HOPE FOR CHANGE... But Settle for a Bailout (34 page)

“Very nice meeting you,” Gina smoothed her
skirt and picked up her YSL bag. Gina turned and looked directly to
Emma, finding her window of vision, and giving a small wave with a
smile.

A moment later, Lori and Larry were alone
with Emma.

.

Larry stood over his father’s gurney. Calvin
lay still.

As Larry stood immobile, all around him was
a swirl of critical care nurses moving in ritualistic motion. Ten
minutes after he entered the room, Larry left having not uttered a
word.

.

“Her movements will be little shaky, so you
may consider having someone at home with her,” Dr. Bosch told
Larry, as Emma slept. “I don’t know what your insurance covers.
Otherwise, she should be fine. She seems to have passed through the
worst of the virus.”

Larry looked to his Grandmother, asleep, and
smiled. He then turned to the doctor. I know you’re not his doctor,
but can I request a change of doctors for my dad?”

“Since you’re a cash pay,” said Dr. Bosch,
“you can ask for whatever you like. Do you have a specific doctor
you’d wish to substitute?”

“Yes,” said Larry. “You.”

Dr. Bosch smiled. “That is very kind, but it
wouldn’t be ethical for me to be weighing in on such a decision, as
your father is in for a stroke, and I am in a very different
practice, but I appreciate your confidence.”

.

“Hallo, I’m Dr. Olson,” said a tall blonde
in scrubs, shaking Larry’s hand. “I understand your grandmother is
Danish.”

“She was born here, but only speaks Danish,
because of her mom,” said Larry, not getting up from the chair
beside Emma’s bed.

“Interesting,” said Dr. Olson.

“Hey, Bix,” said Lori, entering the room.
“She’s out again?”

“Just sleeping,” said Larry.

“Dr. Olson,” said the doctor, reaching out a
hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“Lori. Family friend.”

“Pardon, I mistook you to be a relative… the
resemblance.” The doctor promised to check in on Emma during the
shift.

“I did what you said, Larry,” said Lori.
“Booked myself in to the training site in Colorado up through the
nationals. I leave tomorrow. Here’s your card.” She handed him his
VISA.

“Team Lori,” said Larry, smiling.

“Team Larry,” said Lori, scooting her chair
closer to his. He rested his head on Lori’s shoulder, and she
leaned her own head against his.

Chapter Twenty-One

Reach Out

Gina Milani smiled demurely at Larry, as he
opened the double doors to the upstairs suite. “The Thorvaldsen is
beautiful,” she said simply. “Thank you for inviting me.”

“You know it is by Thorvaldsen?”

“He wasn’t Italian, but that’s where he
spent his life,” said Gina. “Any Roman knows that.”

“Oh, uh, right, Roman, sure,” said Larry,
gesturing at the threshold for Gina to step in. “Thank you for
coming. I need to, uh, ask you something.”

Gina gingerly stepped past Larry. “Oh! What
a magnificent studio!” Gina walked to the Victrola and looked at
the disc. “It’s like traveling back in time.”

“My grandmother likes you.”

“She’s funny,” said Gina, slowly walking
through the studio, gazing at framed photographs. “This looks like
your friend.”

“It’s my great-grandmother. This was her
home… at least, here in California.”

“Emma’s mother?”

“Right,” said Larry, sitting on the sofa
nearest the Victrola.

“She enjoys making fun of people, your
grandmother,” said Gina. “Did he win?”

“Who?”

“This blonde man… Herbert Hoover,” read
Gina. “From this picture in the Danish paper.”

“That year he did,” said Larry, settling
into the couch. “Mr. Roosevelt beat him four years later. The whole
Great Depression thing.”

“Oh,” said Gina, in passing. “That’s too
bad.”

“I asked you here, because I’d like you to
be Emma’s caretaker.”

Gina turned casually to Larry. “Really? And
why is that?”

“W’ull, um, first, uh, cuz you seem to like
her and she likes you,” Larry said. “She can be pretty sharp with
people, even if they don’t understand her.”

“Oh, that’s why she’s so funny,” said Gina,
sitting on the couch across from Larry. “She smiled at Ed, as she
said the most wicked things about him. Ed couldn’t understand why I
was laughing.”

Larry smiled. “Are you hungry?”

.

Gina ate and talked as Larry listened and
served. Together, they finished the platter that Larry had prepared
and a second that the two made alongside one another just before
sunset.

“I need someone to help me watch my
grandmother,” said Larry. “Can I hire you?”

“I don’t have any formal experience doing
that,” said Gina. “I cook well and I am responsible, but I can’t
lift someone or....”

“I can hire an in-home support person to
help with the physical care, but she likes you, and your Swedish
means she would have someone to communicate with.” Larry motioned
to Gina for the two to step onto the balcony, where they sat under
the moonlight, near the granite railing, overlooking Larry’s tiny
rowboat tied up in the otherwise empty massive dock slip.

Gina put her hand on Larry’s, causing him to
stiffen. “I’m going to do it because of you,” said Gina. “You’re
dedicated to your grandmother. I can see you will never abandon
her.”

“No,” said Larry. “Of course not. I never
will. I love her.”

“That’s right,” Gina said, closing her eyes.
“Good people don’t abandon a loved one.”

.

Ed groaned, as Anekee tightened the rope
around his wrist. “There, I think for you, it is now pleasant,
yes?” she asked. Ed lay stretched on his back on Larry’s single bed
– naked, save for his boxers – with his arms and legs bound to the
bed frame and his toned body straining, as he tested the ropes
holding him.

“Pleasant?” said Ed, lifting his head to
follow Anekee, as she walked through the room. “Couldn’t be
enjoying myself more.”

“That’s good, because you need to learn to
wait.”

Anekee sat in the wooden chair next to
Larry’s desktop computer. “So many times have I seen this room and
dreamed of escaping.”

“… nothing to lose.”

.

“Oh Baby, I’m just about to go on,” came the
voice over the phone, as Lori lay in bed, a tall duffel bag leaning
against the mattress.

“I know, Pumpkin,” said Lori, cradling the
phone. “I just wanted to tell you something.... Something about
tomorrow....”

.

Gina stepped into the Lincoln, followed by
Larry. Ralphie smiled to Larry as he closed the door. Larry looked
to Gina, seated across from him. She smiled sweetly and clasped her
hands on her lap. The two rode in silence to Long Beach Memorial,
with Larry saying simply, “After you,” when Ralphie held the door
open in the roundabout, outside the main lobby.

Inside Emma’s room, Dr. Olson was laughing,
as was Emma, when Larry and Gina entered. Emma kept her head
perfectly straight.

“The old horse can only look straight
ahead,” said Emma.

Gina made her way to Emma’s bedside and
leaned forward so she could smile and wave in Emma’s field of view.
Emma smiled and waved back.

“I am off to my other patients,” said Dr.
Olson, reaching for Emma’s hand. “I leave you in good company for
the night.”

“Don’t be so sure,” said Emma. “They’ll talk
so much, I will get no sleep.”

.

December Carrera typed “SPECIAL MESSAGE”
during her Miss Milkshakes live wet chat. While
urged December to shake her chest, December held up a paper plate,
on which she had written in marker, “Good Luck, Soldier G!
xoxoxo”

.

“Where is Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome?” Emma
asked Gina, who sat alone next to the bed.

“Ed?” asked Gina.

“The one with the big hands,” said Emma,
“who never lets go.”

Gina smiled. “He does when he thinks you’re
not paying attention.”

“Oh, the sort who slips out while you’re
peeing?”

“That’s Ed,” said Gina. “He’s with Larry’s
woman friend, from Italy, with the big chest.”

“All of Larry’s friends have big chests,
except Lori, who has big shoulders,” said Emma. “Aren’t you
translating what comes out of her big chest?”

“They won’t need a translator for whatever
Ed has planned,” said Gina.

“Excuse me,” came a female voice from the
door, and Gina looked up. Emma kept her head aimed toward Gina.
“Emma Mathilde! It’s Lena… Lena Martins… from Denmark.”

Gina pointed to the chair next to her. “You
have to sit here,” said Gina, in Swedish. “Emma was bitten by a
poisonous spider and is coming out of paralysis. It is hard for her
to turn her neck.”

“Oh, that’s horrible!” shuddered Lena. “I
hate spiders.” Lena sat. “I have someone with me also from
Copenhagen, someone who has traveled just to meet you.”

“It’s so dark,” said Emma. “Lena? Are you
there?”

“Oh, Emma! You simply
must
make it
through. Damned spiders!”

“Who do you have with you, Lena? It’s so
dark. Is it that nice man with the big camera?”

“Careful, Emma. Remember, spitting can
spread the poison from the spider,” said Gina, turning to Lena.
“Too much movement and it shakes up the blood, stirring the poison
again,” she said, in a matter-of-fact tone.

Lena backed her chair up and looked as
though she would vomit. “My God, this is horrible.”

“Lena... you’ve come so far….”

“Yes,” said Lena. “I have brought Lars
Ålling, from the Royal Ballet.”

A tall, thin blonde in a crisp suit stepped
to the foot of the bed. Emma slowly moved her head as the sound of
high Danish filled the studio. “I am an emissary from the Royal
House. The Artistic Director and the Royal Chamberlain have
authorized me to offer you a presentation.”

“That does sound important,” said Emma, “but
I am busy dying. Can it be next week?”

“Damn spiders,” whispered Lena.

.

“And Lena and the dude didn’t want to stay?”
asked Larry, sharing a slice of zucchini bread with Gina and
Emma.

“Young people these days,” said Emma. “Oh,
we should send you for food more often. They must use a prison
cookbook for the old people.”

“The man from the Royal Ballet kept saying
something about spiders in the room,” said Gina, peeling an orange
that Larry brought.

“Nobody likes spiders, I guess,” said
Larry.

Gina and Emma smiled.

.

My phone buzzed. “L V D B.” Oh, God. “Yeh,
Larry, what?”

“My grandmother’s doing fine,” said Larry
“Cancel Copenhagen.”

This felt like a good time to tell him I
want out.

“That’s good news, Larry,” I said. “I’ve got
some news, too.”

“Not now, Lawrence. I’ve got Lori on the
other line.” Larry hung up.

Damn.

.

“Bix, no matter how I do, I know that I’m
not alone,” said Lori, over speaker, as Larry’s phone rest on the
balcony table.

“You’ve got ‘Team Lori,’ ” said Larry. “And
you’ve got heart and discipline and all that.”

“Strength, form and discipline,” said Lori.
“Those’re the three.”

“I’d rather have heart,” said Larry, looking
across to Gina, who was sipping coffee and looking out to the bay.
“Heart gives you strength.”

“I love you, Bix.”

.

Anekee sat next to Ed, still tied
spread-eagle on Larry’s bed, his boxers visibly tenting.

“How it flies, the time,” said Anekee,
putting down her fashion magazine. “I must return to my duty as a
mommy, but don’t go anywhere.”

Anekee stepped from the room, closing and
locking the door behind her.

.

“Why didn’t she let you go to the Pike?”
Gina asked.

“She said it was a dirty, dangerous place,
where sailors waited for pretty girls to take advantage of,” said
Emma, sitting up in bed and not moving her head as she spoke.

“Was it?”

“Of course it was,” said Emma. “That’s why I
kept begging for permission.”

“And she never.”

“I stopped begging and then later just asked
if I could go on bike rides.”

Gina laughed.

“Where’s that grandson of mine? I’m
hungry.”

.

Larry stood silently next to his father, who
lay unmoving in his gurney.

“Don’t know how he’s going to fare,” said a
female voice behind Larry.

“Is he gonna.... I mean, will he… live?”
asked Larry, turning to see Dr. Bosch.

“Honestly,” said the doctor, stepping next
to Larry, “I can’t be sure. I don’t understand why he is not
showing signs of improvement. A stroke and cardiac arrest are each
major events, and your father is advanced in age, but... it’s as
though he is giving up.”

“How come he’s still in a wheelie bed?”
asked Larry.

“We’ve been moving him around a lot,” said
the doctor. “He’s my only patient in this part of the hospital and
I’ve got to get back to my rounds, but I will keep tracking his
condition. I will call you if his situation takes a turn, good or
bad.”

The doctor left Larry again standing alone.
Larry held Calvin’s limp hand. “Dad, I know you want Grandma to die
before you, so you get her suite and the whole mansion, but right
now, it sort’a looks like you’re the one who will check out early.
That will mean she gets the whole house and when she is gone, I’ll
get it. I’ll kick out Candy and all her kids… probably tear the
whole place down… not really any good memories for me there… maybe
just keep the studio, somehow.

Calvin’s facial muscles twitched and again
went flaccid.

“I’ll probably donate the entire grounds to
the city so they can turn it into a park.”

Twitch.