The Land of Mango Sunsets (14 page)

“She’s being moved right now to room 238. Wait a few minutes and then you can go up and see how she’s doing.”

“How
is
she doing?”

“She looks like she got hit by a truck. But she’ll be fine and I’m not sure I can say the same for you. You need to calm down, honey.”

“I could use ten milligrams of something.”

“And I could, too. All right, Mrs. Swanson, that’s all for now.” She closed her folder and stood to leave.

“Um, may I ask a question?” I said.

“Of course.”

“What happened to Truman Willis?”

“You his kin, too?” She cocked her head to one side, indicating I had to claim to be related for her to reveal anything to me.

“Uh, yes, distant cousin, but yes.”

“I’m gonna tell you this, but if you say you heard it from me, I’m gonna find you.”

“Me? Speak out of school? Everyone says I am the soul of discretion.”

“Okay. I can’t say much but I will tell you this. That wife of his is just about the meanest woman I have ever seen in all my life. Meeeeean! Whoo! Jesus, she gave me the chills. No lie. Chills up and down my whole body.”

“But Truman?”

“He’s gonna be fine. Your cousin, you say?” She arched her eyebrows.

“Yes.”

“Uh-huh. Mrs. Swanson?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t take up poker, okay?”

We smiled knowingly at each other and I went to find Kevin.

“She’s on the second floor,” I said. “Let’s get some magazines for her and some soft candy or something.”

We picked up some mints and reading material in the lobby gift shop and took the short elevator ride. We found her semiprivate room, and thankfully the second bed was empty. There was a curtain pulled around her, and when I peeked in, my heart sank all over again.

She was in one of those wrinkled hospital gowns. Her top lip was very swollen and her face was already turning to the color of plums. A large bandage covered the other side of her face, and in addition to her IV, she wore a heart monitor. The steady
bleep bleep bleep
was reassuring but unnerving at the same time.

I started to shake uncontrollably and Kevin took my elbow.

“Sit down,” he said. “Sit right here.”

“What have I done, Kevin? What have I done?”

“Get over your guilt, Miriam. It’s not going to do any of us any good.”

“I feel so terrible about this. Nothing like this has ever happened in my entire life. I mean, who would have thought that telling one piece of gossip would lead to this?”

“Truly. But people are crazy, you know.”

“We’ll need to find her an oral surgeon.”

“Yes, and someone very good to look at that gash. God, Liz is such a beautiful woman. This is just so wrong. I hope she presses charges against that bastard. I’d love to read about this in Liz Smith’s column.”

He had not said that she was no longer beautiful or that it was, in fact, my fault. And he was right; what happened to Liz was so very wrong. Whose fault it was didn’t matter then. We were both deeply upset.

I knew enough about cuts and gashes to know that she needed somebody besides a resident to do the job. All I could think about was making her whole again as fast as possible. When Liz woke up, I wanted to be able to assure her that the disaster was under control.

“I’m calling Charlie.”

“Your son?”

“Yep. I’ll be right back. I’m calling
my boy
.” I went outside, took out my cell, and dialed his number. I choked up from the emotion I felt for calling Charlie
my boy
. How long had it been since I had used such a proprietary term to describe him? Too long. That and many other things were going to change.

He answered right away.

“Charlie?” My voice quivered.

“Mom? What’s wrong? I left a message at the house about dinner. Is next Thursday okay with you?”

It was highly unusual for me to call him at such a late hour and he probably thought I had burned down the house.

“Of course. But listen, my new tenant, Liz Harper, was viciously attacked tonight and I’m at Lenox Hill with her. She needs a plastic surgeon, son. She’s a gorgeous girl and she has a terrible deep gash right down her cheek. And she lost some teeth, and oh God, it’s a mess. It’s just a mess.”

“I’m just finishing here. Why don’t I hop on the subway? I can be there in say, fifteen?”

“Thanks, sweetheart.” I put the phone back in my coat pocket and went back inside to Kevin. “I wish he wouldn’t take the subway. It’s full of lunatics.”

“Oh, Miriam. You’re such a worrier.”

“I know. Well, there’s other news I haven’t had a moment to tell you.”

“Let’s have it.”

“Charlie and Priscilla are getting married.”

“No! Seriously?”

“Yes. They are getting married.”

“She’s Jamaican, right?”

I nodded.

“You’re cool with this?”

Kevin knew all the reasons I had serious reservations about Priscilla.
He looked at me long and hard. I could almost see the wheels of his mind turning as he thought that he would be obliged to adopt my position on the union for the sake of our friendship.

I inhaled and exhaled deeply and sat up straight in the chair. “Totally cool and copacetic. It’s the twenty-first century, for heaven’s sake.”

“Absolutely! Well then, congratulations!” Brightening then, despite the dire circumstances, Kevin gave me a kiss on the cheek. “I mean, are we going to have steel drums and curried goat? Rum punch?”

“Whatever Priscilla and Charlie want, I guess? Curried goat? They eat that?”

“Yeah, it’s quite good, actually.”

“Uck.” My gag reflex kicked in. “But really. I had a serious conversation with him this evening—before all hell broke loose.”

“About your relationship?”

“Or lack of…I’m going to make a concerted effort to get closer to him. And her. He’s the only family I have here, you know?”

“And I’m chopped liver?”

“Oh, come on. You know what I mean. I love you from head to toe and you know it.”

“So what brought on this change of heart?”

“It was classic. I was cleaning out his room, and going through all his childhood toys, pictures, favorite things, and so on made me realize how much I miss being in his life. It’s a good thing, don’t you think?”

“Absolutely, Miriam. Ah, dear Miriam! The soft heart of a mother doesn’t make you matronly or an old crone, you know. I mean, Jackie O had children and she was chic until her last breath. We’ll have to get you big sunglasses.”

“First thing tomorrow.”

Simultaneously, we looked at Liz. She seemed so young to me.

“This is so unfair,” I said.

“And unnecessary,” Kevin said. He pulled a guest chair over to Liz’s
bed from the other side of the room. “I can only hope that lecherous creep, Truman Willis, is writhing in pain.”

I looked up to see Charlie standing in the doorway. Kevin stood, they shook hands, and then my son gave me a hug.

“I got here as fast as I could, Mom. I don’t think I’ve heard that kind of distress in your voice ever. Are you okay?”

It was obvious then, and perhaps for the first time, that my Charlie was a grown man, and seeing him in that light, I was overcome with such emotions that I didn’t know what to say. It was a combination of
where did the years go?
And
this entire disaster can be laid at my feet.
And
please tell me everything’s going to be all right.

I managed to whisper, “I’m just so glad you’re here.”

I must have seemed dramatic to him because he looked to Kevin for an explanation.

“Your mother feels responsible for this and she is being very hard on herself.”

“What happened? Jeez, poor kid. What’s she got?”

Kevin went down the litany of her ailments, and when he was finished, Charlie seemed unshaken.

“Look, Mom, I did a rotation with Gerald Imber. He’s a world-class plastic surgeon. I mean, I don’t want to disturb the dressing on her wound to have a look, but I’m not worried. Imber will make her look like a movie star. He loves me. I’ll call him in the morning.”

“Even I’ve heard of him,” I said.

“He’s fabulous,” Kevin said. “I want him to do my upper eyes.”

Charlie looked at Kevin as though he had just dropped from the moon.

“When the time comes, of course.”

“Right. And her teeth? I know about twenty guys who can give her a better smile than Paula Zahn. All the rest of the stuff? Bed rest and painkillers. She’ll be fine in two weeks. Guaranteed.”

“Heaven knows, I hope you’re right,” I said.

“You have to have faith in your doctor, Mom.”

“Well, there may be an issue of money…” I said.

“Don’t worry,” Charlie said, “all these guys take credit cards.”

“Send the bills to our Mr. Willis,” Kevin said. “If he doesn’t expire.”

“Then we could send them to Agnes,” I said, “which might be fun. Or I guess we would have to sue his estate.”

“Don’t sweat that,” Charlie said. “No doctor worth his license is going to let a girl like this walk around with no teeth and a big scar. That’s crazy. We’ll work it out.” He looked at his watch. “I gotta be at the hospital in six hours. I’d better get moving.”

I got up and walked him to the door. I was so filled with pride that my little boy, now a grown man, could walk into a room and, in a matter of minutes, calm his mother’s worst fears. My eyes were watery and I knew I had no powder or lipstick on—I probably looked like I was a thousand years old. And I was tired, so very tired.

“Thank you, Charlie. Thank you for coming. Really.”

He looked at me like he was seeing me for the first time. He put his arms around me and pulled me into a big bear hug. “Aw, Mom? Come on now. Look, I want you to call me whenever you are worried about anything, not just medical stuff, okay?”

“Okay.” I could hardly believe my ears. “I will. Be careful going home and give my best to Priscilla, okay?”

“Ha! You’re turning into a regular sport, Mom. You really are.”

He actually kissed my cheek. I watched him walk down the hall. I would be diligent about my relationship with Charlie from here on out. I knew I couldn’t regain the lost time I could have spent with him, but I would do all I could to help his marriage get off on the right foot, to get to know Priscilla, and to be a good mother-in-law. Well, I would try. The mother-in-law thing was sure to present a challenge.

Next on my list would be Danny and Nan. I would fly to California to see them with lots of little treats for my grandchildren. We would go to
the zoo and take lots of pictures. I would buy them souvenirs and send Dan and Nan off to dinner someplace wonderful—my treat. I would babysit, make cookies, and spoil the kids rotten…I had a lot of making up to do, but at least I was making a plan.

But my first order of business was to get Liz on the road to repair.

“Miriam? Miriam?” Kevin said. “I think she’s waking up! Hurry!”

I rushed to Liz’s bedside. As promised, her eyes were fluttering and she was licking her swollen lips.

“Where am I?”

“We’re right here, Liz. Kevin and I. Don’t try to get up…”

“I’m gonna get a nurse,” Kevin said. “I’ll be right back.”

I told her what had happened to her and to Truman. I told her all that I knew about her injuries and what the expected recovery time was. She was weak and her voice was barely above a whisper.

“It’s going to be all right, Liz,” I said. “If it’s the last thing I ever do, I’m going to make sure that everything is all right.”

“Well, look who’s rejoined the land of the living!” The nurse had arrived with Kevin in her wake. “How are you feeling, Ms. Harper?”

“Awful. Everything hurts.”

“Can we give her something for pain?” I said.

“I can, but
we
can’t.” Nurse Ratchet gave me the hairy eyeball from one end to the other. “Who are you?”

“I’m her aunt, Miriam Swanson.”

“Let me guess,” she said, deadpan, looking at Kevin with his round tortoiseshell eyeglasses and polished head. “You’re the uncle?”

“Why are you people so suspicious of everyone?” I said.

“Because you wouldn’t believe what goes on around here,” Nurse F. Hades said. (The
F
stood for
from
.) “Okay, will the
family
excuse us? I have to check my patient’s vitals…”

Kevin and I stepped out into the hall. He was miffed.

“Can you believe that old battle-ax in there?
Be
in charge! See if
I
care!”

“I agree. Crass. Just crass. But on the other hand, she probably knows the truth about how Liz landed here. This is not a country club, you know. And what Truman did is criminal. For all she knows, we could be lawyers. Or from the
National Enquirer
. Who knows?”

“You’re right, of course. Petal? I can’t
wait
to get our Liz out of here.”

“I’m with you on that! But I can’t wait for her to be better.”

“I’m exhausted.”

“Me, too, but I’m going to sit with her tonight. Why don’t you tell her good night and check on Harry for me. Call me and let me know the house is okay and all that.”

“Deal.”

The nurse came out and said, “Visiting hours ended a long time ago. That girl needs rest.”

“And I intend to see that she gets it. I’d like an ice pack, please, so I can try to reduce her swelling.”

“Hmmph,” she said, and then her body language changed. She had concluded that I might not have been her aunt but I wasn’t a threat to hospital security. “Good idea, actually. I’ll have an orderly bring one when I get a chance. Can’t imagine why she doesn’t have one already.”

“That’s why it’s important to have your
family
around in times of need,” Kevin said, and pursed his lips into a tight square as only royalty could.

She actually giggled, pointed her finger at him, and walked away with a wink.

“Petal? Did that beast actually wink at me?”

“She thinks you’re slick.”

“Well, she’s right.”

Kevin sat close to Liz and held her free hand.

“Liz,” he said. “Miriam and I don’t want you to worry about a single thing. We are going to get you the best plastic surgeon and oral surgeon in New York. And believe me, we won’t rest until you are as right as rain.
If these bitches don’t give you your pain medication on time, you just call me, okay? In fact, if I can do anything, you call me. My only regret is that I didn’t get to mop up the floor with your, ahem, gentleman caller.”