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Show 17-2 Mother stared at me a moment longer. "Well, it's done now. So let's go. Not that I relish the idea." Mother and I both put on clean dresses for the ride across town. Our clothes were always wilted in the heat and yet Mother insisted that we make an effort to look fresh. She put on a wide straw hat that rested easily on top of her roll of dark hair. I wore my usual sailor hat. She spoke little on the drive across town and muttered at any driver who got in her way. I could sense her uneasiness. We found Andrew standing just inside the door of the hospital as if he had been waiting for us. Just as he waited every day. Just as I hoped he would. He reached out as always for my bookbag and groaned as always at the weight. He shook hands with Mother. I noticed that since the bandages had been removed he shook hands with everyone. I wondered if his hands ever hurt him. He thanked us both for the roses and gave them to one of the nurses to put in water. Mother greeted him kindly but then asked immediately for my father. "He'll be here soon, ma'am. Let's go down to the sitting room. We can wait for him there." Andrew led us down to the end of the hall and stepped aside so Mother and I could go in first. The room was furnished with white chairs, what I called basket chairs. The long windows faced out onto the sunny lawn where I had first met Andrew. Our bench was still there in the shimmering heat. Nothing moved on the grass. Andrew pulled long white curtains across the windows to block out the heat and light. The curtains hung limply, just like my skirt. Mother wiped her face with her handkerchief. Andrew ran his tongue over his mouth where his lips would have been and then he too wiped his forehead with a handkerchief. "Hot," he murmured. Mother agreed and I swung my feet. Where was Father? |
