And that love had killed him. Alex saw tears falling on Grace’s cheeks—her own tears, numberless these past months. She wiped her eyes, then took out her cell phone and called Bill Fennell, who was standing less than thirty feet away.
“What is it?” he asked frantically. “What’s wrong?”
“Jamie should be here.”
“Alex, I told you—”
“You get him, goddamn it. This is his mother lying here.”
There was a long silence. Then Bill said, “I’ll call my sister.”
On impulse, Alex turned and saw him standing near the nurses’ station. He’d been talking to Dr. Andrews. She saw him disengage from the neurologist and lift his cell phone to his cheek. Alex leaned down to Grace’s ear and tried to think of something that would reach the bottom of the dark well where her sister now dwelled.
“Sue-Sue?” she whispered, simultaneously squeezing the cold hand. Sue-Sue was another nickname based on a middle name—a family tradition. “Sue-Sue, it’s KK.”
Grace’s eyes remained shut.
“It’s me, Sue-Sue. It’s KK. I’m back from Sally’s. Wake up, before Mama gets up. I want to go to the carnival.”
Seconds dilated into some unknown measure of time. Memories swirled through Alex’s mind, and her heart began to ache. Grace’s eyes stayed shut.
“Come on, Sue-Sue. I know you’re playing possum. Quit faking.”
Alex felt a twitch in her hand. Adrenaline surged through her, but when she saw the frozen eyelids, she decided that the twitch must have come from her own hand.
“Kuh … kuh,” someone coughed.
Alex turned, thinking it was Bill or Dr. Andrews, but then Grace clenched her hand and let out a sharp cry. When Alex whipped her head around, she saw Grace’s green eyes wide-open. Then Grace blinked. Alex’s heart soared. She leaned down over her sister, because though Grace was only thirty-five, her eyes were almost useless without glasses or contacts.
“KK?” Grace moaned. “Iz zah wu?”
“It’s me, Gracie,” Alex said, rubbing a strand of hair out of her sister’s cloudy eyes.
“Oh, Goth,” Grace said in a guttural voice, and then she began to sob. “Thang Godth.”
Alex had to clench her jaw muscles to keep from sobbing. The right half of Grace’s face was paralyzed, and drool ran down her chin whenever she struggled to speak. She sounded exactly like Uncle T.J., who’d died after a series of strokes left him without a shred of his old identity.
“Wu … wu have tuh thave Jamie,” Grace gargled.
“What? I missed that.”
“Havuh thave Jamie!” Grace repeated, struggling to rise in the bed. She seemed to be trying to look behind Alex.
“Jamie’s fine,” Alex said in a comforting voice. “He’s on his way here.”
Grace shook her head violently. “Wissen! Havuh wissen!”
“I’m listening, Sue-Sue, I promise.”
Grace stared into Alex’s eyes with all the urgency in her soul. “You—have—tuh—thave—Jamie … Gay-Gay. You thuh … onwe … one ooh can.”
“Save Jamie from what?”
“Biw.”
“Bill?” Alex asked, sure she must be wrong in her translation.
With painful effort, Grace nodded.
Alex blinked in astonishment. “What are you talking about? Is Bill hurting Jamie in some way?”
A weak nod. “Ee wiw … thoon ath I’m gone.”
Alex struggled to understand the tortured words. “Hurt Jamie how? Are you talking about some sort of abuse?”
Grace shook her head. “Biw—wiw—kiw—Jamie’s—thole.”
Alex squinted as though trying to decipher some coded text. “Bill … will … kill … Jamie’s … soul?”
Grace’s head sagged in exhaustion.
“Gracie … Bill isn’t my favorite person. You’ve always known that. But he’s been a good father, hasn’t he? He seems like a basically decent man.”
Grace gripped Alex’s hand and shook her head. Then she hissed, “Eeth a monther!”
Alex felt a chill. “He’s a monster? Is that what you said?”
A tear of relief slid down Grace’s paralyzed cheek.
Alex looked at the anguished eyes, then turned and glanced over her shoulder. Bill Fennell was still speaking to Dr. Andrews, but his eyes were on Alex.
“Ith Biw coming?” Grace asked in a terrified voice, trying in vain to twist in the bed.
“No, no. He’s talking to the doctor.”
“Dogtor—duthend—know.”
“Doesn’t know what?”
“Whuh Biw did.”
“What do you mean? What did Bill do?”
Grace suddenly raised her hand and gripped Alex’s blouse, then pulled her head down to her lips. “Ee kiwd me!”
Alex felt as though ice water had been shunted into her veins. She drew back and looked into Grace’s bloodshot eyes. “He killed you? Is that what you said?”
Grace nodded once, her eyes filled with conviction.
“Grace, you don’t know what you’re saying.”
Even with a partially paralyzed face, Grace managed a smile that said, Oh, yes, I do.
“You can’t mean that. Not literally.”
Grace closed her eyes as though gathering herself for one last effort. “You … onwe one … ooh can thop im. Too … wate … fuh me. I urd … dogtuh … out thide. Thave Jamie for me … Gay-Gay. Pleath.”
Alex looked back through the glass wall. Bill was still watching her, and his conversation looked as if it was winding down. Alex had always known Grace’s marriage wasn’t perfect, but what marriage was? Not that Alex was any authority. She had somehow reached the age of thirty without tying the knot. After years of badge groupies and badge bolters, she’d finally accepted a proposal, then terminated the engagement three months later, after discovering that her fiancé was cheating with her best friend. In matters amorous,
