A Friend in Need

We were, of course, under orders not to be late, either, and having a daughter with a watch and who knew how to use it, yeh, like that was going to happen. Over dinner, Jodie told me that she had pocked around YouTube while she was cooking, looking at taking ASL classes. When I asked why, she just froze and stared at me like I was an idiot.

“Do you have child care organized for Hannah while you’re at work?”

“Well, no but…”

She interrupted me by asking another question. “And have you got all the amenities connected yet?”

“Well, no but…”

Jodie was sure on a roll. “So while you’re at work, who’s going to feed and keep your daughter amused? Or don’t you trust me, a stay-at-home mom to be able to look after this sweet child?”

“Well, no but…”

This time she smiled while I was still on the back foot and had the feeling that I was just a little out of my depth. She was clearly a woman on a mission, and my daughter certainly looked like she was going to reap the benefits of her efforts.

“So it’s settled then; Arnie told me what you do for a living, you go digging around and see if you can find the bodies I’ve been hiding.”

The roar of laughter erupted around the table and long before the noise died down, I knew I would do my checks and be thorough about it. Just as I knew I would be wasting my time. The Freeman family were everything it said on the tin, the love they had for each other and for April exuded from every pore, and Hannah, for the first time since I made the announcement to my folks that I was moving us both across the country to start again, she sure looked comfortable being here.

We had been with the Freemans for over two hours already, April had already excused herself, and Hannah and were in her room while the three of us kicked it back and just chatted, whilst feeling more and more at home with every yarn these two spun.

“So April has just started college and we’re now officially empty nesters?”

Her eyes held that mischief that I’ve come to realize this family thrives on. Her timing was impeccable.

Arnie had reached for his coffee and was taking a sip when his wife then said. “Of course now we’re empty nesters; that means I get to bone all the soccer moms in this street.”

Poor Arnie chocked his coffee back into his cup. It’s also plain to see that he was also rolling with the conversation when he said, “Just remember that Constance Hernandez is my own private stock.”

These two where just like a double act; it was a pleasure to watch and try damn hard not to laugh and let them know I was listening.

Her head tilted slightly as though she was remembering who this woman was. A smile came to her lips and the devilment glowed in her eyes.

“Ah, yes, Constance. Her with the incredible ass and awe-inspiring thighs. Although, if she is now part of your private stock dear, it may be best you keep your distance from her, for a week or two perhaps.”

Slightly confused by the way this conversation was going, Arnie just had to ask. “Why is that dear?”

“Well if you’re going anywhere near those awe inspiring thighs, I may have to see our insurance broker and double your life insurance. Since you’re going to have a smile on your face when those thighs squeeze you to death, I may as well have a smile on my face spending the money you earned being so chivalrous between Constance’s awe-inspiring thighs.”

I wasn’t sure if I should laugh or hug these two; if nothing else, they gave me an insight into a relationship that would keep them together, truly until death did them part.

My background checks on these new-found friends felt like an invasion of their privacy, and yet every day, Jodie would walk over and sit with my daughter and between YouTube, Hannah and I, she learned ASL.

*******

April answered straight away; Jodie was out at that moment, so my neighbor’s daughter was watching over my daughter for me. It was also while I talked to April that I had one of those light bulb moments of my own. We spent the next few minutes talking details, and we almost synchronized our watches while we talked. April was due to drive back to college that evening. Once I outlined what was going on in my life, we arranged that April would drop Hannah off at the hospital for me on the way past.

Twenty minutes later Jodie phoned to confirm what I was asking April to do, but other than letting me know that both the girls would be leaving in ten minutes, I did what I’d been doing the last hour. Officer Cowan had already sat with me and worked his way through his report on the incident, other than the technical stuff that would come when they pulled the car apart. It really did look like the driver was simply being too ambitious with the speed of the road and its condition.

My cell beeped a message saying they were outside; it still took me a few minutes to find them. I thanked April and we both watched her leave the safety of the hospital grounds and join the traffic that headed her back to college. Once I sent a message to Jodie telling her that I had Hannah and that April was on her way again, we headed into the hospital and got a thank you from Jodie. Snow makes us all nervous, regardless how many years we have had to deal with it.

Once I sat Hannah down, I set about explaining why I was there. Some of the nurses who passed us watched as we spoke in silence, smiled and kept on going.

A doctor stopped by, he looked at me and said, “Are you Mr. Andrews?”

At first I nodded, and then verbally confirmed that I was. He told me he could do with my help.

“One of my students said he was proficient in ASL. We were trying to get the child comfortable and suddenly she burst into tears. I have a feeling the idiot just told her that her favorite cat had died.”

He turned and walked towards a closed door at the end of the corridor, knocked once and went in. Acting on instinct, both Hannah and I followed him. The second the door opened I heard Clare crying. Once I had my daughter inside the room, my hands went to her waist and lifted her onto the bed. The harassed looking doctor went to say something before his boss shook his head. Clare stopped crying long enough to look at who was on her bed, and that’s when Hannah introduced herself.

Although hesitant to begin with, their fingers moved at an increasing rate. I also smiled and looked at the doctor, before saying, “He told her that her leg was to be removed.”

The doctor glared at the man across the bed and he told him to leave. He watched both the girls on the bed for a moment, the smiles between them increasing by the minute. I think Hannah had found a new friend.

“Mr. Andrews?”

I turned to the sound of my name. A woman was leaning against the door watching Hannah and Clare talk to each other. She carried a folder in one arm and used her other hand to once again push her glasses back up her nose. My first guess was correct when she identified herself as Karen Calderwood from Social Services. She did that double- take thing when she watched the two sitting on the bed and pulled her file open again, mumbling that the paperwork must be wrong, there were two of them, not one.

“Oh no, definitely one. The other is my daughter, Hannah Andrews.”

She looked at her file again and then back at the scene on the hospital bed.

“Well if this don’t beat all,” she said, and after a quick nod in my direction, she stopped leaning against the door frame and walked off down the corridor.

My second visit from Karen Calderwood came about an hour later. The girls were still deep in conversation with themselves, occasionally they remembered I was actually in the room and included me, but not that often. I learned a great deal from what they said to each other, though. Her mom had a new job: a nanny. The condition of the job was that she was to be at the home of her new employer no later than ten that evening, since the whole family was going abroad for two years.

That answered why she was in such a hurry, and it also meant that her employer would now be looking for another nanny when they get to their final destination. When Karen wandered in and sat next to me, I informed her of what I knew.

“Yes, I know, Mr. & Mrs. Whitman. The car was registered to them, and they were more pissed about the car than its occupants. I was also told to tell the driver, once she regained consciousness, of course, that her services were no longer required and the bill for the damage was being passed to their lawyer to recoup.”

Even when she finished saying that, she raised an eyebrow.

“I only spoke to them on the phone and even then, I felt I had to wash my hands afterwards.”

That’s when she looked directly at me and said. “So tell me about yourself, Mr. Andrews, because this is as much as I know about you.” As she finished her statement, she turned a sheet of paper around and the word ‘Zilch’ was written right across it.

I never knew it at the time, of course, but Karen Calderwood and I were to become really good friends. My hand went into my pocket and handed her my ID. She glanced at it, so it was plain to see that she already knew what I did.

“It’s not your job I’m interested in, Mr. Andrews. It’s you.”

With a slight shrug of my shoulders I gave her what I thought was going to be my standard reply, which was an abridge version of my life. This woman dug deep and just kept digging, from growing up in Boston, my college days that was also to be the place I met my wife. Our marriage soon after college and some of our years together, her death and my move halfway across the country to take up this job, eighteen months ago.

By the time I looked at her again, she had two pages covered in shorthand and a smile on her face.

“I don’t suppose you can support all this stuff with some references?”

The smirk never left my lips when I said. “And here I was thinking that my word was my bond.”

Shrugging my shoulders, since I still didn’t understand what she was up to, I gave her the contact details of my boss, and Tony Masterson. She stopped writing immediately she heard his name and looked at me.

“Tony Masterson? As in Mayor Tony Masterson?”

I nodded and then filled in one of the gaps by explaining that Tony was a distant cousin, however, over the last eighteen months the distance between us dwindled and we even did the occasional weekend family dinner and eighteen holes, the latter, of course, was when his wife was in a good mood with him.

Up to that point, I hadn’t seen this woman smile. She surely looked dangerous when she smiled, and I found myself having to hold back from reassuring myself that my personal weapon was still attached to the small of my back.

Her notes slipped into the file she had beside her, and she then turned to face me.

“Mr. Andrews, I’m not going to lie to you. Clare’s mother is going under the knife soon, and even when she comes out from under, she’s going to be here for some time. I’m going to find it difficult to find anyone who can look after Clare and also provide for her needs.”

Listening to her gave me an understanding; I still wasn’t ready for the punch line, though.

“I’m going to have to think outside the box on this one. Would you and your own support network consider taking Clare in for us?”

A tiny hand slid into mine and derailed my answer to this woman. My daughter stared right back at me. We had been talking for so long that we both forgot that little ears may not pick up sound, but little eyes can lip-read. Hannah just nodded yes, when I looked over her shoulder at Clare, tears ran down her face and her eyes seemed to share my daughter’s hopes. I knew I was in trouble with these two; when did they ever learn that puppy dog eyes look?

Karen Calderwood was out of her chair so fast that I only got in half a nod of my head. I got a call from the mayor thirty minutes later, congratulating me on my new addition to the family. My boss phoned soon after, laughing his ass off and telling me that he was even going to spread the rumor that I was actually human. Are you ever allowed to tell your boss to go forth and multiply? He was still laughing when he put the phone down. Man, I was so not looking forward to work on Monday.

*******

Little Clare was going to be at the hospital overnight, but only for observation. I phoned the police station and got the location of the luggage from the wrecked car. Karen phoned ahead for me and authorized their release of the luggage. Hannah and I drove to the impound lot on our way back home, Hannah also insisted that Clare was going to sleep with her in her bed, so we left the child’s suitcase in her room and the rest went into the spare.

I even had Jodie over for a quick coffee, or more commonly called catching up on the gossip, so I put her to work and we made up the spare bed ready for the time they would finally release Clare’s mother. We both knew she would need help with her recovery, not only that, but the two-year job sailed away with the tide late that evening. I didn’t know if Meagan even had family. I also knew that I could find out within a few minutes of sitting in front of my office computer, but I just couldn’t do that to her.

For the time being, we were going to be her support network. It was going to be left to her to decide what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. She just needed to get better first, maybe take an advanced driving course or two, perhaps?

Karen came by the house that evening, I wasn’t expecting her, but I quickly figured that was how she operated, so it was left to me to roll with the punches on her visits. Since I had nothing to hide, I simply told her to have a look around while I made the drinks and prepared for Jodie to make herself known. I didn't get visitors, and when one came calling, I could almost guarantee that Jodie would have seen them pull up onto the drive.

My back was still to the front door when Jodie entered, so she didn’t see me smile to myself. Karen seemed to time her descent from upstairs to a tee, and they both met by the door. They were still deep in conversation while I was placing the drinks onto the kitchen counter; it was also Jodie’s turn for the ‘sign here’ treatment, something she seemed to take in her stride, since I forewarned her this might happen.

Karen must have been okay with what she had seen, since she told me that she would see us both at the hospital in the morning.

Hannah was up long before me, and when Hannah gets up, the rest of us have to, as well. Today was the day we went to get her new friend. While we were having breakfast, I did ask her if she even slept when she went to bed last night. Her answer was rather non-committal, but her eagerness to leave and collect her new friend was put on hold. The one thing I refused to budge on, she had breakfast before we went to collect Clare.

Karen Calderwood met us at the hospital; the folder under her arm was larger, this time. Another batch of ‘sign here’ forms were placed in front of me. It felt like I signed and printed my name a million times; if I didn’t, it sure felt like it.

Clare was dressed and sat crossed-legged on the hospital bed, hugging a teddy bear. Her smile was hesitant and I wondered if she thought we had changed our minds and weren’t coming for her. I signed a good morning, she opted to leap from her bed and hug me, instead.

Karen leaned into me and said. “Surgery went well; the doctors say Meagan’s leg will heal, but she’ll never go through an airport metal detector without freaking out the airport staff again.”

“Is it possible for Clare to see her now, although Hannah has been reassuring her, she thinks we’re hiding the fact from her that her mother is dead.”

For the first time I had known this woman, I see the human side of her. Karen dropped to one knee and one hand came towards Clare’s cheek and cupped it.

“Oh, you poor child. I’m so sorry you thought that. Come with me; you can see her but she is still asleep and will be until tomorrow. If you want, I will come and collect you tomorrow and bring you here then, and you can see mommy awake.”

Clare’s fingers moved faster than ever. I knew what she said. I thought it best just to give Karen the abridged version.

“She said she would like to see Mommy now and could I bring her here with Hannah tomorrow?”

Karen stood before turning to look closely at me. “Don’t,” left her lips and her eyes stared directly at me.

I realized right about then that I had backed myself into a corner; it also meant that I had a healthier respect for this woman. This time, I told her word for word what Clare had said.

“She said that she wants her new daddy to bring her tomorrow.”

Although her face remained neutral, I could tell she was wondering if placing Clare with me was a good idea after all. We were still staring at each other, and it was Hannah who broke the atmosphere when she clasped Clare’s hand and walked out of her room.

Karen and I walked in front of the girls down the corridor, I used the fact that my back was to the girls to explain that when my daughter was talking to Clare, it was her new friend that told her that she didn’t have a daddy, only a mommy. It was Hannah that offered to share her daddy with her if she wanted one.

I got no answer to my statement from Karen, not even an acknowledgment that I had said anything. She stopped at a door, looked at the two little girls and placed her finger over her lips. Both girls nodded and she opened the door.

The nurse was just finishing up, she looked to see who opened the door and then behind Karen to the two munchkins standing there, unsure if they could enter. The nurse waved them in, she must have been specially selected, because she knelt down in front of both girls and explained in very good ASL that mommy wasn’t well and that she needed to stay asleep so her body could heal itself.

When Clare signed thank you, the nurse added a hug to both girls before signing that they were both welcome. She spoke to both the girls for a few minutes answering both their questions in a way that they could both understand and my respect for that woman grew by the minute, since it was going to save me trying to figure out how to tell the girls what was wrong with Meagan and not freak them both out.

*******

The journey back to the house was somber, to say the least, I knew Hannah was doing her best to cheer her new friend up, but I understood that was going to be an uphill struggle, at least for a day or two. My hope was that seeing her mother awake would help. When we got back to the house the girls made themselves scarce, and within minutes, Jodie joined me for coffee and an update on how things went at the hospital.

The weekend was a case of up and out, or play before bed. Sunday afternoon, we got a call from the hospital that Meagan was awake. We were at the hospital just over an hour after the admin people put the phone down on us. They had warned me that although she was awake, she was still weak and to not stay long and tire her out. I came armed with a picture.

When I went to bed the night before, I stuck my head into Hannah’s room and the sight I see made me pull my phone out and take a picture. Both were asleep with the covers just showing their shoulders and heads, facing each other and their foreheads touching. Even in sleep they both needed the security of the other's presence. I printed that picture and gave it to Meagan. It rested on the table by her bed.

We stayed about an hour; I sat on the high-backed chair they always seem to have next to the bed, and the girls climbed onto her bed. I tried to stop them, but Meagan waved my protest away, I guess she needed this closeness to her daughter, although I’m not sure she realized at the time that one didn't come without the other, so both sat on the bed and their silent conversation began.