‘Are you serious?’ asked Grace to Spencer.
‘Yes, I know it’s quite odd,’ said Spencer, not looking at Grace.
The door opened again and another doctor and a nurse left the room. ‘You can go in now,’ said the nurse to Grace and Spencer.
Grace entered the room apprehensively, unsure of what state her mother would be in. Birdie was sitting up in bed with a fresh nightgown on, her hair brushed. She looked so normal that Grace burst into tears.
‘Mom,’ she cried, and ran to her mother.
Birdie held her youngest daughter for the longest time. ‘Oh Gracie, Gracie, Gracie,’ she repeated.
Finally she set Grace upright and held her face in her hands. ‘What have you done to yourself, darling?’ she asked.
Grace looked down at herself. What did her mother mean? She was dressed appropriately. Granted, she wasn’t wearing makeup but she didn’t look too bad, she thought.
‘What do you mean, Mom?’ asked Grace like a little girl.
‘Why are you so sad?’ asked Birdie.
Grace leaned against her mother’s breasts and sighed. ‘Are you OK now, Mom?’ Grace asked, sitting up after a while.
‘I think so,’ said Birdie, adjusting her nightgown. ‘I just want to leave here and go home with your father.’
Grace looked at Spencer who had come into the room. He raised his eyebrows slightly.
‘Sure, Mom,’ Grace said, wondering how the hell they were going to deal with this.
Violetta came into the room again. ‘Hi, Mom,’ she said breezily, as though everything was normal.
‘Hello, darling. You look lovely,’ said Birdie.
Violetta was taken aback, Birdie never complimented her. Jeans, silver Converses and a T-shirt with a dancing hot dog on the front was her outfit of the day, the only clean things she could find in her apartment. It was certainly not an outfit Birdie would have liked before her head injury.
‘Thanks, Mom,’ said Violetta.
Birdie smiled at her. ‘You have great style, Violetta. You need to work in fashion.’
Violetta bit her lip to stop herself from laughing. ‘Yeah, Mom. I kind of am at the moment.’
‘Oh lovely. You have a job? Where?’ said Birdie, patting the bed for Violetta to sit down on the other side of Grace.
‘At Pajaro.’
‘I’m not familiar with that company. Are they good?’
Violetta and Grace looked at each other and then to Spencer who interjected. ‘They’re the best, Birdie,’ he said quickly.
‘Of course they are,’ said Birdie. ‘Clever girl, you just needed to find yourself. I knew you would get to where you needed to be eventually,’ she said, satisfied with her daughter’s new career.
As Grace walked from the room Violetta saw tears on her cheeks. She followed and then Carlotta came, leaving Birdie with Spencer. Grace walked into the small waiting room and her sister came in after her.
‘You OK, sweetie?’ asked Carlotta gently.
‘No, I feel fucking terrible,’ said Grace. ‘I should have been there. Instead I was passed out drunk in my bed.’
Carlotta and Violetta looked at each other.
‘I’m sorry, but you aren’t perfect, Grace. She’s fine. She’s OK,’ said Violetta.
