I picked up the prescription bottle, and it was almost empty. “I’ll ask the doctor to call in a refill. We can pick it up tomorrow at the hospital pharmacy.” She didn’t answer. I shook the pills out into my hand, and held up her neck up so she could take them. Gently, I laid her head back on the pillow. “Are you feeling up to some dinner?
“No. Leave me alone.”
I bit my lip. “Where’s Mike?”
She didn’t respond, and after a moment I snuck back out to clean the house up and start on dinner for Charlie and me. Maybe I could get her to eat something too.
It was a rough night. I stayed in Cassie’s room, sitting in a chair, reading to her and feeing her ice chips. At around three Mike got home. Cassie looked up at me when we heard the car pull in, then closed her eyes again, and I kept reading.
I managed to get about an hour of sleep while she dozed on and off, then a longer stretch before Charlie got up for school, but I was a wreck. I came down the stairs to brew some coffee and get more crackers for Cassie and heard a noise from outside. I glanced through the kitchen window. In the chilly morning light, I saw Mike by the Jeep. What was he doing up so early?
He was putting a bag into the back of the car when I came out on the porch. “What’s going on, Mike?”
He jumped, and swung around to face me. “Why the fuck are you sneaking up on me, Emmy Lou?”
I stared at him. “You’re leaving. Does Cassie know? Does Charlie?”
He picked up another bag. “I’ll say goodbye.”
“Liar.”
He narrowed his eyes and puffed out his chest. It was so stereotypically “fight or flight” that it almost made me laugh. As if anything about this was funny.
“She’s dying, Mike.” My breath came out on a sob and I cleared my throat. “You’re leaving her while she’s dying. You’re leaving your son.”
His face crumpled briefly and he looked down. For a moment, I thought maybe he would change his mind. In his own, stunted way, I knew that he loved Cassie. Maybe Charlie, too.
Then he swallowed hard and looked back up at me. “I’ll be back.”
I nodded. Sure he would. “Liar.”
His shoulders hitched up, but he didn’t respond.
“We need money,” I told him. Mike reached into his pocket for his wallet, and handed me a wad of bills from it. “We need the car.” His head shot up. “We don’t have a car. Don’t take the car.”
“This is my Jeep,” he said.
“We have to get to the hospital,” I said loudly, then bit my lip, remembering that Cassie’s room was up above us. “What am I supposed to do?”
He walked to the driver’s door and I ran down the steps and stood at the front of the car. “Mike, please. Please! Please don’t take the car!” I put my hands on the hood, as if I couldhold the car there. “Don’t do this to them again!”
Without looking at me, he got into the Jeep and backed down the driveway. My arms slid off the hood to my sides. I heard the engine roar as he sped off down the road, away from us.
I walked slowly back to the house, sat down on the back steps and rested my face in my hands. How was I going to tell Cassie? What was I going to do?
“Em?”
I jerked up my head. “Hey, pal.”
“Can I have breakfast?”
“Sure.”
We sat at the kitchen table, my hands wrapped tightly around my coffee mug. Ideas were flying through my mind. I could steal a car. I could steal a credit card number and rent a car. I could rob a bank and use the money to buy a car. The getaway would be hard on Charlie’s bike. I could call the police and report Mike for something, then try to get the Jeep out of impound. I—
“Emmy? Did my dad leave?”
I stared at Charlie. He took another bite of oatmeal.
