CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

Jill

Sunday

 

Jill paused at the threshold, eavesdropping.

“We really need you to get up, Mrs. McCloud.”

“Mom, please. It’s for your own good,” Jocelyn said.

“You can both go to hell,” Ruby said with as much force as her weakened state could muster.

Jill took a deep breath and stepped into the hospital room. “What’s going on?”

“Thank God you’re here. She’s impossible.” Jocelyn’s eyes flashed with relief.

Jill had been delayed at the inn with new reservations, calls from local reporters, and a follow-up phone conversation from none other than 202 himself. He had apologized for his performance, most of it acting, except the requirement of her office. A rewrite, deadline, and crashed computer really had put him at her door that night. Forgetting his wife’s birthday hadn’t been acting either. He offered to pay her for the bracelet, which she politely declined.

Ruby’s nurse, an iron-faced, fiftysomething rock of determination, was not happy. “Your mother must get up, even if just for a few steps, a trip to the bathroom if nothing else. We need to get her blood circulating. There’s a risk of infection and clots if we don’t.”

Jill surveyed the scene. Fee sat in the bedside chair. Jocelyn and the nurse hovered over Ruby, who looked small and opaque with the huge turbanlike bandage swaddling her head and the standard-issue gown bunched loosely over her shoulders. Jill spoke briefly to Keith, who had shadowed her into the room, after which he discreetly exited.

Jill stepped toward the bed, rustling a shopping bag. “Look, Mom, your favorite color.” She pulled a poppy-red housecoat from the tote. She motioned with her hand toward Jocelyn and the nurse. “They didn’t honestly expect you to be seen in that hospital gown?” She reached into the bag again. “And here, a new head scarf.” The scarf was black with big red polka dots. “Your Grace Kelly look. Everyone will think you’re a movie star.”

Ruby lifted her head slightly. “I could have been, you know.”

Jill nodded. “Everyone said so. Dad always claimed you were the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, in real life or on-screen.”

Ruby’s hand went to her throat. “Well, he took an oath to say so, now, didn’t he?”

“But he wasn’t the only one.” Jill stepped toward her mother. “Sit up a little so I can get this on you.” Jill quickly slipped the silky fabric over her mother’s bandaged head and tied an expert bow under her chin. “Why don’t you swing your legs over the bed?” She held the red housecoat over Ruby expectantly. “Let’s see if I got the right size.”

Ruby pushed to a sitting position and slowly eased her legs over the bed. Jocelyn’s eyes flared momentarily, and then she shook her head in amazement.

“That’s good,” Jill said, slipping the cotton robe over her mom’s shoulders. “Here, take my arm.” She nodded to the nurse, who instinctively knew to flank Ruby’s other side. The two of them lifted her to a standing position. “We won’t do too much, Mom,” Jill said. “You’ve been through a lot.” She talked slowly and calmly, as if to a child.

“You’re darn right I have,” Ruby said.

“You’re a fighter, though. Aren’t you?”

“Always have been.”

“If you think you can make it to the bathroom,” Jill said, looking at the nurse’s name tag. “Then Betty here will tell you about all the eligible widowers on the ward.”

“What, the half dead?” Ruby said. “I can do better than that.”

Jill left her in the bathroom with the nurse and stepped back into the hospital room. Jocelyn stood glaring at her with her fists on her hips. “Fuck you,” she said to Jill playfully. “I couldn’t even get her to lift a cheek for the bedpan and you’ve got her signed up with a dating service.”

“Experience. And maybe I borrowed the color thing from you.”

“See,” Jocelyn said. “It works. Hard—cold—science.”

Fee turned to her mother. “Will Booboo be okay? She looks so weak.”

“Don’t worry. I’m going to take care of Booboo,” Jill said. “She’s coming home with me as soon as she can. She’ll still need radiation and chemo, but she’s resilient.” She turned to her sister. “I could use some assistance. How about it, Jocelyn?”

“Wow,” Jocelyn said. “A request for help. This is new.”

“I’m learning,” Jill said. “So?”

“Why not,” Jocelyn said. “L.A.’s great and all, but I’m getting a little tired of all that sunshine.”

“We can definitely guarantee a few rainy days around here,” Jill said.

“And you’re gonna need some help now that you got all that free advertising.” Jocelyn rubbed her chin. “I think we need to offer a few spa services.”

“Color therapy?” Jill asked.

“Among other things.” Jocelyn perched on the arm of Fee’s chair. “And Victor will be glad to hear I’m only a few hours away.”

There was a rap at the door and the three of them looked up to see Keith. “I got some magazines for your mom,” he said, his thumb trailing the corners of a stack of at least five. He hung uneasily in the doorway.

“Well, get your butt in here,” Jocelyn said. “Put them on her nightstand. And fluff her pillow while you’re at it.”

“Jocelyn!” Jill said.

“Oh, please,” Jocelyn replied. “He wants to be useful. He’s practically dripping with it.”

The nurse and Ruby emerged from the bathroom and slowly started making their way toward the bed.

“She’s doing great,” the nurse said. “I can barely keep up.”

“I was always a step ahead,” Ruby said with labored breathing.

The nurse eased her into a reclining position and settled the sheets over her, her scarf and housecoat still intact.

“Maybe that’s what makes the McCloud girls such a great catch,” Jocelyn said, after a small pause. “We don’t make it easy.”

“Ruby Jolene Renard McCloud never had anything easy in her life.” Ruby swatted at some imaginary foe.

“Renard,” Keith said. “Renard was your maiden name? Renard is French for ‘fox.’ ” Aknowing look passed between Keith and Jill.

“I think he’s calling you a foxy lady, Mom,” Jocelyn said. “Careful, Casanova. One of us at a time.”

“I had the looks,” Ruby said.

“You still got ’em,” Jill said.

“Red’s a good color for me.” Ruby straightened her head scarf.

They all agreed. Even Jill. Especially Jill.