'What?' The nurse looked at Pierre whose eyes remained shut.
'His finger. It moved in my hand.'
'Just a nerve reaction, perhaps,' she said.
'No, no, he's reaching out, reaching back. Please, let me stay.'
'But . . .'
'Please, a little while longer. I have to keep talking to him!'
'I must ask you to lower your voice,' she said. 'There are other patients, all critical, here.'
'I'm sorry.'
'The regulations for visiting in ICU are five to ten minutes for immediate family every hour on the hour,' she repeated in an authoritative monotone.
'Go get the doctor,' I demanded, spinning on her. 'I definitely felt my brother's finger move, and it was no nerve reaction.'
'Get him!' I insisted. She saw the fire in my eyes and bit down on her lower lip. Furious herself, she pivoted and marched back to the nurses' station. I sat down again and immediately began to talk to Pierre. 'I know you can come back to us, Pierre. I know you don't want to be in this horrible hospital room with these horrible people any longer than you have to. Listen to me. We need you. I want you to wake up so Mommy can come home. I promise you, as soon as I leave here, I'll try to find her if you'll open your eyes. Please do it, Pierre. Jean wants you to help Mommy too. I'm sure he does.'
I stood up and leaned over the bed to wipe the strands of hair off his forehead the way Mommy always did. Then I brought my lips to his ear and softly sang the old Cajun lullaby Mommy had often sung to him and Jean when they were little. As I sang, I heard footsteps behind me.
'Mademoiselle?'
I turned to see Dr. Lasky.
'You will have to obey the hospital rules. You work here as a nurse's aide, I understand, so you should know how important it is that we all—'
'Pierre moved his finger, Doctor. I felt it. If I can stay with him longer . . .'
'We have to let the nurses do their work and—'
I felt Pierre's fingers move again and cried out. When I turned back to him, his eyelids fluttered.
'Pierre,' I said. 'Show them. Show them.'
His lids fluttered harder and, like eyes that had been closed for centuries, slowly opened.
'Go get Dr. LeFevre,' Dr. Lasky ordered the nurse. She hurried away.
I continued to stroke Pierre's hand, cajoling him. 'Come on, Pierre. That's it. Try. Come back to us.' His eyes remained open.
'That's good,' Dr. Lasky muttered behind me. 'Hello, Pierre,' I said. 'Are you feeling better? Do you want to go home soon?'
He turned his head slowly toward me. I saw his lips moving, so I bent down to bring my ear close. He was just putting out enough breath to be heard in a whisper.
'Get Mommy,' he said. 'Make her come home.'
'Oh, yes, Pierre. Yes. I will.' I hugged him. 'He spoke to me, Doctor!'
'Excellent,' Dr. Lasky said and turned to greet Dr. LeFevre, who was rushing toward us. I stepped back as the two of them examined Pierre, and then I decided to go out and get Daddy. I found him in the cafeteria, hovering over a cup of coffee. When I told him the news, his eyes brightened and his face re-gained some color. The two of us hurried back.
Afterward, outside in the corridor, with Daddy and Dr. Lasky at my side, Dr. LeFevre asked me to repeat what I had said and done to get Pierre's reaction. She nodded as she listened.
'You must get your mother home to him soon,' she said. 'If not, he could relapse again, and I'm afraid each time that happens, he will retreat deeper and deeper inside himself until he becomes irretrievable. Do you understand?'
'Yes,' I said and looked at Daddy, who just nodded, a look of terror in his eyes.
'With the diuretic working, we've at least stemmed the threat of acute renal failure for the time being,' Dr. Lasky said. 'But what happened before can certainly happen again,' he cautioned. Neither doctor wanted to leave us with false hope. Their words, although realistic, were as sharp as darts.
Daddy and I returned to Pierre to reassure him we were going to find Mommy and bring her to see him as soon as we could. He listened and then closed his eyes. He was just sleeping now. The great effort to claw his way up and out of the grave his mind was constructing around him had exhausted him. We left him resting comfortably.
'What if Ruby doesn't return, Pearl? What if she never returns?' Daddy asked as we drove home from the hospital.
'She'll come back. She has to.'
'Why? She doesn't know what's happening. We can't find her; we can't get a message to her.' He shook his head. 'If she doesn't come back, poor Pierre . . .'
'We'll sit and we'll think of what else to do, Daddy. We'll find her,' I promised, although for the moment I hadn't the slightest idea what we should do next.
