Chapter Eleven
Sunny leaves to have coffee with Liam and the boys in the cafeteria, and I close the door for privacy so I can help get Sis ready for the day. Usually, our CNAs handle this type of work, but we’re short-staffed on them too.
“Can I help with your bra?”
Sis nods.
I help lift her shirt off, her mastectomy scars a reminder of all she’s been through. I clasp it shut.
“What do you want to wear today?”
Sis sits on the edge of her bed, staring into her open closet where several beautiful outfits hang.
“Yellow,” Sis says.
I grab a pale yellow jumpsuit and help her get into it.
“Yellow is your best color,” I say, zipping up the soft cotton sweatshirt over her white undershirt. “It suits your tone so well.”
“Birdie?” Sis looks up at me once she’s fully dressed. “Am I crazy? Is that why I’m here?”
“You’re not crazy.” I sit on the bed beside her and hold her hand. “Did someone tell you that?”
“No.” Sis shakes her head and looks down. “But why else would I live here? I must be, right?”
“You’re here because your family thinks it’s the safest place for you,” I say. “You have memory issues, Sis. Was it hard to take care of yourself when you lived in the big house on Main Street?”
“It was,” Sis says, and I start styling her hair. “Sometimes I’d forget to turn off the burner when I made tea.”
“Exactly.” I run a comb through her soft curls. “But here, we can help you with your memory and make sure both you and Sunny are safe. And so many of your friends are here, too.”
“So, I’m not crazy?” Her eyes meet mine, and I’m sure I’ve never seen bluer ones.
“You are not crazy,” I say. “No one here is crazy. But as we age, we can’t always be independent like we were when we were young. Heck, I’ll probably end up here someday.”
Sis stands, and I follow. She takes my hand and squeezes it.
“I feel crazy. I have a thought in my head, and the next moment, I forget it. I can’t always come up with the words I want to say. My brain is messy.”
I walk Sis down the hall and past the doors with extra security to our memory unit for her classes. On my way there, I see her son and Liam’s dad, Larry, sitting with the men, drinking coffee, and I purposely take the long way because I don’t have the energy for him today. I didn’t even realize he was still in town.
Sis has moments, almost daily, where her thoughts seem clear, and we can have a concise conversation. However, those moments are becoming less frequent, and she rarely retains what I say, so I have to repeat myself often.
“Birdie,” Will says, rounding the corner and pushing Joe in a wheelchair. “How was the rest of your night?”
“It was good,” I say. “My mom and I watched a show when I got home, and then I went to bed. How was yours?”
“I left shortly after you,” he says. “Did Liam take you home?”
“I walked,” I say. “He came with me though. He had something to share with me.”
“Oh.” Will nods.
“Can someone take me to get my damn coffee?” Joe says impatiently, and I laugh.
“Will is going to take you right now, Joe,” I say.
I pop in to check on Marilyn, and her daughter Tina is here, so I make it quick so they can enjoy their visit. Marilyn continues to lose weight, and I’m not sure how much more time we have with her.
“Birdie.” I turn to see Liam coming in my direction. “What time do you break for lunch?”
I glance at my watch, and it’s already two in the afternoon. Days at the nursing home fly by.
“Now,” I say. “What’s up?”
“Meet me in the office? I’m down this hall.” Liam points.
I grab my lunch in the break room and venture down the hallway where some of the staff offices are until I see Liam sitting at a table in one of them, studying a laptop. He has black-rimmed glasses on and squints at what he’s looking at.
“I think you need a new prescription,” I say, closing the door and pointing at him. “You don’t seem to be able to see very well.”
“Readers.” He glances at me. “My eyes get tired from studying spreadsheets all the time.”
Liam looks back down at the computer. I open my brown-bagged lunch and pull out a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich.
He eyes it and raises an eyebrow. “That can’t be enough to sustain you.”
“You’d be surprised.” I bite into it and moan. “It’s my go-to. Grape jelly. Creamy peanut butter. Perfection.”
Liam removes his glasses and leans back in his chair. He folds his arms behind his head.
“Do you want to tell me why you’re barely taking a salary?”
“I...”
Nothing else comes out as my mouth hangs open. I hadn’t considered that Liam having access to all the financials meant he’d also have access to mine.
“I’ve spent the entire morning looking at the books. You’re making less than the poverty line. You’re taking only about twenty percent of what you should be making.”
I tuck my half-eaten sandwich back into its bag. I close my Tupperware of fruit because I’m no longer hungry.
“It’s fine, Liam.”
He studies the paper in his hands once again. “It’s not. You working for almost free is not fine.”
“Li—”
“Why is your little male nurse friend making a full salary while you’re putting in more hours than anyone and making this?” He slaps a spreadsheet on the table to make his point.
“Look.” I shoot up from my chair and pace back and forth, pausing at the window. Outside is a stone fountain with water running down the sides.
“I needed out of a job that had me moving every few months. My mom was down an RN at the nursing home. I wanted to live in the same place as her. I knew things were bad here, but I didn’t realize how dire the situation was. But I chose this.”
Liam stands and closes the distance between us. We stand shoulder to shoulder. He leans against the window and stares at me.
“You’re not setting yourself up for the future, Birdie.”
“It’s a pause,” I say. “We’re going to turn this place around, and my salary will go to what it should be and I can start paying off my school loans.”
“Your mom’s been here over a year already, and she hasn’t turned anything around.”
I snap my head in his direction. Concern is splashed across his face. He presses a finger to his lips.
“Your mom invited me to dinner tonight to discuss my initial thoughts,” Liam says. “I’ll be over at six. I think it would be good if we all sit down together so everything is out in the open.”
“Then I better get back to work so I can be home on time.”
“Birdie.” Liam grabs my wrist as I turn away from him. He opens his mouth and runs his tongue along his upper teeth. Just when I think he’s going to say something, he snaps his mouth shut.
“See you at six,” I say.
He releases my wrist and nods.