Tales of the City 07 - Michael Tolliver Lives

way?”
    “Where’s my what?”
    “Husband.”
    “Oh…back in the hotel. He’s having a gym day.”
    “Well, that’s good…I mean, a good thing to do.”
    “He’s kind of a…you know…straight-ahead guy, but…I’m really happy with him, Mouse.”
    I nodded. “You seem to be.”
    “And guess what…we were married the same week you were.”
    Now I was the one playing Shirley Temple. “How did you know when Ben and I were…? Oh, right…the news.”
    “Isn’t that amazing? It’s not like we could have planned it.”
    “No…you’re right. We couldn’t have.”
    There was a melancholy note in my reply, but she didn’t seem to notice. She just kept chattering away cheerfully—almost hysterically.
    “And Robbie is the sweetest kid. He’s already certified as an EMT, and he’ll be driving the ambulance next year. And I like being a mom, you know…even at this advanced age. There’s something wonderful about passing on what you know to someone younger…even if it’s dumb stuff they have no use for whatsoever.”
    As you might imagine, I was thinking of Ben now, but Mary Ann was already in the process of shifting gears. “I know you all hated me after I left…and you had every right to, Mouse, but I just couldn’t keep—”
    “Look, Mary Ann, there’s no point in—”
    “Yes there is. There is a point. Brian and I weren’t right for each other, and both of us knew it, and…I couldn’t keep pretending that everything was fine. I made it about my career…and to some extent it was…but I just couldn’t do it anymore. And I knew he’d always have Shawna. I knew he wouldn’t be alone.”
    “He hasn’t been,” I said quietly.
    “And there was something else I couldn’t admit…even to myself: you were gonna die, Mouse, and I couldn’t…this is so awful….” She was pressing her fingertips under her eyes, the way well-bred ladies do to stop their tears. “I couldn’t bear the thought of watching you die the way Jon did. I couldn’t do that again. Not with you, Mouse. I couldn’t bear the thought of…that horror.”
    “It’s okay,” I said softly. “I didn’t much care for it myself.”
    Her laughter came in a short violent burst, and that set free her tears. I rose from my chair and joined her on the sofa, collecting her in my arms while she sobbed. She felt so tiny there and her hair smelled clean and lemony.
    “Get it out,” I told her. “We’ve got a celebration to attend.”

    It helped that we were all there for Anna. Brian and Shawna (and Mary Ann, for that matter) were largely relieved of the problem of finding something meaningful to say at their reunion. The afternoon was strictly about Anna, so there was only a brief exchange of hugs in the lobby and a heartbreaking moment—well, heartbreaking to me—when, on our way down the hallway, Mary Ann touched Shawna’s back and complimented her on her black onyx earrings. Brian, for the most part, remained stoic throughout, handling the other introductions—Ben and Jake and the flatmates—with surprising grace. He could pull it together when he wanted to.
    Marguerite, as usual, provided the update:
    “She’s off the respirator,” she told us.
    I knew what that had meant in my mother’s case, so I wasn’t sure how to react. Was there cause for celebration or…cause for another type of celebration?
    “What does that mean?” asked Shawna.
    “She woke up briefly this morning and just yanked it off when the doctors weren’t here. She’s been sleeping without it.”
    I was frowning now. “And the doctors said that’s okay?”
    “Absolutely,” said Selina. “Her vital signs are definitely improving.” It was the longest phrase I’d heard her speak since Anna had been at the hospital, but there was something about her certainty that sounded wishful and forced.
    “Is she able to talk?” asked Mary Ann.
    “Just in her sleep,” said Jake. “It’s not makin’ a lotta sense.”
    “Like what?” asked Brian.
    “You know,” said Selina, obviously putting on a brave face. “The way anybody sounds when they talk in their sleep.”
    Mary Ann nodded soberly, casting her eyes at Brian and Shawna.
    Ben moved next to me and slipped his arm around my waist with a small but significant smile. He seemed to be telling me that we weren’t out of the woods yet.
    Brain damage is what I was thinking.

    All seven of us were in Anna’s room now. Her bed was no longer flat, but she was fast asleep.