Tranquility by Laurie Gardiner

Author:Laurie Gardiner [Gardiner, Laurie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
Publisher: Escargot Books and Music
Published: 2014-12-21T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17 - In a Fit of Rage

SATURDAY MORNING AFTER BREAKFAST, I helped Lily and Beth prepare for an outing. It was their sixtieth birthdays and their aunt Helen was coming to take them out for the day. It was a rare event. Helen was well into her eighties and not in the best of health. She and her daughter, Cheryl, lived in a small town about an hour away and weren’t often able to visit.

The twins were in their room, putting on makeup and doing their hair. They were excited at the prospect of going out. I listened to them chatter and bicker excitedly as I packed a small bag with some of the things they would need.

“Why does Cheryl have to come?” Beth asked. “She’s always mean to us.”

“Only to you. She likes me.”

“No, Aunt Helen likes me better.”

“Does not. I want the red lipstick, Beth. We can’t both wear the same color.”

They argued over the lipstick until Beth gave in and agreed to use a different shade. I imagined she had spent her whole life giving in to Lily.

“Okay, ladies,” I said, opening the wardrobe, “time to put on your coats and boots.”

Beth looked at me blankly. “Why, where are we going?”

“It’s your birthdays. Your Aunt Helen and your cousin, Cheryl, are coming to take you out.”

They clapped their hands in excitement as though hearing it for the first time.

Ten minutes later, we walked into the main hall. Helen and Cheryl were at the nurse’s station, signing the twins out.

“There they are,” I said.

“Who?” Beth asked.

Lily sighed impatiently. “Aunt Helen and Cheryl,” she said as they turned to greet us.

Beth looked from her aunt to her cousin in confusion. “But you’re so old!” she blurted.

Helen laughed as she stepped forward for a hug. “Oh dear, Beth, you are so much like your mother. I’ve been old for many years. Have I really changed so much?”

I punched in the code and said goodbye as I held the door open for them. Sam, who’d been lurking near the aquarium, darted in behind the women and tried to sneak out with them.

“Sam,” I said, taking him by the arm and guiding him back inside. “Just the guy I was looking for. I have a job for you.”

I took him to the lounge, opened a cupboard in the entertainment center and pulled out a plastic bin filled with hundreds of buttons. I placed the bin on the table and began sorting the buttons into piles. “I need these sorted, Sam. See, there’s a pile for brown, one for white, this one’s for black….”

Sam sat down and started sorting. A few other residents wandered over to see what we were doing. I explained to them what to do, then stood back and watched as a few of them sat down to help Sam.

Satisfied I’d successfully distracted him from attempting to leave the unit, I went to Hall B to make beds. Tracey was off that day and Maria preferred to make her residents’ beds on her own.

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