The Dollhouse(22)

“I’m impressed, you breaking curfew,” said Stella, flashing a conspiratorial smile. “You have a bad streak, too, don’t you?”

Darby considered the idea. She was sneaking in late after visiting a jazz club in a seedy part of town with one of the maids from the Barbizon. This was not what Mother had envisioned for her.

But she didn’t smile back.

“Yes, I guess I do.” She turned the corner and kept on moving.





CHAPTER SEVEN



New York City, 2016


Rose jumped into a cab and gave the driver an address on the West Side, shaking off the effects of another sleepless night. She was running late, but the morning traffic had eased and the taxi sliced through the park at a high speed. Her father’s nursing home was way over by the Hudson River, an old brick building surrounded by sleek glass high-rises.

His room was empty.

“Where’s my father, Regina?”

The Jamaican nurse laughed and shook her head. “He’s trouble, that man.”

“No, he’s a doll. And you know it.”

“I’m afraid not.” The smile stayed on her face, but Rose couldn’t tell whether she was kidding. “You best go to the breakfast room. Maybe you can get him up and out of there. If not, we’re gonna have to call in the big guys.”

Her father sat at a table near the window and stared out across the water. She recognized the bushy eyebrows and handsome profile at once, but the rest of his body seemed to belong to a stranger. She had a sudden memory of him pushing himself away from the dinner table after a big meal, balancing on the back two legs of his chair and patting his round belly. All the extra padding had disappeared over the past five years, as his mental state had become less agile. The high school math and science teacher who scribbled out calculations on napkins during dinner had slowly faded away. He didn’t even remember how to hold a pencil.

She put a hand on his bony shoulder. “Dad?”

He dropped his head to his chest and puffed out his cheeks.

“I came by to say hello. Do you want to take a walk?”

“I want breakfast.”

She looked up. The staff was clearing tables. “Did Mr. Lewin get breakfast this morning?”

One of the aides nodded. “Ate it all. He want more?”

“Dad, do you want more?”

“No.”

His doctors had said he was depressed, a common side effect of the medication that kept him calm.

She waited, hoping he’d show some animation. He turned his face up to her and she caught her breath. A bruise covered his right temple, purple and blue hues vivid beneath the thin skin. “Stay here. I’m going to talk to Dr. Mehra, all right?”

The nurses paged the doctor, who trotted briskly down the hall. Rose had liked Dr. Mehra, as he had a gentle manner but didn’t dance around the truth.

“What happened to his head? He’s hurt.”

Dr. Mehra blinked. “Didn’t they call you?”

“No.”

“He became belligerent last night, wanted to go outside. He slipped as they were getting him back to bed and hit his head on the safety rail. Not hard, he didn’t lose consciousness.”

“But hard enough that it’s badly bruised.”

“I examined him last night and again this morning. We see no signs of concussion.”

“How could you tell? He’s not responding to anything I say.”

“Actually, we should sit and talk; do you have time?”

The pit in Rose’s stomach grew bigger. She didn’t have time. Tyler would be asking where she was by now, but he’d have to wait.

The doctor led her into his office. “We need to talk about the possibility of placing your father in the dementia unit.”

“Why? He needs to be looked after, but he’s not that bad. He can walk and feed himself still.”

“He knocked down another patient last night as he was trying to get out.”

Rose sat back and gripped her hands together. “Was the other patient hurt?”

“Fine, nothing broken. But he’s a danger to others.”

Rose mulled over the possibilities. “I wouldn’t want anything to happen to someone else because of him. I’m just wondering if this is a one-time thing. He’s been so docile.”

“You may need to reframe your thinking. He’s in a decline, and it’s only going to get worse. We ought to move him sooner rather than later, for everyone’s sake.”

“I see. And how much more does that cost a month?” The question was crass, but pertinent. Before, Griff’s money would have provided a cushion for emergencies like this. No longer.

“You’ll have to talk to the billing department. They’ll be able to answer all of your questions.”

She shook his hand. “I will. Thank you.”

By the time she got back to her father, he was dozing in the big armchair in his room. She touched the bruise lightly with her finger and straightened a lock of his gray hair that had fallen over his forehead. She imagined him waking up and chatting with her, suggesting they head to their favorite diner for a cheeseburger.

But she knew the truth: That was the past, a little girl’s wishful thinking. He was lost to her more every week.