“Yes, God, how could we forget him,” Pam said softly. “Anyway, you go, I’m staying home. And before I faint in your room, I’m going back to bed.” She left with the woman looking after her sadly. Pam was going to have to go through Jason’s betrayal alone, and it made them both feel awful, but they couldn’t do anything about it.
When she was out of earshot, Nelda told Bernice about Sandra being at Jeff’s house with Jason. “I never, ever thought she’d stoop so low,” Bernice said. “I feel horrible I took her side at one time. But I wasn’t in my right mind.”
“No, you definitely weren’t.”
“I’d just lost my husband, don’t forget, and then a year later, my son. Of course, none of that matters now. The main thing is that I am kind to Pam and show her respect.”
“You were really a bitch,” Nelda said smugly.
“Don’t rub it in.”
“No, I won’t. I wasn’t exactly Donna Reed,” Nelda replied, resigned.
“Ha! I like that comparison. Oh, what are we going to do now?” she whined.
“I get the feeling my daughter would rather we left her alone. And I’m so grateful not to be in that retirement center, I’ll go on a cruise with you.”
“Oh, goody! Annabelle, get your summer wardrobe ready! We’re going to the Virgin Islands!”
Chapter 4
Monday office hours for Dan meant getting up early and putting on a suit and tie, kissing his wife goodbye and commuting in Long Island traffic to Babylon. Lisa had taken her time that morning, enjoying the early hours before Daniela arrived, changing diapers and nursing the boys, cuddling with the girls and giving them breakfast. By the time Daniela got to work, the morning rush was off to a good start, and Lisa was glad to hand over the reins. She held on to baby Dan until he fell asleep, making sure the bond was complete between them just in case she had to prove anything in a court of law.
They were anxious waiting for the day Cara had her appointment with the parole board. Unfortunately, she’d been a model prisoner, so there was little cause to hold her in jail. With prison overcrowding, the parole board relaxed their criteria for freeing prisoners. Dan told Lisa he hadn’t seen Cara, but she couldn’t be sure he wasn’t lying. Their attorney said she was contrite and remorseful and wanted to see the baby. If she did get paroled, the plan was they would fight to make sure the only visitation was supervised.
After a week in the house with Dan underfoot and the weekend from hell with Jason standing Pam up at the altar, Lisa was going to take Dan’s advice and go out for a while, alone. So with everything under control at home, the babies fed and sleeping, Lisa felt safe leaving Daniela in charge for a few hours. Backing out of the driveway, she felt like she was a teenager skipping school, the sense of freedom was so strong. Glancing at her reflection in the rearview mirror, she looked young and lovely and felt free and happy. But where to go? She didn’t feel like shopping and didn’t need a thing. Driving down the main street of town, there were several cafés with outdoor tables, so she took the first parking spot she came across. Grabbing her handbag, she walked along without a care in the world. No one looking at her would guess she had four kids at home. There was a table near the door of the café. Looking around timidly, she guessed it was free for the taking, so she sat down. A menu taped to the window behind her offered a tempting selection of baked goods. Her body producing milk for two nursing babies, she didn’t deny herself, ordering an almond pastry and a large coffee with mocha syrup, cream and sugar. The server brought her food over, saying she’d made a good choice; it was their most popular Danish. Biting in, the crust was flaky, the filling sugary and resplendent with ground up almonds. It was pure heaven.
The streets were empty, it was Monday morning and most people were at work or recovering from the weekend, but there was enough traffic to make for interesting people watching. Something about the holiday feeling of the street made her think of Ed. She remembered before the responsibilities of fatherhood unsettled him, how much fun they would have together. He was like a child in that way, just wanting to enjoy life. Dan came to mind and she shuddered, remembering the first time they had sex; he grabbed her, his lips on her neck while he thrust into her.
Getting out her phone, she dialed his number. “You okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine. I’m in town having coffee on the sidewalk and I thought of you.”
“Well isn’t that nice. If I didn’t have clients, I’d come back to Smithtown and sit with you. It sounds very relaxing.”
“It is. Anyway, I won’t keep you. Just wanted to hear your voice.” They said good-bye and hung up, Lisa smiling. She paid her bill and walked to the car when her phone buzzed; it was Daniela.
“Hi, I’m just leaving to come home.”
“Okay, no worries then,” Daniela said, anxiety in her voice apparent. “Miranda’s sick but if you’re on your way, then everything is good.”
“What’s wrong with her?” Lisa stopped, frightened.
“She’s complaining of a stomach ache. She had a bout of diarrhea, so I gave her a banana. She’s not throwing up.”
“Okay, well maybe she has a bug. I’m on the way home.” The drug cabinet was full of remedies for childhood ailments, but she decided to stop at the grocery store for ginger ale and popsicles. Her phone rang again when she was standing in the checkout line, paying for the few items.
“Please, hurry home. I think she just had a seizure,” Daniela said. Feeling like someone had thrown hot water on her; Lisa grabbed her groceries and ran out of the store. By the time she was home, Daniela was frantic. Miranda was unconscious, laying on the floor with a blanket over her. Marcus was screaming in the background and Daniela was holding on to Megan, who wasn’t too happy either.
“Call 9-1-1,” Lisa said, trying to stay calm as she fell to her knees to make sure Miranda was breathing and her heart was beating. Getting out her phone, she hit the call button for Dan’s number. His receptionist Donna answered, and Lisa cried into the phone.
“Ask him to come home right away, please! Tell him Miranda is unconscious.” Donna said she’d tell him and hung up. Lisa started to work on Miranda to get her to wake up, remembering once reading that allowing someone to stay in that state was dangerous.
“Come on baby, wake up,” she said, patting her cheek. Miranda was such a frail little thing, they tried to get both girls to eat more but it was a lost cause. Lisa could see her Aunt Marie in Miranda, her delicate features and pale skin and eyes. She drew the child to her, holding her, rocking her, singing a favorite nursery rhyme.
“Little one so sweet and gentle, a tiny bird flies close by, singing a song of love, hold him closely, tenderly.”
She looked up at Daniela, who was holding tightly to Megan, a stray tear running down her face. “What happened?” Lisa asked gently.
“After I called you the first time, she seemed fine. But then she didn’t. She was stumbling around, so I got her to sit on the floor while I was trying to get the other’s settled. Then she started to shake. She leaned on me, shivering. Not violent or anything, but she didn’t respond when I asked her if she was okay, then she fell back and that was it.” The screaming of the siren in the distance announced the arrival of the ambulance.
Daniela held the door open for the squad who surrounded Lisa and Miranda. The lead technician squatted down and gently took Miranda from Lisa’s grasp, talking to her the entire time, asking questions while he examined her. Someone put an oxygen mask on her and another started an IV in the back of her hand.
It wasn’t until it was time to leave that Lisa broke down. Daniela was in no condition to be left alone again. “I have two babies and a toddler; I can’t go until my husband gets home.” They understood, telling her not to worry, they would take Miranda to the local hospital and she could get there as soon as she could. In the meantime, they’d communicate with her by phone to get permission to do anything they might need to do.
“I’ll go with her,” Daniela said.
“Thank you so much,” Lisa said, taking Megan from her. Daniela left and Lisa locked the door and put Megan down to get Dan Junior, who was yodeling. She called Pam next, crying into the phone while trying to nurse the baby.
“Mother I don’t know what’s wrong with her. Dan’s on his way home and then I can go to be with her. Could you or noni come and help out while I’m gone?”
“I’ll send my mother over and meet you at the hospital,” Pam said.
Hanging up, Pam couldn’t help thinking
there goes my peace
. She’d been holding her breath for four years, worrying about Miranda. Hurrying back to the children’s wing, she knocked on Nelda’s door.
“Come in,” she yelled. Pam went in to find her mother standing on a stool, doing something in the closet.
“Mother get down from there, please. We have a problem.” Nelda came out, dusting her hands off while Pam explained what had happened.
“Oh no, I hope it’s nothing bad,” she said, the two making eye contact but not saying anything out loud and giving negative words power. “Maybe she has what you had yesterday.”
“I’d forgotten all about it. I hope that’s all it is. Can you help Dan with the other children? I’ll go to the hospital with Lisa.”
“Of course,” Nelda said, getting her purse and a sweater, even though it was eighty degrees out.
They drove to Lisa’s house in silence until Nelda asked, “Does Lisa know what Marie died from?” Pam dreaded the question, sad her mother would have to worry about that all over again.
“No. No one did. She had a brain infection that’s all. No one knew the root cause, or if they guessed, they didn’t say anything.”
“I’m scared,” Nelda said, looking straight ahead. Pam grabbed her hand and squeezed.
“Me too, Mother. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I’m not saying a word. Let the doctors work this out, shall we? It might be nothing; the flu, an ear infection.”
“She’s never been sick before.” Pam didn’t respond, forgetting about the other children. What else was there to say?
Pulling into Lisa’s driveway, they saw Dan’s car there already. “Wait here. Lisa can drive with you if she hasn’t left yet.” Nelda got out and quickly went to the door, Dan holding it open for her. He nodded his head in Pam’s direction with a solemn expression on his face and she forced a wave.
Waiting for Lisa, she debated whether to call Sandra and decided against it; she’d never expressed any interest in Miranda since Lisa started taking care of her. But she would call Tom, who was happily married now to Jenna with a baby of his own on the way. Tom stayed in touch, concerned about Miranda. Looking through the A’s in her cell phone contact book, the names she read were like a journal of her life since Jack died and meeting Sandra.
Tom Adams, Brooklyn,
followed by his mother Virginia’s name and his father John and stepmother Gwen in Bayside. They’d been in her life for a short time, friendly, kind people, and she found she missed them. Dialing the number, she wasn’t sure if it was a cell phone or the number from when he and Sandra lived together until he answered, “
Detective Adams.”
“Tom, it’s Pam Smith,” she said. She was never one of Tom’s favorites, but after he and Sandra had broken up, he allowed his resentment of her to dissipate and they were on friendly, even affectionate terms.
“Hi there!” Tom was genuinely pleased to hear from her.
“I only have a second. I wanted you to know Miranda’s just been taken to the hospital.” She explained the circumstances.
“Okay, thank you for telling me. I’ll drive over as soon as possible. My mother might insist on coming and I hope that will be okay.”
“That would be fine,” Pam said, saying goodbye as Lisa dashed down the steps toward the car.
“Daniela just texted and she still unconscious. Mother, what if Daniela hurt her? I’ll never forgive myself.”
“Lisa, stop it. Daniela loves the children. She wouldn’t do anything to hurt them. You know I was sick yesterday. I was with the children Saturday so maybe she's got what I had.” Pam bit her tongue the impulse to tell Lisa the truth about Miranda’s history strong. But she didn’t want to plant that seed in the universe. It would come out in due time if it were the cause. “Tell me everything that happened.” Lisa gave her the details she knew.
“I was wasting the morning sitting in an outdoor café having coffee and in the meantime, Miranda is deathly ill.”
“You need to get out occasionally. It’s just a coincidence she got sick when you were gone.” Pulling up to the hospital as another ambulance arrived, Pam’s anxiety level increased.
“I really hate hospitals,” she said, visibly shaken.
Lisa grabbed her hand. “I do too, Mother. I’m so sorry.” They walked quickly into the facility, standing close, wanting to hold hands. At the reception desk, a secretary told them where to go, a long corridor that lead to a children’s wing. Lisa saw Daniela standing against the wall, waiting, still crying.
“Mrs. Chua, I am so sorry. I hope you don’t think I had anything to do with this.” Lisa grabbed her arms.
“Is she alive?” Lisa said, frantic.
“Yes! Yes, she’s alive.” She lowered her head and started to cry again. Pam patted Daniela’s arm and frowned at Lisa. Her daughter could be brutal.
A woman in a white lab coat walked out of the room. “Who’s the child’s parent?”
“I am,” Lisa said stepping forward. “Do you know what’s wrong with her?”
“I’m Doctor Tang,” she said. “We ran some preliminary blood tests and should have more information soon. Can you tell me anything about her history? Has she had episodes like this before?”
“Nothing,” Lisa said. “She’s been healthy from the start, which is a miracle. Her mother was in a coma for the last weeks of her pregnancy and died a few hours after she was born.” Pam felt so proud of Lisa taking charge, but her heart was bounding, hearing the sad details again.
“Do you know what the cause of the coma was?”
Lisa looked at Pam. “Wasn’t it some kind of brain infection?” Pam nodded her head.
The doctor looked concerned but didn’t inquire further. “If you think of anything else, I’ll be in the ward. Just ask them to page me.” Lisa nodded and the doctor walked away.