CHAPTER 6

When Sunday morning rolled around, I woke up and smiled, remembering today was the day I was going to finally get to visit Charlotte!

Right after church, Grandma packed a lunch for Granddaddy, Daddy, and me to take with us on our trip. She claimed she had too many chores to join us, but I suspected she didn’t like being in a car for that long.

There’s one main road that runs between the farm and the hospital. Granddaddy warned it wasn’t just a stone’s throw away, the distance he gives most things, but even knowing that, it seemed like we were never going to get there.

I watched out my car window, seeing leaves blowing everywhere and thinking how fast the weather had changed from blazin’ hot to downright cool in only a couple of days. Beside me was a brown bag full of Charlotte’s favorite oatmeal cookies, and I tried to picture her eating one.

These days, I would often close my eyes to picture Charlotte doing things. I did that same thing to remember Mama, but each time it got harder and harder, and I wasn’t going to let that happen with my sissy.

I closed my eyes tight and held my breath even tighter, hoping that might make it easier to see her.

It worked! I let my breath out, sounding like I’d sprung a leak.

I still remembered.

But I needed to see my sissy soon. “Are we there yet?”

“Yep. We’re here,” Granddaddy joked. “Don’t ya see Charlotte standing on the side of the road right there?”

I didn’t laugh. “Why is the hospital so far?”

Daddy spoke this time. “Riley Hospital is one of the best in the nation for treating polio. When the county hospital realized that’s what she had, they moved her to Riley, where she can get the best treatment. We’re lucky.”

Lucky isn’t a word I’d use to describe any of this. Still, I could imagine Charlotte saying the same thing. She acted like every day was a wrapped-up present just waiting for her to open and see what was inside.

Finally, the empty, endless road began to show signs of civilization. There was a sign for Indianapolis, and soon we started passing what had to be some of the most beautiful houses I ever did see.

And then I saw the sign saying “Riley Hospital for Children.” It was the prettiest building yet. If I didn’t know better, I’d think it was a castle, covered in more windows than I’d ever seen in my life.

Daddy parked the car and told Granddaddy and me to have our lunch while he went in to talk to the nurses.

I had just swallowed my last bite of fried chicken when Daddy came back with a look on his face that couldn’t hide how upset he was. Truth be told, Daddy’s never been able to hide it when he’s not happy. And since Mama died, that’s pretty near every day.

“What’s wrong, Daddy?” I asked.

“I guess . . . Charlotte’s not up for visitors just yet.”

I gasped. “So we drove all this way and can’t see her?”

Daddy tried to smile. “No—I mean . . . yes . . . we can see her—just not face-to-face. We’re going to go over by the Family Center area, where there’s floor-to-ceiling windows. We have to stay outside, but we can at least wave at her through the window. Won’t that be nice?” His voice cracked a bit when he said that.

Waving at Charlotte through a window wasn’t at all what I’d been dreaming of, and it sure didn’t sound like much of a reunion. The thought of one more day of not being with my sissy made my eyes sting. But blinking those tears away, I reminded myself I was closer to my sissy than I had been for a long time. I took a little bit of comfort in that.

We walked over to an area full of empty benches and sat down. Then we stared up at the long window like we were in a movie theater, waiting for a picture show to start. ’Course, lately all the movie theaters had closed down, because everybody was worried about getting polio. Some people say you get it from dark places like the theater, but that’s not where Charlotte got her polio. Some people say you can’t know for certain where anybody catches it, but I do.

I know exactly where Charlotte got it. And I know exactly whose fault it is.

Just as I was stewing in my thoughts, a gust of wind blew on my legs, making me wish I had on my overalls instead of my church dress. But before I could rub my goose bumps away, a nurse in a white uniform and a white cap appeared at the window. She waved to us and then gestured at someone else coming into the room.

And then I saw her. I saw Charlotte!

She sat in a wheelchair with her yellow hair pulled back off her face, and was wearing a sweater and a blanket over her lap. She waved at us, and I leaped off the bench and waved back, with both my arms over my head. Then I jumped up and down for her, and even somersaulted in the grass. I heard Granddaddy chuckle and imagined Charlotte chuckling too.

Then I stopped and really looked at her. My sissy. My Charlotte.

She looked at me and raised her hand to the glass and rested it there.

How could she be so close to me but feel so far away?

I reached out my hand like there was even a smidge of a chance I could feel her palm. I don’t know how long I stood there like that, but my arm was getting stiff when I heard Daddy announce, “We probably should be headin’ back.”

After blowing more kisses than I could count and catching a couple kisses that Charlotte managed to blow, we got back in the car.

“Wait—we can’t go!” I yelled.

“Pixie, it’s no use.” Granddaddy sounded sad when he spoke. “We can’t be with her today, no matter how much we want to.”

“Not that.” I shook my head as I held up the brown bag. “We forgot her cookies.”

Daddy nodded. “Can’t forget the best medicine, can we?” He took the bag and headed back into the hospital while me and Granddaddy waited in the car, pretending our sniffling was only due to the cold weather.