Picking up the Pieces Ch. 06

Mary was still up, sitting at the dining table. Brian shook his head to indicate that he didn't have any news. He went upstairs to find Amanda and Phillip in his bed. He got in bed and pulled them to him.

"Is mama..." Amanda began, but he shushed her, telling her to try to go to sleep.

Mary woke him at five-thirty, saying the hospital had called. He tiptoed out of the room, getting dressed as he descended the stairs. The same nurse that had sent him away was telling him to come back to the hospital.

As he started his truck he saw dealers beginning to arrive. He could only hope that John was there to let them in. He didn't stop to check.

A doctor talked to him, saying that he wasn't certain what had taken his wife's life, but he thought that a blood clot had lodged in the brain. An autopsy would either confirm his suspicion or prove him wrong. The doctor tried to assure Brian that there was nothing he could have done, but Brian was beside himself and tuned out the doctor's words.

Mary became the pillar that Brian leaned on. She made the funeral plans, did her best to console the kids, and notified distant relatives. Brian refused to come out of the room he had shared with Peggy, brooding.

Mary dressed them for the funeral, and helped Brian comfort the kids. He was like a zombie, shaking hands with people he should have recognized, but didn't

His sister, Ginny, was his only family member to come to the funeral. She was twenty-one, a college senior and madly in love with a soldier who was on his way to Afghanistan.

Ginny only stayed a few days, but in those days she bonded with Amanda and Phillip, and eased her brother's pain. When he took her to the airport, he told her how appreciative he was for her coming. "You're welcome any time. Let us know if we can do anything for you," he said to the beautiful young woman he'd always known as 'squirt.'

"The folks should have been here. They're still pretty bummed that you had a child out of wedlock. It's too bad that they haven't met Phillip. They would love him as much as I do."

"She was going to marry me," Brian was able to say as he backed away from his sister. He left before her flight took off, not wanting her to see him breaking up.

Mary answered the telephone, having to tell Richard about her daughter's death, breaking the news to the brokers that called, and telling everyone else that Brian wasn't taking any phone calls.

Mary tried her best to hold things together. She took messages from John and Mrs. Nixon. Brian read them, but showed no reaction that he cared what they conveyed.

Brian let the kids sleep with him. He didn't leave the house, and they didn't either. Mary kept soup warm, but they seldom ate anything.