Gingerbread Man

any news."
    "I promise," the nurse said. "The second there's any news."
    When Sally left them, they headed to the elevators. No one else was aboard. They rode two floors up, and the doors opened again.
    It was quieter there. A hushed hallway, lights all dimmed. Just a few nurses padding softly up and down the halls with their rubber-soled shoes and white pant-suits. Holly wondered if they wore white because it made them look like angels. So much more soothing to a frightened patient than looking up into the face of a woman dressed in scarlet or purple, she imagined.
    "That's my mom's room." She pointed down the hall to the door marked 317. "She's probably sleeping at this hour. But... Well, we can just peek in at her."
    Amanda nodded, and the two walked softly to the door. Heads close, they looked through the mesh-lined glass. Holly expected to see her mother lying still on the pillow, looking peaceful as she slept.
    It wasn't what she saw. There was a woman curled in the fetal position in the bed. It was not her mother. Her mother was sitting up in the bed, cradling the other woman, stroking her hair as if she were holding a small frightened child.
    Doris looked up and saw Holly in the window. She crooked a finger at her to come in, but added a warning to be quiet by putting that same finger to her lips.
    Nodding, Holly pushed the door open, stepped inside, tugging Amanda along beside her. Holly moved close to the bed, leaned down, and kissed her mother's cheek. Then she touched it. "You've been crying," she said in a whisper.
    Doris's cheeks were tear-stained, eyes red. "Not as much as she has," she said, nodding at the woman who slept in her arms. "God, it's as if she's me, eighteen years ago. I remember this. I remember everything she's feeling. It's like I've gone back in time as an onlooker, as if I'm seeing my own history replay."
    Holly looked down. Amanda did, too. Amanda said, "It's Bethany's mother."
    "Yes. They gave her something, but she just kept crying. I could hear her in the room next door." She shook her head slowly, stroking, stroking. "They couldn't help her. I'm the only one who can help her. Because I know. Because she's me."
    The woman was definitely out cold now. She hadn't even stirred. "Mom, you shouldn't be putting yourself through this." Holly leaned forward, reaching for the call button.
    Her mother's hand closed over hers. "No, Holly. She's staying right here. She needs me. And I need her."
    Holly frowned, not liking this.
    "She's right," Amanda said. "I feel more in control when I'm helping someone else. I was losing ground fast until Uncle Reggie... and you know it's the same for you, Holly. You were falling apart until you noticed that I was in worse shape that you were."
    "That's it exactly," Doris said, smiling gently up at Amanda. "Helping Val through this night is my way of helping myself through it, as well." Then she frowned, searching Holly's face. "Is there any sign... ?"
    "No. Not yet"
    Doris's gaze shifted to Amanda. "Your uncle must be beside himself."
    Amanda lowered her head. "He had a heart attack while the police were questioning him about what happened. He's down in the E.R. right now."
    Doris's brows rose, her lips parted on a soft "Oh," and she opened her arms. Amanda leaned over the bed, accepted the hug, returned it. Doris said, "I know it doesn't seem like it now, child, but you're going to be all right. You will."
    "Sometimes I have trouble believing that," Amanda whispered.
    Holly looked on, until a tapping sound on the door behind her made her turn.
    Vince peered in through the glass. His face was expressionless. Holly opened the door. "What is it?" Beside him a grim-faced man in a dark suit and tan coat stood like a soldier awaiting orders.
    "We need to see Amanda for a sec," Vince said softly. "Can you have her come out?"
    "Is it Reggie?"
    Vince shook his head immediately. "No, we haven't heard a thing about Reg yet. It's something else."
    Holly frowned at him, but he just sent her an appeal with his eyes.
Please.
"Okay. Wait here." She ducked back inside. "Amanda, we have to go. No word on Reggie yet, but we're being summoned anyway."
    Amanda straightened away from the bed, and Holly hurried forward, hugged her mother. "Are you all right, Mom?"
    "Yes. Yes, I am. I'm sorry I fell apart the way I did, honey. I didn't mean to do that to you. How about you, how are you doing through all of this?"
    "Better than I expected I'd be by now. I'm surprising