Downfall(50)

She still didn’t look convinced, but we were already at the entrance to the facility, so there was no more time to try and convince her everything was going to go smoothly. Once I pushed through the doors, I was immediately engulfed in warm welcomes and aggressive affection from several of the nursing staff. My mother’s main caregiver was a woman in her fifties named Melody. She was a lifelong resident of the city, so she was as tough as nails, but she had also decided to take up where my mother left off and did her best to baby me every time I came to visit. She was one of the main reasons I didn’t mind being used as a punching bag in order to keep my mother somewhere she got amazing care and was truly adored by the staff.

After greeting Orley with a brisk handshake and a speculative look, the nurse smiled at the little girl hovering close to her mother and stated, “You brought company with you this time. Who is this?” The older woman crouched down so she was at Noble’s level, cocking her head with exaggerated amazement at Noble’s drawing for my mother. “And what do you have there, you little cutie pie?”

Once again, the little girl proved to be braver than her mother. Noble proudly showed off the drawing to the collection of nurses who suddenly gathered. It had to be those wild black curls and innocent smile that stole every heart she encountered.

“It’s for Solo’s mommy. He told me she would like it a lot.” Noble nodded definitively like my words were gospel. Melody looked up at me from under her lashes, doing a terrible job of hiding her smile.

“Yep, Solo’s mommy will definitely like it very much. Are you ready to go and meet her?” Noble nodded enthusiastically while Orley turned white and looked like she was ready to bolt out the front door. Melody lifted herself back to her full height and gave me a critical once over. “Maybe Solo needs to have one of the nurses check him out before you leave. He looks like he lost another fight.”

Noble’s pouty bottom lip jutted out as her tiny eyebrows pulled together in a mini-frown when she looked up at me. “Fighting is bad. You get in trouble when you fight and get your privileges taken away.” She stumbled over the word privileges, but the rest of the words in her quickly spoken sentence were clear enough for me to fill in the blanks.

Orley reached out and put her hand on Noble’s head. She blushed a bright red and hurriedly uttered, “Remember, we talked about how sometimes there is no choice but to fight. Like when you’re protecting yourself or someone you love. It all depends on the circumstance.”

Noble nodded as if she understood, but in a whisper loud enough to be heard in Alaska, she tilted her head in my direction and asked, “What’s a sir-com-stance?” It was another big word she murdered with her limited vocabulary, but it was the cutest assassination possible.

I gave her another wink and told her, “The situation. Sometimes people end up in a bad situation and they have to fight, but generally fighting is bad and someone always gets hurt. It’s a good idea to stay away from a fight if you can.”

All the nurses laughed as she stuck out her small fist to bump against mine. I caught Orley’s surprised look out of the corner of my eye. I’d been spending a lot of time with Noble lately, and it seemed like she was starting to pick up on some of my more common habits. The little girl turned to her mom and offered up the same fist for another bump. Orley complied with a small shake of her head as I got sly, delighted grins from the majority of the staff watching the interaction.

Catching Noble’s hand and placing my free hand on Orley’s lower back, I started to guide them away from the fascinated staff toward the little efficiency apartment my mother called home. Noble was practically bouncing up and down in excitement. This entire outing was a big adventure to her, and I hoped whatever her future held, be it here in the city or somewhere else, she never lost her sense of wonder and her infectious enthusiasm. Those things were definitely worth fighting for, no matter what was lost.

My mom opened the door after I knocked. For someone who’d been injured as gravely as she had, my mother somehow managed to look like any other suburban mom. She was around the same height as Orley and had the same dark hair and eyes as I did. Her face had settled into her age gracefully. The only sign of the violence that had forever changed her life was the obvious bald spot on the side of her head where the doctors had to literally piece her skull back together. Her eyes were as wide and innocent as the little girl’s whose hand I held in mine. She blinked at me for a second, the same way she always did. Some days when I visited, it took her up to an hour to remember who I was. On good days it was usually quicker.

Today was a good day, because a wide grin broke out on her face, one Noble immediately matched. With zero shyness or hesitation, she stuck out the drawing and grinned up at my mom in all her gap-toothed glory. “Hi. I’m Noble. I drew this for you. It’s me and Mommy and Solo.”

My mother took the picture, eyes lighting up. “It’s pretty. Thank you.” She held the paper to her chest and gasped. “I’ll draw you a picture, too!” She reached out and pushed my shoulder playfully. “You brought me a friend this time!”

Noble took my mother’s exuberance in stride, and when I glanced over at Orley, she looked like she was caught somewhere between love and hate. It was a dichotomy I understood well. I loved my mother with all of my heart and soul, but there were moments when I hated what her life had become, what had been stolen from her, what I’d lost. Fortunately, the love always won out, and the same thing happened with Orley. A second later she had the same expression on her face she wore when Noble did something particularly adorable.