Love Letters From the Grave(12)
But the car wasn’t going anywhere. Very glad of her athletic abilities, Molly wrapped her muffler firmly around her neck and set off at a run.
She arrived within twenty minutes, slithering and sliding along the corridors as she sought out the room her mother might be in. Spotting Doctor Carter in the distance, she ran full-speed to the isolation room, not caring whether it was ladylike or not.
‘Doctor Carter, Fred’s on his way,’ she cried, clutching his sleeve.
‘Thank goodness.’ Fred’s father’s brow creased as he took in Molly’s soaked shoes. ‘I was worried you’d try to get all the way out to the homestead.’
‘Is my mother here?’
Doctor Carter gazed at her for a moment, then nodded. He indicated the door ahead of him. ‘Jesse’s with her. You can go in. Just … she’s really gone downhill, Molly. Be prepared.’
Her father’s uniform stood out against the stark whiteness of the ward as he stood uneasily by her mother’s bed. Molly rushed to his side, halted by the sight of her stricken mother. She lay beneath the blankets like a child, a bird, fragile and barely making an impression on the mattress. Molly could hear her chest rattling as she struggled to drag air into her embattled chest, but other than that there was no movement at all. It was if her mother’s spirit had already left, leaving behind an empty body.
‘Dad,’ said Molly. ‘What … why is she sleeping like that?’
Her father’s eyes were sunken, almost as if he, too, was ill. ‘She has a severe case of pneumonia. In her weakened state, she quickly lapsed into a coma. We’re just hoping she’ll improve now that she’s here. She went downhill so fast, Molly. So fast. I couldn’t get there in time.’
‘She’ll get better now, though, won’t she? She’s in the right place, with all this expert care and the doctors right here…’
But her father didn’t answer, and somehow she knew what they all suspected, what Doctor Carter had tried to warn her to expect.
Her mother never regained consciousness, dying after only a few more days.
Molly was absolutely devastated by her mother's death. Even worse, her father was rendered despondent and nearly helpless. He didn't know which way to turn in running the household. He had never thought about being responsible for running the home, let alone doing it. He had never given a thought to life without his wife.
It took many weeks for him to learn how to function at even a basic level without the constant support and guiding light of his wife in the home, but then one evening, as Molly returned from the store, he called her into the kitchen.
‘I don’t know how to cope without her,’ he said simply, and Molly nodded, biting her lip to prevent the tears from flowing.
‘You know I’ll do anything I can,’ she said.
‘I … I don’t like to ask.’ Jesse picked at the table top with a ground-down fingernail, something he’d been doing more and more over the passing weeks when he had to face something unpleasant.
‘What is it, Dad?’
He sighed. ‘I know you love your job, but I was wondering if you would consider quitting. Stay here in the home, and essentially take over the household. You could have room and board as part of your compensation for running the home, and I’ll match your earnings from the store so that you can continue to save money for your future. I know it’s a lot to ask, Molly, but I just don’t … I just don’t know …’
She did not hesitate to do as her father asked.
Molly immediately quit her job and began the process of learning to run the household. It took a while to get used to her mother being gone, and to get settled into a workable routine of taking care of her father, paying the bills, and running the home.
For a long while, she stopped going out on dates, but gradually she reached the point of occasionally accepting invitations to picture shows or to be escorted to community events.
Somehow, though, it was no longer enough. The fancy-free approach of old Molly no longer suited a mature young woman who had experienced great sadness and learned to run a household. How could she gad about with such frivolity? No. Her thoughts turned increasingly to marriage, to stability, and maybe even children of her own, but she couldn’t bear the thought of leaving her father alone. In fact, the only men who seemed suitable to date were Jesse’s deputies, who visited him at home more frequently since the death of his wife, mostly on business, but occasionally for social events such as cook-outs.
There were three deputies who paid her particular attention, all of them older than her by between two and eight years. The youngest and oldest ones were bachelors, and the 25-year-old was a divorcee.
It was clear, from the beginning, that her father was very pleased that she was finally dating men whom he not only admired, but also whom he felt would be able to adequately provide for a wife and children.
‘You go ahead,’ he told her when she expressed an interest in John, one of the two younger deputies. ‘They’re good men, all of them. And don’t forget Tommy. I know he’s a little reserved, but I have the feeling he likes you too.’
For her own part, she liked all three of the men she dated, especially the two youngest ones. Without exception, she always had a good time on her dates, and gradually they became increasingly romantic. She had actually begun to become hopeful that one of the younger men would propose to her, but somehow it didn't happen.