Page 74 of Shame

“That I’m a terrible daughter for wanting him to go to this home.”

“Sweetheart, you said yourself this is what your dad wanted.”

“But what if he didn’t mean it?” she asks, wiping her eyes again.

“I’m sure he meant it. Your father loves you. He wants what’s best for you. Part of being a parent is being selfless. Put yourselfin his shoes. If this was reversed, like if you were the parent with a child in your shoes, what would you do?”

She sighs again, sinking into her chair. “The same thing he is.”

“Yeah, you would. And so would I. There’s nothing wrong with that and you’re not a bad daughter. This isn’t about getting rid of him, it’s about giving him a safe place to live. And it’s not like you’re shipping him off. I’m sure you can visit whenever you want.”

Cora doesn’t respond, just closes her eyes and tries to get comfortable.

There’s another knock on the door, and it’s a nurse this time.

“Hi, you must be Cora, Mr. Davies’ daughter,” she says, stepping into the room and offering her hand. Cora takes it. “I’m Vivienne, one of the RNs. We have a room for your father. We’re going to take him up to it now. It’s room 309 on the third floor. You can come up to get him settled, but visiting hours don’t start until ten. You can use the time from now until then to wash up, get something to eat. Maybe take a nap?”

You can tell by the way she talks that she’s no non-sense. She’s been doing this work for a while and only wants what’s best for her patients. I like that.

“I’ll make sure she does,” I say. “Where is the best place to wait for her?”

“No, I want you to come with me,” she says, grabbing onto my hand. I look at the nurse for an answer because somethingtells me throwing my weight around with this nurse won’t work.

“I’ll allow it, but just this time.”

“Thanks,” I say, giving her a smile.

She leaves the room for a few moments, and I help Cora to her feet and make sure she has her phone and the card from the doctor. The nurse comes back soon after with another nurse and they get Calvin’s bed situated to move. We follow them into the staff-only elevator, then down the hall and to his new room.

I lean on the wall as I wait for Cora to say her goodbyes. She holds her father’s uninjured hand and kisses his cheek, whispering something to him before walking to me and falling into my arms again.

“Come on, let’s get you to my house and cleaned up.”

We drive to my house in silence, the sun already fully up. When we get there, I let her inside, show her to the bathroom, and apologize for only having soap for men. She laughs, which is a beautiful sound. I give her one of my t-shirts, since it’s all I have that she can fit into and toss her pajamas into the trash since they’re ruined from the smoke and charred in places.

When she’s out of the shower, I get her comfortable in my bed, draw the curtains and lay with her.

“Get some sleep,” I tell her. She hums a sound of approval, her eyes falling closed. “I’m going to stop by your house when you do. Check on things.”

I run my hand through her hair, hoping like hell there is something salvageable from her house.

It takes her a solid two minutes to start snoring, which is adorable. I get out of bed carefully, not wanting to wake her, then make my way to her house.

It doesn’t look good. All the windows are busted open, the roof is caved in over the kitchen and living room. Most of it is gone and the parts that aren’t are destroyed by smoke and flames. I make my way into the house, shaking my head when I see the whole back wall is missing. Just gone.

There’s nothing left in the kitchen but the shells of appliances. There are a few things in the living room I can grab, like some photos. I head down the hall, checking her room first. The room is covered in soot, but it looks like I may be able to get some things from here. I check her father’s room next, knowing there’s probably things in here she wants. Since it’s on the opposite side of the house, it’s not in as bad of shape. In his closet, I find an empty suitcase. There is a crocheted blanket in the closet I toss in, and consider grabbing his clothes, but I’ll get the guys to grab this shit later. Right now, I need to focus on things for Cora. I go back into her room and grab clothes from her drawers. I stuff in as much as I can. On my way out, I stop in the living room, spotting a photo of her and her dad. She looks maybe eighteen or nineteen. I tuck it under my arm, then leave. As I toss the suitcase into the bed of my truck, I call Coyote.

“I need a favor,” I say when he answers, not sure how he’s going to take it.

“What’s up?”

“My girl’s house burned down last night. I need the guys to go by and grab everything they can that’s not ruined.”

“Of course. I’ll get them on it first thing.”

“Thanks,” I mutter.

“How you feeling?” he asks, which is a bit of a shock. Since when does he fucking care how I feel?

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