Missing Pieces(17)

Sarah watched in disbelief as Amy squirmed from Celia’s grasp and shoved past them, out of the room.

“Are you okay?” Celia asked.

“I’m fine,” the nurse said, clearly shaken, blotting her bloody arm with a tissue.

“Shouldn’t someone go after her?” Sarah asked, heart pounding.

“No, just let her go,” Jack said. “Let her cool off.”

“Jesus Christ, she’s f*cking crazy,” Dean hissed, his voice tense with anger.

“Please!” Hal interjected. “For God’s sake, have some respect for your mother.” Everyone froze and a mix of shame and grief washed over them. Hal’s head fell heavy in his hands and the room filled with the soft sobs of a man who just lost his wife. “Fifty years,” he said mournfully. “We were married fifty years.” He looked up from his hands, his eyes wet and bloodshot. “Fifty years and she had to leave me this way?”

The nurse watched from the doorway as Jack’s family seemed to collapse under the weight of their own grief. “I’ll have to ask you to step out for a few minutes, Mr. Quinlan,” she said kindly. “We’ll take care of your wife and get the room cleaned up, then you can come back in and take as much time as you need.”

The room looked like a war zone. The floor was slick with water and flower petals. Shards of glass from the broken vase crunched beneath their feet. Hal remained by Julia’s side until Dean gently took his arm and guided him from the room. Sarah bent down and picked up the handmade quilt that had fallen to the floor. She folded it neatly and draped it over the back of a chair.

Jack paused at Julia’s bedside and looked down at the woman who had welcomed him into her home after his parents had died. He whispered into her ear and lightly brushed her cheek with his fingers.

“I’m sorry, sir,” the nurse said. “We have to ask you all to step out, please.”

Sarah held her hand out to Jack. Together they stepped into the hallway and Sarah pulled him into her arms. “It’s going to be okay,” she murmured. She felt Jack’s heart thrumming against his chest.

Jack released Sarah and went to his uncle. “She loved you,” Hal said, taking Jack’s hands in his own. “You and Amy, just like you were her own. You know that, don’t you?”

“I know,” Jack replied, his voice hoarse with emotion. “She always believed in me. No matter what.”

Sarah embraced Hal. “Is there anyone I can call for you?”

“I know who to call,” Celia interjected in a way that struck Sarah as oddly aggressive.

“What about Amy?” Sarah asked. “Do you think someone should go check on her?”

“I think it’s probably best to just let her be for a while,” Celia answered. “Let her catch her breath.”

Sarah wrapped her arms around Jack’s waist, and he rested his chin on top of her head. “Did you know Julia had a do-not-resuscitate order?” she asked.

“No. And Amy must have not known, either. I’ve never seen her act like that before.”

“I should call the girls, let them know what’s going on.”

“No, not yet.”

“I could make arrangements to have them fly here?” Sarah offered.

“No,” Jack said quickly.

Sarah pulled back and looked up at him. “But...”

“Sarah,” he said in exasperation. “I said no.”

Sarah didn’t understand Jack’s reluctance to bring the girls to Penny Gate. They should be here with them. That’s what families did; they were there to support one another when times were difficult.

The tension between them was broken by the sound of determined footsteps. They shifted their gaze down the long corridor, where a woman in a long white doctor’s coat and a man who appeared to be a security guard were approaching with quick, long strides.

“This can’t be good,” Jack said in a low voice. “Can you find Amy?”

Sarah hesitated, glancing at Jack with uncertainty.

“Sarah, please just go!”

She started down the hallway, hurt by Jack’s harsh tone. When she reached the end of the hallway, she turned to see the doctor and security guard confront Jack in the doorway of Julia’s room. He held up his hands in placation, as if trying to calm them.

The nurses must have alerted security about Amy’s outburst and they were coming to...what? Escort Amy from the building? Detain her until the police came to arrest her? Sarah quickened her pace, though she wasn’t sure what she would say to Amy if she found her. Should she tell her to run, to get out of there as quickly as possible? Or should she try to convince her to come back upstairs to talk things through?

Once again she bypassed the elevator and raced down the stairs and through the lobby. The automatic doors slid open and Sarah saw Amy shivering on a bench just outside the hospital entrance. A brisk wind had swept the clear skies away and replaced them with dark clouds heavy with rain. Amy had stopped crying and was blankly staring upward, a cigarette pressed to her lips. She had one arm wrapped protectively around her waist, the same way that Jack always did.

“Amy.” Sarah cautiously approached her sister-in-law. “I’m so sorry about Julia. Are you okay?”

“I can’t believe she’s gone.” Amy swiped at her nose with the back of one hand. “I can’t believe she’s really dead.” She pressed the heels of her hands against her bloodshot eyes. “I really freaked out up there. Did I hurt that nurse?”