loaf.”
“It’s all right for now, Cassie. I don’t think I’ll even eat much of the eggs.”
“Not if she insists on making them,” Cassie muttered, and started out. She paused at the door and looked at me. “Are you coming to help, Semantha?”
I got up from the bed reluctantly. “I’ll be back up to see you as soon as we’re finished,” I promised.
Mother nodded and closed her eyes. I stood there a moment, fighting back tears. I hated to see her so weak and tired and defeated.
“Semantha,” Cassie whispered.
I turned and hurried out after her. “She still looks so sick,” I said.
“No kidding,” Cassie muttered, and hurried down the stairs.
Mrs. Bledsoe was starting up. “I’m just going to check her blood pressure,” she said.
Cassie flashed a smile mask and continued to the kitchen. She worked silently, but by the way she kneaded the meat and mixed in the ingredients she had me prepare, I could see that the anger was still boiling in her. I thought I would try to get her to be more reasonable.
“Now that we see how things are, isn’t it good that Mother has a professional nurse, Cassie? As Daddy would say, she’s still not out of the woods.”
She didn’t answer. I could see that she didn’t even hear me. She was so deep into her own thoughts that the house could explode around her and she wouldn’t know it. She didn’t come out of it until Daddy arrived. He was very anxious about Mother.
“How’s it going?” he asked Cassie.
“Fine. I’ve made your favorite meat loaf.”
“I meant, how’s your mother doing?”
“She’s still very weak, Daddy. I do hope Mrs. Bledsoe’s supplements and care get her on her feet quickly, although Mother didn’t like the drink and hardly drank it. She made her some eggs and toast and brought it up to her just now. She wouldn’t let me make it, so I don’t know how Mother will receive it. You know how Mother hates the gushers in the eggs. I take my time removing any and …”
He nodded, smiled at me, and hurried up the stairs.
“Let’s set the table,” she told me sharply. Then she paused and smiled. “Don’t forget to put out a place for Mrs. Bledsoe.”
As it turned out, Daddy wanted to have his dinner upstairs with Mother. Cassie carried his tray up to him. I knew she wasn’t going to be happy with our having to eat dinner only with Mrs. Bledsoe, but she wasn’t unpleasant. She asked the nurse many questions about herself, where she grew up, where she went to college. She wanted to know if she had always been a private-duty nurse and what other work she had done. I thought Mrs. Bledsoe would be upset with Cassie’s rapid-fire questions, but she calmly responded to everything.
Finally, Cassie changed the subject. “I know my mother is recuperating from a physical shock to her body, but don’t you think she’s in a deep depression?” Cassie asked.
“Oh, I think she’ll come out of it once her health returns. Life is full of disappointments. We’re all more resilient than we think, but we need to be healthy.”
“That’s encouraging,” Cassie said, glancing at me. She turned back to Mrs. Bledsoe and said, “I guess we are lucky having you here, Mrs. Bledsoe.”
I didn’t speak. I didn’t trust the way she was behaving. I kept expecting the floor to collapse under us.
Mrs. Bledsoe complimented her on the meat loaf. She ate every morsel.
“Would you like some more, Mrs. Bledsoe?” Cassie asked. “I can get you a little more.” Before Mrs. Bledsoe could respond, she took her plate and started for the kitchen.
“I really don’t—”
“Oh, please. It pleases me so much when people enjoy the food I prepare,” she said.
“Well … just a little.”
Cassie smiled and went into the kitchen.
“You sister is quite an accomplished young lady. I understand she is an honor student as well.”
“Yes, straight A’s. She even helps her teachers correct other students’ papers sometimes.”
“I was a good student, too, but not quite that good,” Mrs. Bledsoe said. “What about you?”
“I’m okay. I get mostly B’s. Some C’s,” I admitted.
“You’re both lovely daughters. I can see why your father is so proud.”
Cassie returned with her second helping.
“Oh, that’s too much, dear.”
“Eat what you like, Mrs. Bledsoe. I don’t keep food for leftovers. I like making things fresh every day.”
“Oh.” Mrs. Bledsoe raised her eyebrows and continued to eat. “Wonderful flavor. We get meat loaf in the hospital cafeteria, but it tastes a bit like I imagine cement might taste and sometimes feels like it in your stomach.”
Cassie laughed. I smiled, still amazed at how well we were all getting along now.
Despite Cassie’s insisting, Mrs. Bledsoe didn’t want any dessert and decided to retire to her room, where she said she would watch television until she looked in on Mother. She told us she would check on her a few times during the night.
“How can you possibly get a good night’s rest with so many interruptions?” Cassie asked.
“Oh, you get used to it. It’s not a problem,” she said. “Thank you, girls.” She rose and left.
“She doesn’t seem to be too bad a person,” I said.
Cassie was staring after her. She turned to me slowly, her smiles gone. “Too bad a person? She’s pathetic,” she said.
“What?”
“Would you like her life to be your life? You heard her. She has little or no family, has never been married, has no children, no boyfriend, if you read between the lines. Probably the most exciting thing she’s done is give an enema.” She rose. “I’ll go up and get Daddy’s tray. You clear the table,” she told me.
 
; When she came down, she didn’t look happy.
“What’s wrong? Is Mother all right?”
“She’s the same, but look. Daddy hardly ate. He told me he was just too nervous to have an appetite, and this is his favorite meat loaf. I was so careful to make it just the way he likes it. You saw how much time and effort I put into it.”
“It’s only because he’s worried, Cassie.”
“I knew he shouldn’t have brought her home so quickly. He’s sitting up there watching her every breath. I hate to see him like that.”
“But it made him so happy to bring her home, Cassie.”
“So? It won’t do anyone any good if he gets sick, too, now, will it? He has so much to do this week.”
“She’ll be lots better tomorrow,” I said.
She paused and looked at me with an expression of disgust that made me shudder.
“What?”
“You had better stop deluding yourself, Semantha. Grow up. She’s never going to be the way she was.”
“What?” My lips began to tremble. “Why not?”
“It was too traumatic an experience. It’s not like she cut herself or had a minor rash or something, Semantha. There was something living inside her that died, and that something died for Daddy as well.”
“But Mrs. Bledsoe said people are resilient, and if they are healthy—”
“Mrs. Bledsoe puts Band-Aids on people, Semantha, takes their blood pressure, and dispenses pills. What would she possibly know about this experience? The most important thing that she’s probably lost is her thermometer. I doubt she’s lost her virginity. The faster she’s gone, the better chance we have to bring back some normalcy into this home. As long as she’s here, it smells and feels like a hospital. Daddy will realize that soon. He’s pretty smart. You’ll see.”
I said nothing. I finished my work and then started up to see Mother. Daddy was talking with Mrs. Bledsoe in the hallway. They both turned to me as I approached.
“She drifts in and out,” Daddy said. “Don’t be frightened, honey. It’s all right. She’ll soon be up and around.”