“I don’t know. I’m so confused right now.”
She ponders this. “We need to ask her.”
“I already did. She says she doesn’t remember. She also said ...” I pause because I don’t want anyone to think my mother is delusional. They might send her to the psych ward.
“Tell me,” Becky whispers, and I trust her like I always do.
“Mom believes she went to heaven,” I quietly say. “She felt Nanny and Granddad there.”
Becky stares at me, speechless.
“She said it was beautiful.”
Two male doctors in blue scrubs walk past, and we move closer to the wall to speak more privately.
“Shewasclinically dead,” Becky whispers, and I’m relieved that she seems to have an open mind about this. “Did she mention seeing anyone else?”
Becky stares at me with desperate eyes.
“I’m not sure,” I reply. “She didn’t say much more than that. I’m mostly worried about what happenedbeforeshe fell in the water, because that’s what Arthur wants to know, and he’ll be asking Mom the same question. But she doesn’t remember.”
Becky turns to scan the unit. “I’d like to talk to her doctor about her memory. Is he around?”
I spot Dr. Malik at the nurses’ station, but he starts heading for the exit. I point. “That’s him.”
“I’ll be right back.” Becky hurries and catches him just before he pushes through the doors.
I watch and wait while they talk. A moment later, she returns.
“What did he say?” I ask.
“He said it’s normal to forget the details of a trauma like that, and it could just be temporary. Her memory could return in the next few hours or days. Or possibly never. We just have to wait and see. But the good news is that she’s stable and they’ll be moving her out of the ICU tomorrow morning.”
“That is good news,” I reply, exhaling with relief. “But what do we do about Uncle Arthur?”
Becky ponders this. “Do you have his number in your phone?”
“Yes, he just called me.” I retrieve it from my back pocket and hand it to her.
Becky starts texting. “I’m telling him that your mom’s sleeping and she can’t receive any visitors, and that he should go home and call later.”
“What about my dad?” I ask. “He’s stuck in jail.”
Becky hands my phone back to me. “If there’s actual proof that he pushed your mom off the rocks, then that’s where he belongs.”
She starts back to the room, and my emotions start to spiral because I don’t want to believe that he did this. I just want my old dad back—the one who used to carry me on his shoulders and take me to swimming lessons at the pool. I want the father he once was, before he opened his restaurant.
But maybe that man doesn’t exist anymore.
I hurry to follow Becky back to the room.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Sienna
I wake in the hospital bed with needles and tubes sticking out of my arms, a fog in my head. My children aren’t here. It’s just Becky and me.
“How long was I asleep?” I ask.
