“Hi Nana,” I said, taking her hand. “It’s me.” Her brown eyes looked into mine, and I could see she wanted to tell me something. Her mouth opened and closed again. “Would you like something to drink?” Gloria asked. “We have water, orange juice, some cranberry juice…” “Oh, just some water would be great,” I answered. “Thanks.” As Gloria left the room I looked back at Nana. She leaned over a bit, and slowly laid her head upon my shoulder. I said nothing. She said nothing. We sat in silence and watched Green Acres, while in the kitchen we could hear Gloria running the faucet. I woke up and everything was bright. My mother was on my left, telling me to wake up, and I looked up at her blearily. I could hear footsteps, many footsteps on the other side of door, and I pictured giant ants marching through the hallway. “What’s going on?” I mumbled. “Just stay where you are for now,” my mother said. “Something’s happened, and I want you to be out of the way for a little bit.” Her voice was calm, but her face was as hard as a stone. I looked into her blue eyes, and could tell she wanted to tell me something. But she didn’t. Instead, my mother walked back to the door of the bedroom and opened it. I could hear a man on the radio in the hallway, but I couldn’t tell what he was saying. Then the door closed and everything muffled once again. I stayed where I was, not wanting to break my promise. But my curiosity finally got the better of me. I slipped out of bed and walked to the door. The cold brass knob was cold in my hand as I turned the knob and pushed. There were a few men in white uniforms standing around outside. I looked across the hall where Nana’s room was and saw that the door was ajar. Cold fear flushed into my head. A moment later, Nana was wheeled out on a stretcher. As I ran out onto the stage, everything was bright. The merry trumpets of the Party Scene sang over the sound system, and I hurried to my place. There wasn’t much dancing for the kids at this part, so I took the opportunity to look out into the audience. The light reflected off the first row of people, catching the shine in their stoic glasses. As the rows ran back farther and farther, I could see less and less of the people, but I knew that Nana was out there somewhere, watching. This was my first show on a real stage, and I wondered what she was doing. Maybe she was pointing at me and whispering to my father that I had just appeared. I smiled, and turned back to my friends. We sat uncomfortably in the small blue room. There were no lights on. The windows opposite the entrance let in rays of pale white sunlight, the kind that always comes as the day is dying. The doctor sat behind his desk as he spoke, peering through his shining glasses. He told my father that Dorothy was now stable, but needed to be given constant care. In addition there would be issues over how to get her safely home from Boston. The car that we had brought wasn’t suited to carrying someone on a stretcher. Looking down at my hands, I wondered where Nana was. I wondered what she was thinking. I wondered if she could think. My father answered the doctor’s questions slowly, and methodically. It was suggested that our family start thinking about rest homes, but my father had a very different plan in mind. He wanted to hire
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