- 24 -
Bad Day
"Where would you like to go this afternoon?" Phos asked after school the next day.
Mary thought for a moment. "Actually, I'd like to go see Ba. I told her that I'd take her shopping."
"That sounds like a good idea," he said. "May I come along?"
She laughed. "Of course."
When they arrived at Agape, they didn't find Ba in the courtyard. She wasn't in the reading room, the dining room, or in the lounge. Emma was reading her Bible at a table, and Julia sat next to her playing Solitaire.
"Have either of you seen my grandmother today?" Mary asked.
They shook their heads. "We didn't see her at breakfast or lunch," Emma said. "I think she's been in her room all day."
"That's weird," Mary said.
She and Phos took the elevator up. Mary squeezed his hand.
"Is something wrong?" he asked.
"I really hope not," she said. But dark thoughts plagued at her, and some of them were her greatest fears. She knew one of them would come some day. Ba wasn't young. Mary hoped that she would live into her 90s, like Mr. and Mrs. Penny. Maybe even her hundreds, since she was physically very healthy. But people even younger than Ba passed away all the time.
Mary's second fear was not as awful as the first, but it was still bad. If Ba hadn't come to meet them, and she hadn't passed away, then it meant she was having a bad day.
The elevator doors opened, and they walked to Ba's suite. The door was open, and they heard her yelling. "I don't like pills! I feel fine. I don't need them."
Inside, they found Ba sitting on the edge of her bed with her back to them. Her long hair dangled freely past her waist in tangled strands. Two nurses, including Ms. Nancy, tried to coax her to take some medication.
"Please, Mrs. Phan," Ms. Nancy said. "Calm down."
"Why am I here?" Ba asked. "Where's my husband? Where's Jean-Marc?"
"Ba?" Mary asked.
Ba turned around and stared at her for a moment. Her brow wrinkled. "Who are you?"
Mary gulped. "It's me. Mary. Your granddaughter."
"Don't be silly," Ba said. "You're not my Mary. You're too old. Mary's a little girl."
Ms. Nancy came to meet Mary and Phos at the door. "I'm so sorry, Mary, but can you and Carter please wait out in the hall?"
"What's wrong?" Mary asked. "Was she given her medication on time?"
"Who is she?" Ba asked frantically. "Why is she calling me Ba? She's not my granddaughter. She's too old! Mary's only seven years old."
"Please, Mary," Ms. Nancy said and shut the door.
Mary could hear Ba screaming on the other side. "Ba!" Mary started to open the door again.
Phos put his hands on hers. "Wait."
"What do you mean wait?" she cried. "They're hurting her!"
He shook his head. "They're trying to help her. Let's do as she said and wait."
She stared at him like he was speaking a foreign language to her.
Phos took her hands from the doorknob. "We can wait right here. Okay?"
Mary said nothing. Finally, she nodded.
They sat on the floor in the hall. Mary hated to see Ba like this. Tears started making their way from her tiny tear ducts.
A few minutes later, Ms. Nancy opened the door. "You can come in, now."
Cautiously, Mary and Phos walked into the room. Ba was lying quietly on her bed now. Her eyes were heavy and not looking at anything in particular.
"We had to give her a sedative," Ms. Nancy explained.
Mary stared at her. "Can I stay here with her?"
Ms. Nancy nodded. "She'll be like this for a while. Maybe even past bedtime. Of course, call if you need one of us."
The nurses left, and Mary turned back to Ba. She took her hand. She felt fragile, and she looked so out of it.
"She's like this because of me," Mary said.
"What do you mean?" Phos asked.
"I heard a long time ago that people with Alzheimer's need routine," she said. "It helps them keep their memories longer. I've been visiting her almost everyday since she's been here. But I stopped coming regularly."
Phos looked down. "When you started seeing me?"
A tear trickled down Mary's face. She wiped it away with her sleeve. "Can you do something for her? Like you did for that kid at the hospital. Can you help my grandmother?"
"I wish I could," he said. "I would cure her in a heartbeat. But I don't know how."
"What about Mayim?" Mary asked. "Or maybe another radiant? Someone who has the right energy for this kind of thing?"
"I'm sorry," he said. "The human mind is so…complex. Your memories are so fragile."
Mary looked at Ba again.
"Mary?" Phos asked. He put his hand on her shoulder gently.
She shrugged it off, pretending to push her hair behind her ear. "Um, is it okay if I just spend some time with her alone? I just…I need to be alone for a bit."
Phos nodded. "Of course."
After he left, Mary lay on the bed next to Ba, still holding her hand.
"I'm here, Ba," she whispered. "I'm here. And I'm not going anywhere."
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