Goodbye Earl(55)

“Her cheeks. Her cheeks have been so red,” Rosemarie said softly, shaking her head.

“I thought so too, but I wondered if it was the heat. I should’ve asked her. I should’ve said something. It’s so early, but praise Jesus. Praise Jesus they’re both alive in there,” Mimi said, nodding. She took her glasses off, patted at her eyes with a tissue. Mimi filled Ada and Kasey in on the meaning of the red cheeks and they stood quiet afterward.

“I read his texts to her…they were so nasty. I should’ve—”

Mimi shook her head at Rosemarie. “No. Nobody to blame here but him,” she said.

Ada texted Grayson the latest and sprang into housekeeping action.

“I know flowers aren’t allowed in the ICU, but when they move her, I’ll fill the room with sunflowers,” Ada said. “We’ll make sure they keep her curtains open, and she’ll have a private room soon, right? We’ll make sure she has a private room. Grayson and I don’t mind paying for it, Miss Mimi.” She took drink and food orders from everyone, and she and Kasey went down to the cafeteria for bottled water and tea, soup and crackers.

*



Rosemarie and Grandma Mimi sat in the waiting room holding hands. Rosemarie asked if Caroline’s mom and dad would be coming up anytime soon. Caro had an icy relationship with both of them and so did Mimi, but did any of that matter anymore? Did any of that matter when Caro was in a coma? Rosemarie’s spirit was filled with grief, and there was a righteous fire in her heart.

Mimi said she told Caroline’s mother what happened and she was on her way down from Indiana and would be there later tonight. The last Mimi heard of him, Caroline’s dad was in Mexico.

“Probably sitting half-drunk on tequila with a bag of coke in his pocket and his arm around some woman he just met. She’s better off without him. We all are. Caroline accepts anything she mistakes for love from any man because her daddy’s no good and she never got it from him,” Mimi said. “He’s no better than that Foxberry boy, he ain’t. Her mama says she’s been clean for a few months, but we’ll see when she gets here. I don’t trust her one bit,” she said. “And any man who could do something like that…” Mimi began. “I’ve known a lot of women who tied themselves to bad men, and they never change. I’ve seen it too many times. My daddy was a bad man. Horrible drunk. And y’know, I must’ve asked Caroline a million times if that boy treated her right, if he was good to her, and she looked me right in the eyes and told me yes. Caroline’s not a natural liar. She wasn’t. Not until he made her into one.”

Mimi dug through her straw purse and pulled out a pack of mint gum, offering a stick to Rosemarie, who took it. Both of Rosemarie’s grandmothers had died when she was a teenager. Being around Miss Mimi was always comforting in the best way. She was funny and warm, and there wasn’t a phony bone in her body. She called Rosemarie Ro-Ro when she was a little girl, and when she spent the night, Mimi would warm her apple juice in the microwave because she’d done it for her once and Rosemarie loved it. God had gifted Miss Mimi the ability to make people feel better simply with her presence, and Rosemarie felt it, holy and radiating in that hospital.

*



After Ada and Kasey came back and they’d eaten and drunk what they could, Kasey got a call from Silas, who was supposed to update them about Trey behind bars as soon as he knew what was up. Silas had been the one driving on that street in his patrol car, the one a neighbor flagged down because she thought she’d heard screams, the one to put Trey in handcuffs.

Kasey relayed the new info from Silas.

Trey was going to be kept in custody even though he claimed it was all an accident and that everyone knew how clumsy Caroline could be, especially if she’d been drinking. She’d fallen down the steps, and when Trey tried to catch and help her, she freaked out on him and panicked. Maybe she’d been sleepwalking? Either way, she pushed him off so hard she’d fallen against the window, breaking it. Her head, her eyes, the scratches, and bruises? Those were from the fall and the window glass. Trey was horrified anyone thought this was something he would do to his wife on purpose. Of course he loved his wife. This was all bullshit. Nonsense. He wanted out of there soon so he could get to the hospital to see Caroline. Silas told Kasey since the restraining order had been filed that morning, they could maybe find a reason to keep him locked up for a day or two, but probably not since Trey’s lawyer was already down there raising hell. His parents too.

Of course Trey was going to be able to spin this. He was a Foxberry and they owned half the town. Their grandfather’s name had recently been added to the new wing of the hospital they were sitting in.

The girls held hands and sank into a deep quiet when Mimi went back inside the room to sit with Caroline. Patients in the ICU could only have two visitors a day; any more would be too much overstimulation. Despite the fire burning and burning in Rosemarie’s heart, Ada and Kasey told her they felt like she gave off the most natural, peaceful presence and should be the one to sit with Caroline right now.

When Mimi came out, Rosemarie went in.

*



“Caro, it’s Roses,” Rosemarie said, sitting in the chair next to her bed. She watched Caroline’s chest move with her breath, and Rosemarie started crying all over again, this time out of gratitude. “I’m going to talk to you and Baby, okay? Your little Rosy Magnolia. Remember years ago when I told you I had a dream that you and I both had little girls we named Rosy Magnolia? And I heard Grateful Dead in my head, singing it like ‘Sugar Magnolia’? Don’t ask me how I know you’re pregnant with a girl—I just do. Both my grandma Rose and my grandma Marie had The Gift about this, and I don’t question it.”