“Hey,” she said, elbowing Annali in the ribs gently. “Don’t you want to have a fit?”
“No, thank you,” Annali said, pleasantly, not even looking up from her crayons.
They finished their breakfast, Pru paid the bill, and they gathered their things to leave. Then Annali said she wanted to spin on one of the stools at the counter, and Pru consented. It would waste time, she reflected, and put them in proximity of John.
He came over to stand near them while Annali clambered up on the stool. “Who’s this?” John said, pointing to Dipsy.
“PBSKids,” Annali muttered, clutching the Teletubby closer to her. She climbed up on the stool. “Dot org,” she added. Pru gave the stool a good push and Annali shrieked with laughter.
“How’s everything going?” John said.
“Crazy, actually.” While Annali spun herself around on the stool, Pru explained in a low voice what had happened.
“Married, huh?” John said, when Annali left the stool to check out a basket of toys on the floor. “What the hell was he thinking?”
“I don’t know,” Pru said. “I’m worried about Patsy. I’ve never seen her like this before. She’s always been moody, but this is pretty extreme.”
“You’ve got everyone staying at your place?” John said.
Pru nodded, grimacing. “It’s very cozy.”
“I’ll bet,” he said. “It’s like Aunt Pru’s home for lost souls, over there. Good for you, though. You’re doing a fine thing. She’s lucky to have you.”
LATER THAT DAY, PRU DECIDED TO GO SWIMMING. HER absence that morning hadn’t seemed to affect Patsy one way or another. John was right; she’d been taking care of everybody for days, and she needed a break.
“Will you be okay?” she said to Patsy, sitting, as ever, in the bay window.
Patsy nodded, not moving her eyes from the scene below the window. “Of course,” she said, dully.
“Okay,” said Pru. “I’ll be home before dinner. Is there anything special you want? Should I pick something up?”
“Anything,” said Patsy, without any interest.
The front desk at the Hilton on P Street had been giving her funny looks, so she decided to try the R Street Radisson. She did hard laps that left her limbs burning and sore, and afterward she floated gently on her back, letting the water turn her this way and that. The Radisson’s pool was very pleasant, and the staff had smiled at her kindly. She left feeling more optimistic. That was what everyone needed, she decided—a little sunlight, some firm, cheerful direction. Enough moping.
She trudged slowly up Sixteenth, bleary-eyed and spent from the water. She thought of what awaited her at home. The cat would need attention. The dog would need a walk. Annali would need dinner and a bath. Patsy would need . . . something she didn’t have. Turning onto Columbia, she tried to work up the kind of brisk energy she’d need to get everyone settled in for the night.
She walked into a quiet apartment. Whoop sat in the middle of the room, washing himself. The TV was silent for the first time in forever. She was slightly alarmed at first, but then she relaxed. No doubt her absence had forced Patsy finally to take action. Perhaps she’d actually gotten Annali out to the swings, or to the park across the street.
She sighed, looking around. Without the distraction of human bodies, the place looked like it had been trashed in a police raid. A pile of Patsy’s dirty clothes occupied one corner of the room, Annali’s toys another. The coffee table was strewn with toiletries, magazines, and dirty plates. There were cat toys scattered all over the floor, and the smell of curdled milk persisted in the air, from when the puppy knocked over Annali’s cereal bowl yesterday morning. Jenny was leaving Whoop in peace, for the moment, sleeping on the bed in the other room. But soon, she knew, they would be chasing each other through the rooms, tearing up the hardwood floor and upsetting pieces of furniture.
She’d started to pick up Annali’s Legos, which were scattered all over the floor, when she heard the sound of water dripping into the bathtub. It was an ominous, forlorn sound, and made Pru shudder.
She pushed open the bathroom door, to see Annali, naked, about to back into a glowing red space heater. It was the old-fashioned kind with exposed heating coils. “Whoa!” Pru said, and grabbed Annali before she burned herself, hoisting her onto a hip.
Patsy was sitting in the bathtub. She was motionless, her arms wrapped around her body, and she was staring at some spot on the wall above the taps. Pru was shocked to see how thin she’d gotten. Her hair hung in damp ropes around delicate collarbones. Her skin looked almost blue, under the water. Her lips were purple.
“Pats?” Pru said. Patsy grunted in response, but didn’t take her eyes from the spot on the bathroom tiles where she was staring. Pru put a hand in the bath water. “Patsy, that water is freezing!” Patsy was starting to shiver. She seemed to be in some kind of waking coma. Pru eased Annali off her hip.
“Okay, silly,” she said, forcing a light tone. “Let’s get out now.” She slipped her hands under Patsy’s armpits and helped her sister stand. Patsy didn’t resist.
Patsy’s teeth were chattering now, and she shivered even more as soon as she was out of the water. Pru grabbed a towel from the bar and wrapped it around her. “I’ll be right back,” she said. “Stay here, okay?” Patsy didn’t say anything but looked down at her toes, curled on the bathmat.
Pru quickly got Annali dressed and found a thick, wool blanket in her closet. In the bathroom, Patsy was shaking, staring at the bathmat. She was completely naked. The towel had fallen to the floor, and she hadn’t even bothered to pick
