Never Too Late for Love (36 page)

When she realized that they had not heard, she arranged the
walker before her and calculated the distance to the door. They would hear the
light thumping, but she hoped that they would not notice until she had opened the
door, an exercise that she knew she could perform. Pausing, she listened again.

"It's the only logical solution," Leonard said.
"Otherwise, we'll drive ourselves crazy with worry. We must make her see
that."

She moved cautiously, lifting the walker. She felt the
strength return to her arms as she slowly moved forward, but had to ignore the
twinge of pain in her hip.

When she opened the door, the light momentarily blinded her
and she squinted into the room where they were sitting.

"Mama!" Sandy cried. "My God, you'll
fall."

"Go on talking," Sophie said, taking a step,
feeling her energy surge, the power of her victory. "I'm just going to the
bathroom."

She felt their eyes on her as she quietly, but slowly,
opened the door of the bathroom, maneuvering the walker ahead of her. When she
was fully in the room, she pushed the door closed behind her, extracted herself
from the rails and slowly moved her bottom to the closed seat of the toilet on
which she sat for an appropriate time, smiling to herself, not listening to
their voices anymore. The flush of the toilet when it came sounded like music
to her ears.