My escape plans flying away in sad little thought bubbles, I dutifully lugged the chair toward where he sat in full blazing summer sun.
“So, why aren’t you eating, Dad?” As if I ate like a normal human being anymore, either.
“I don’t eat when I’m not hungry.”
I handed over the caramels. Side-eyeing the staff, he scratched at the cruel cellophane wrapping.
“Hang on, Dad, let me get some scissors or something.”
“Never mind,” he said, gnawing at one end of the box. “I got this.” Inordinately pleased with himself, he tricked open the flap at one end with an eyetooth and tore off a clear strip of plastic. He popped a piece of candy in his mouth, almost reluctantly holding out the box in my direction.
“No, thanks.”
“Watching your figure?” His eyebrows waved, as if he thought this might be a good idea.
“They’re for you, Dad.”
He chewed aggressively, jaw muscles flexing and dancing. “What’s new, kiddo?”
A petite, nearly toothless elderly woman, as tall as he was sitting, and wearing an apron with little yellow ducks on it, walked over and gave him a tennis ball.
“Not now, Marie,” he said, handing the ball back to her, but she thrust it back at him, her face fixed in a fragile smile.
“Maybe just take it, Dad, if it makes her happy,” I said in low tones. Marie had Alzheimer’s but was clearly in love with my dad. Back when her mind was clearer, they’d discussed playing tennis on their respective high school teams. Some part of her mind had hung on to this fact.
“Thanks for the ball, but I’m visiting with my daughter now,” he said loudly, as if her problem were her hearing. He took the ball and wedged it next to his bony hip. Marie nodded eagerly and hurried away. He shook his head, muttered, “Christ, to think of the women who used to follow me around. World-class beauties. Now I’ve got Marie. It all comes to this. Complete and utter shit. Take note, okay? Take note.” He blew his nose into a soggy handkerchief, took me in with watery eyes. “What have you got to say for yourself?”
“I talked to Wyatt last night.”
His eyes widened, then dimmed with pain as he squinted into the sunshine. “Some kind of what…” His voice quavered; he cleared his throat. “New information?”
“Not… about Andy.” I sat straighter, considered not telling him a thing. “Dad, have you ever heard of someone thawing out alive after being frozen?”
He glared at me, blurted, “Is this a joke?” Several nurses and residents glanced over at us.
“No,” I said softly, hoping he would mimic my tone. “Why would I joke about something like—”
“Is Wyatt losing his mind out there? God knows I would, after what happened with Andy and wintering over the year before. Asshole didn’t even come home for the funeral.”
“He couldn’t leave… the research, remember?”
He glared at me as if I were too stupid to guess some obvious truth. “I never liked him.” He tossed the box of caramels on a nearby table. “Who called who? He called you?”
“I called him, because he sent me an email about finding a girl frozen in the ice.” I leaned a little closer to him. “She woke up alive, Dad. She’s speaking, talking all the time, but Wyatt can’t understand what she’s saying, neither can Jeanne—”
“Jeanne? That tough old bird’s still out there?”
“Dad, listen. He sent me an audio clip. I can’t understand a word of it.”
“Even you can’t sort it out?”
“It’s like nothing I’ve ever heard before.”
“First of all, I don’t buy this horseshit about thawing out alive, so let’s put that aside for now. Where did he say he found this girl?”
“Glacier 35A—”
“He’s hundreds of miles from anything. There is no indigenous population there. Never has been.”
I stared through the picture window at a little girl half pulling her elderly grandmother along the sidewalk; the girl looked about seven years old. She looked so small. “Dad, Wyatt’s not crazy. He’s a lot of things, but he’s not that.”
My father leaned forward in his chair. I glimpsed the old fire in him. “We only had his story, Val, you know? Anything could have happened out there.”
“He wants me to come up. Try to talk to the girl. He’ll pay my expenses, any loss of income. He wants me to come right away.”