Folly Beach - Dorothea Benton Frank [100]
“There’s coffee,” she said, and pointed to the hot-beverage area. “Y’all help yourself. We’ll be opening up in just a few minutes.”
“Thanks,” we said, poured two cups, and went back out to the atrium to take a seat at a table.
We mixed the fake cream in our cups with wooden stirrers and sighed hard.
“What do you think?” Ella said.
“I think, I think . . . I’m thinking so many things. How about you?”
“I’m thinking what a damn fool I was to decide I could take care of her at home.”
“Ella, I think it’s really hard to know when it’s time to call for help.”
“I should have known.”
“Not necessarily. I mean, look, if someone has a heart attack and they’re lying on the floor then it’s obvious. You call 911. But this was strange and mysterious. Me? I thought it was a bad case of the flu or bronchitis. I never would have guessed tetanus. Not in a million years.”
“I feel so bad, I mean, I should have forced her to go to the doctor sooner.”
“Ella! Quit blaming yourself. Didn’t you give me Harper’s number and wouldn’t she have been in a doctor’s office in a couple of hours anyway? You were on it.”
“Okay,” she said.
Ella looked so sad. I took her hand and said, “Look, what if she didn’t have you? What if she was all alone? If you think about it that way, she’s pretty lucky. Isn’t she?”
A few minutes later I looked up into John’s face. He had a little stubble but other than that he looked perfect. Because he was.
“Morning, ladies. How’re we doing?”
“Okay, I guess. Did Aunt Daisy wake up at all?”
“Oh, Lord! She’s gonna throw a conniption fit if she wakes up and finds out she’s got a tube down her throat. Y’all? Mark my word! She’ll rip that thing right out.”
“Ella! Stop fretting so! The doctor said she’d sleep.”
“Yes, don’t worry. She’s sleeping like an angel. A nurse came in to check her vitals and I told her what you just said, because that was the first thing I thought about, too. Anyway, she said they would probably remove it before Miss Daisy even wakes up.”
“That would be a blessing,” I said. “John, I can’t thank you enough for all you did to help us. You were the guy on the white horse, saving the day.”
“No big deal. I just did what I thought should be done, because I couldn’t think of what else to do.”
The logic of his words sounded so funny that we actually started to laugh a little.
“Maybe I need coffee,” he said.
“You sit,” I said. “Let me get it for you. What time’s your first class?”
“Not until ten,” he said.
I was going to bring him pancakes. And bacon. And sausage. And juice. And maybe just one biscuit for me.
“Ella? You want a scrambled egg sandwich or I can get you something else?”
“I couldn’t eat a thing, honey, but thanks.”
While John was eating his gargantuan breakfast, and I was picking on my biscuit, Ella went to search for a copy of the New York Times, saying that Daisy would be furious if she missed her crossword puzzle.
“This is delicious,” he said. “Are you sure y’all don’t want to share this?”
“No, thanks,” I said, “I’m not that hungry, for some weird reason.”
“Okay. Oh, since we all came here in one car I thought I would run y’all back out to Folly so you can get your car. How’s that?”
“That would be great,” I said, yawning. “Gosh, I need more coffee. All of a sudden I’m so tired I can hardly hold my eyes open.”
“Big surprise! When’s the last time you stayed up all night?”
“Prom?”
“Well, when I take you home you should try to close your eyes for a few hours.