Chapter 8

D anica sat at the kitchen table, across from her grandmother, her gaze intense as she studied Nana. “So, you want to tell me exactly what happened?”

“I did tell you,” her grandmother replied, somewhat testily.

“No, you didn’t.”

“I fell,” she repeated flatly. “That’s all there is to it.”

“No, that’s not all. I’m not sure what’s going on here, but the more you keep me in the dark, the more suspicious I get, and the harder it is for me to look after you.”

“You don’t need to look after me,” Nana declared.

“That’s not true. Somebody needs to look after you, particularly after that doctor made those threats.”

“He had no business doing that.”

“Maybe not, but he obviously feels like he needs to,” Danica noted, staring off into the distance, still trying to process the amount of hate she had encountered since her return. “Whether it was directed at you or me, I don’t know. I honestly didn’t realize how long the memories would be for the townsfolk. I was more concerned about my own memories and handling being back. I hadn’t really considered how much active hate I would come up against here.”

“You shouldn’t be coming up against any of it,” her grandmother snapped. “It’s ridiculous that they would think that you killed Daisy.” Nana brushed her wispy white hair from her face. “I can’t believe they would even accuse you of that.”

“They did plenty of accusing as soon as I got out of the hospital,” she murmured. “Everybody was torn as to whether I could have done it myself. Nobody even contemplated that I had no reason to kill my mother,” she added, shaking her head.

“ You have never considered that you had any reason—yet you’ve had lots of reasons,” Nana clarified. “Still, that would have been a long time ago, not at the stage when you were ready to leave.”

“I was ready to leave, and not just that. I made sure I did leave. Just no place for me here after that,” she shared, pausing as she reflected on her words.

“I missed you so,” her grandmother began. “With your mother gone and then you leaving, this place was awfully lonely and quiet for a long time.”

Danica winced and sighed. “I’m sorry for that too. It really never occurred to me, to be honest. I was in so much pain that I just wanted to run and hide, and that’s what I did. I took off and didn’t even consider what you might need or would be going through.” She stared at her grandmother in remorse. “I’m really very sorry for that. I want to say I was young, but I was certainly old enough to know better.”

“Oh, heavens, child, stop blaming yourself. You weren’t responsible for me, and you sure as heck weren’t responsible for what your mother did. It was just tough to find my world so completely upended like that. I went from having my family, who I love so dearly, all around me, to suddenly having no family around me at all. And harder still, the friends I thought I had back then just turned out not to be my friends at all. I think that was the hardest thing.”

Danica nodded. “Exactly. Even for myself, I had friends—or people who I thought were friends. I had a boyfriend—I thought,” she added, shaking her head. “Who knew that Jace would take all of it as being something evil—in his words. I didn’t even realize he was religious.”

“I don’t think religion had anything to do with it.”

“You need to be more careful,” Danica declared, searching her grandmother’s gaze. “Are you sure nobody came up and bopped you on the head or anything?”

Her grandmother looked at her in surprise, then gave a rueful shake of her head. “No, no, no, don’t even go down that pathway. It was nothing like that.”

The trouble was, Danica couldn’t quite shake that possibility from her mind, and she kept thinking about her grandmother’s response the whole time. Something was just off about it, and Danica didn’t know what she was supposed to do about it. If her grandmother wouldn’t fess up and tell her, Danica would be operating in the dark, and that was not the way she wanted to do things in a situation like this.

When her grandmother announced that she would be taking a nap now, Danica nodded and then sighed, watching Nana walk slowly to her bedroom.

*

Sitting in her RV, ostensibly trying to work, all the doors wide open and the big living room window popped out, Danica thought about everything that had brought her to this moment in time. She would do anything she could to make her grandmother’s last days, weeks, or months as comfortable as she could. She doubted it would be more than that, certainly not years, but if that’s the way it was to be, then it would be fine. Yet Danica still wasn’t where she wanted to be and wasn’t doing what she thought she should be doing.

That thinking brought to mind the question of the property request. Why was she even trying to buy it back? It was important to her grandmother, but, when Nana was gone, then what? Would Danica keep it for herself? Why would she even want to do that? She didn’t know. She really didn’t. She sighed as she contemplated life, a cold beer in her hand.

Her grandmother had gone to bed early, after the bump on her head, and now Danica was out of sorts. There had to be something she could do to make herself feel better, but instead it felt very much as if—and she didn’t want to say it—a case was being built against her; and it all just felt wrong.

When she heard footsteps crunching outside, Benji jumped up and started to bark. Looking up, Danica wasn’t surprised to see Cameron standing outside her open door, his hands on his hips, as he surveyed the RV.

“Is this where you’re staying?” he asked, when she popped her head out.

She glared at him and nodded. “You got a problem with that?”

“No, not at all,” he said, giving her a crooked grin. “I often wondered about getting one of these and just traveling all over America by myself.”

She nodded. “I did quite a lot of that myself. It seemed that I could never quite settle anywhere, and every place felt wrong somehow. Eventually I ended up here, hoping that I would find—I don’t know—home again,” she said, for want of a better word.

“Do you think you could really settle here? I know you want to buy the property and all, but—”

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I kept thinking that maybe things would clear up here, and I would be okay, but I sure didn’t expect the reception that I’m getting.”

He stared at her for a long moment, then slowly nodded. “I’m surprised you came back. I understand the reason—your grandmother and all—but it can’t be easy.”

“It’s not easy, not at all. It makes no sense that people are still thinking that I killed my mother,” she shared, shaking her head. “I don’t even know where they got that answer to begin with. The local authorities made it very clear that they knew exactly what had happened, and I know my mother attacked me,” she murmured. “Yet it seems as if everybody else wanted me to be the bad guy. I just—I guess I thought that would have gone by the wayside by now, but people still haven’t wised up to it.” She cringed. “I don’t understand why it’s still a thing.” She brushed her hair off her face, took another sip of her beer, and stared at him. “But that’s not why you’re here.”

“I’m checking to ensure your grandmother’s okay,”

She stiffened, her gaze narrowing.

He held up a hand. “I also wanted to apologize for what Dr. Patrick said. If there are obvious cases of abuse or neglect, we are obligated to contact social services. However, we are certainly not allowed to keep someone at the hospital if they don’t need to be there.”

She didn’t say anything but stared at him. He shifted slightly in place, making her realize just how uncomfortable she was making him. She relaxed ever-so-slightly, noticing his energy shift back too.

“So, I’m sorry for what my colleague said to you,” he added.

She nodded. “He’s quite the dick,” she muttered, letting go of the need to censor herself.

He stared at her, shocked for a moment, then laughed out loud. “I’m not sure that’s a comment I would have made,” he noted, with a smile, “but I can see that it might be a choice phrase for you. He had no business even saying what he did and no need to keep Harriet either.”

“If it were just to ensure she was doing okay and he was erring on the side of caution, that’s fine,” she clarified, not wanting to say what she was thinking.

“Why do you think he was keeping her then?”

She took a moment to answer. “I don’t know. As far as my grandmother is concerned, it was to jack up the bill.”

He winced. “That would not go over well,” he replied. “You don’t have insurance either, do you?”

She shook her head. “Nope, never had. My grandmother has never had insurance, nor my mother before me. Anytime anybody has had to go to the hospital, it would damn-near break the bank. And it doesn’t just break the bank once. It does so every month thereafter, while we work to pay it off.”

Even if she wasn’t explaining that very well, he nodded. “I get it. I hear the same thing from a lot of other people.”

“Insurance is supposed to help if major calamities happen, and yet, with a pre-existing condition, the insurance companies do absolutely everything they can to get out of paying for it.”

“I know.” Cameron nodded in agreement. “One of the sad parts of being in the medical profession is seeing all the people who won’t get proper medical help because they don’t have coverage.”

“My grandmother doesn’t need help,” she stated. “I was concerned that she may have been hit over the head. I was here at the time, but I was walking out back from talking to you with Benji, so I didn’t see anything.”

“ Huh .” Cameron frowned. “Did the doctor say anything about that?”

“He told me that there were no wounds, but he’s lying,” she said, with a shrug.

His eyebrows shot up. “What do you mean, he’s lying?” he asked.

“She’s got a swollen noggin and an egg-shaped bump on her head,” she explained.

He stared at her. “Was it there at the hospital?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted, “but it’s plenty evident now. That’s for sure. But, if he didn’t see it, what kind of doctor is he? Why would I take her back to someone there if they can’t even see an injury like that?”

“Where is she now?” Cameron asked, looking back toward the house.

“She’s gone to bed,” she responded.

His frown deepened. “And you don’t like that either?”

“No, because, if she’s got a head injury, I don’t want to see her to go to sleep and have further problems,” she clarified. “Look. I’m no expert on medicine, but she looked much better when I put her to bed.”

“Sure,” he replied, “but head wounds are tricky. Would you mind if we walked in and checked on her?”

She hesitated and then hopped to her feet. “Benji, come on. Let’s go check on Nana.” With that, she headed to the house, mentally begging the house to open the door for her or to at least unlock the door. She sighed in relief when she could turn the knob and actually enter the house, Cameron on her heels. “I wish you wouldn’t put things that way,” she muttered. “Now I’m worried.”

“Maybe we need to be worried,” he replied, as they moved through to Nana’s bedroom.

She knocked on the door, mentally again asking for entrance, then pushed it open slightly. “Nana, are you awake?” A mumble came from the bed. Danica looked back at him and said, “Wait here.”

Stepping into the room, she asked again, “Nana, are you awake?”

More mumbling came, but it was indecipherable. Fearing that her grandmother had gone into one of her psychic episodes, Danica walked over and gently placed a hand on Nana’s shoulder. “We just need to check up on that head wound.”

More mumbling came, and Danica noted that her grandmother wasn’t cognizant of what was going on around her. “Easy, Nana, just take it easy,” Danica murmured, gently stroking her shoulder.

She glanced over to see Cameron had stepped into the room and was frowning at her. “Are you sure she’s really talking? To me it seems like she’s more incoherent than anything, and that’s a concern.”

She hesitated, then looked at him and shook her head. “No, in this case, it isn’t.”

He stopped midstep and frowned at her.

She sighed. “I get it that you don’t understand, and that’s fine. I don’t really care if you understand or not, but it would be nice if people would believe me when I say, She’s fine .”

“How can you say that she’s fine if she’s incoherent?” he asked gently. He stepped up beside her grandmother and studied her features. “Mumbling incoherently like that is not a good sign.”

“It’s not a good sign for the average person,” Danica stated, “but it’s a normal sign for my grandmother.”

Confused, he just looked at her.

Danica sighed and added, “When she’s having her psychic visions, she’s often like this.”

His expression cleared, as he looked down at Harriet. “Interesting. I don’t know if you heard, but my grandmother used to have visions too, but she would sit in a chair on the porch and shift —stare up at the sky, and her eyes would close off.”

Danica nodded. “Nana does that too. But, when she’s asleep, she’ll do this,” she explained, motioning at her grandmother. “It’s not that she’s incoherent by any means. She’s just not here right now.”

“When you say ‘not here,’” he asked cautiously, “where would you say she is?” He looked at Danica curiously.

She wasn’t sure if this was a test or something else, but she shrugged and gave him half an answer. “Presumably she’s off talking to someone.”

He didn’t appear to be satisfied with that either.

She went a different route. “I never heard anything about your grandmother having the sight.”

“It’s not something that was ever advertised,” he replied calmly. “Honestly, most people gave her a pass because she was always doing so much charity work. Yet she did the charity work to make up for not being able to help a lot of the people who she felt needed help.”

“I get that too,” Danica noted. “Yet it’s also hard to not help because you know it’s not welcome. However, you also know that the outcome in the end is something that nobody will be happy about, but you can’t stop it. It’s already underway, and that’s just the way it is.”

He smiled. “That sounds like personal experience talking.”

“It is. I saw my mother slowly go nuts. But did I ever have any indication that she would turn around and attack me, try to kill me? Or do this to my face? No, not really. Would you ever think that someone you love would become so jealous of you—a younger version of themselves—becoming so frustrated with their lives and everything they’ve done, that they would do this? Of course not. Even if I had known, it’s not as if I would have had any ability to step in and to change it,” she admitted.

With a shake of her head, she continued. “When you’re young, the world doesn’t give you any power, and, when they finally do, they don’t trust you with it, so others step in to hinder you. So you’re left still trying to make your life happen, even though you no longer have the ability to do so.” She shrugged and turned to him. “As you can see, my grandmother is totally fine.” She motioned for him to back off, to exit the bedroom.

“Let me just have a look at her head,” he suggested, “and I would like to ensure she doesn’t have a fever.”

Danica watched as Cameron carefully assessed her grandmother, his touch gentle, accepting, not intrusive, and in no way judgmental, as he carefully looked over Nana. Finally he nodded and stepped back. “Keep an eye on her overnight. I know that, for you, all that mumbling and whatnot is common but, from my perspective, not so much.”

“Yet you’ve seen your own grandmother when she was having visions.”

“I have,” he agreed, with a nod. “That’s why this isn’t as disturbing to me as it might be for a lot of people.”

“Ain’t that the truth.”

“Still, we don’t want it to be something other than what we’re expecting to see,” he stated. “It’s one thing if you see a vision happening from start to finish, and you know what it is, but, when you step into something like this midway, you’re already predestined to assume it’s a vision. But what if it isn’t? What if this one time it’s a case of her injury affecting her?”

“Not a whole lot I can do at this point except keep an eye on her,” Danica replied.

“That’s all I ask.” Cameron gave her a smile, as he followed her back out to the living room, and she headed straight out the door.

“Is there a reason you don’t stay in here?”

“Yes,” she said, but she didn’t elaborate. Nobody would understand that. As soon as she got back outside, she stopped and took several deep, long breaths.

“It’s almost as if going in there hurt you,” he noted.

She stiffened and then shrugged. “There aren’t any good memories for me in there.”

“Ah, I hadn’t considered that.”

“It’s fine. Nana and I get along peaceably,” she said, nodding. “We don’t have any issues, and, depending on how long she has, we’ll find a way to make it work,” she murmured. “But I won’t be leaving her, especially now that I know that nobody here at that hospital will give her the care she needs.”

“That’s not fair,” he noted in a mild tone. “I’m certain they won’t hurt her.”

“No? That other doctor of yours?” she pointed out. “I’m pretty damn sure he doesn’t like anything about my grandmother or me. He’s dangerous—to you, to Nana, to me.”

“Yet he’s not the one who hired me, and the hospital needs doctors, so I’m not worried about losing my job,” he responded.

An insight suddenly slammed into Danica, and she murmured, “You should be because he’s already mounting a campaign against you.”

He stared at her, then slowly nodded. “I had a nagging feeling about that earlier, and I just put it off, thinking they wouldn’t be so foolish as to get rid of their one and only new doctor, still with not enough staff on board,” he shared, with a smile.

“You’re wrong,” Danica told him.

“I know,… and I’m not foolish enough to discount what you tell me, so thank you.”

She frowned at him.

He shrugged. “I know you don’t trust me. You maybe don’t believe me, and I get that. All I’m trying to say is that I won’t discount what you say. I’ll keep an open mind.”

“If it did happen, and he managed to get you fired, would you leave?”

He shook his head. “Maybe the hospital,” he replied cheerfully, “but I could just open up a general practice. They need one of those here too.”

She smiled at him. “That would be a good idea, but you should take your payment in chickens and deer meat,” she offered, with a laugh.

He grinned, and his face suddenly lit up, exuding a boyish charm that she found incredibly attractive.

That just reminded her of her earlier vision of them in bed. She stomped on her smile that even now threatened to blossom under his attention. “Now that you know Nana’s okay, you can go on home.”

His smile slowly faded, and he nodded. “In a way, I guess that would be sensible, wouldn’t it?”

“It probably would be.” She nodded.

“Yet I don’t want to,” he challenged, looking over at her with a small smile. “I like your company.”

She shook her head. “Now that will definitely get you fired.”

He smiled, giving her a lazy look. “Maybe, but maybe I don’t care.”

She stared at him. “What?”

“I understand. You don’t get it, do you?”

“No, not only do I not get it,” she began, “I don’t think anybody around you will get what you’re saying either. In fact, I suspect that your brother would be absolutely horrified.”

He nodded. “You knew my brother, didn’t you?”

“As it turns out, no,” she stated. “I thought I knew your brother, but he had hidden depths I didn’t have any idea about.”

He winced. “I gather he was pretty rough on you back then.”

“Is that what you call it? I was still trying to survive my injuries when he lit into me like you wouldn’t believe,” she explained. “I had no idea what the hell was even going on, and he was screaming at me for trying to kill my mother. And yet I’d never even thought something like that could happen, much less be so misunderstood that he would accuse me of doing it. I’m not sure his head was on straight. He said many harsh and cruel things. I’m not sure it is over even now.”

“No?”

“Yeah. When you do drugs like that,… that’s often a side effect,” she added. Then she noted a stillness overtaking Cameron’s expression. “You didn’t know about Jace taking drugs?” she asked tentatively.

“No,” he muttered in an odd tone. “I didn’t. Did you do drugs with him?”

“No, I didn’t do drugs. It was one of the sore points between us. He thought I should, but it wasn’t my thing. I had seen enough of my mother’s boyfriends to realize that drug use wouldn’t be a part of my life, no matter how much Jace asked,” she explained. “I refused to be my mother.”

“How close were you?” he asked curiously.

“Not very, apparently, though I had once thought we were heading down the pathway of true love.” She gave a bitter laugh. “He immediately botched that thought, and I’m pretty sure he thought I was just like my mother. Another mark on a bedpost, and he would be the first to take it,” she admitted, casting a hard look in Cameron’s direction. “Which is also why I’m not exactly sure why you’re here and just what your game is. So, if you have any inkling or idea of that happening,” she declared, “just forget it. I am not my mother. I wasn’t then, and I’m not now. I won’t ever be like her.”