“How long has she been unresponsive?” he asked.
Suzanna looked at Annie. “Honey, do you know when Grandma went to sleep?”
“Un-uh. I already went asleep.”
“But you were up when I called—”
“The telephone waked me up, so I comed downstairs to tell Grandma.”
Dr. Bergmann took over and followed up with his own questions. He asked what time Annie had gone to bed, then if Ida had seemed sick earlier that evening.
Annie nodded. “She catched my germs and was coughing.”
“Did she take any medicine when she was coughing?”
Again, Annie nodded.
“Do you know what medicine she took?”
“Grandpa’s medicine in the brown bottle.” She led them into the kitchen then stopped and looked at the counter with a puzzled expression. “Grandma told me not to touch it because it was grown-up medicine, and she put it up there.”
Suzanna poked around in the cupboards for a few moments then checked the garbage can under the sink. The brown bottle was on top of the other trash.
“That’s Grandma’s medicine!”
Dr. Bergmann read the label and shook his head. “This is cough medicine alright, but William had cancer and this stuff is loaded with codeine.”
Seconds later he was on the phone asking for an ambulance.
“Seventy-four-year-old patient, accidental overdose,” he said. “Codeine, acetaminophen.”
Suzanna stood aside as they lifted the stretcher into the ambulance then she buttoned a coat over Annie’s pajamas, and they jumped in the car to follow the ambulance to the hospital. Ida was placed in a small emergency room cubicle, and Suzanna sat beside her while the nurses bustled in and out to monitor and measure her heart rate, breathing, and state of consciousness.
In time Annie fell asleep with her head on her mama’s shoulder, but Suzanna could not sleep. She sat there watching the green light of the monitor as it zigzagged across the screen and counting the droplets that fell from the IV into Ida’s vein, each drop carrying the life-nourishing antidote. Hours passed, and the palest hint of a rose-colored dawn was feathering the sky when Ida’s eyelashes finally fluttered ever so slightly.
Suzanna moved Annie aside and came to stand beside the bed. She took the limp hand in hers and said, “Grandma Ida, can you hear me? Squeeze my hand if you can hear me.”
Several moments ticked by before she felt the arthritic fingers press against hers.
Once Ida’s vital signs stabilized, she was moved to a private room. Suzanna fussed over her for a while then said, “I should take Annie home and feed her, but I’ll come back later this afternoon.”
“No need,” Ida replied. “I’m going to get some rest, and you should do the same.”
After a few minutes of arguing about it, Suzanna gave in. “Okay then, but if you need anything call me right away. Tomorrow morning I’ll be here bright and early to take you home.”
Ida grinned. “Now that’s a deal I’ll happily agree to.”
——————
THAT AFTERNOON SUZANNA TELEPHONED THE shop and told Colette she was going to need a few weeks off. She explained what had happened and said, “Right now my first priority is taking care of Grandma. Once she’s on her feet and feeling good, I should be able to return.”
Colette expressed concern over Ida then told Suzanna to take whatever time she needed. “When you’re ready to come back, rest assured, your job will be waiting for you.”
Later on, after she’d fed Annie and cleaned up the kitchen, Suzanna went from room to room straightening things, folding the comforter, placing it across the arm of the sofa, plumping the throw pillows, and wiping away a layer of nonexistent dust. As she moved through the house, she began to realize how much all of this meant to her. It was so much more than just a house. It was a home, a place where Annie was safe and happy, and Ida wasn’t a stranger she could walk away from, she was family. Real family.
What would it hurt if Suzanna held onto the name Darla Jean? Nothing, that’s what. Once she and Bobby were married her last name was going to change anyway, so what was the harm? She could explain the situation, ask Bobby to call her Darla Jean from now on. Then she’d introduce him to Ida, and that would be the start of their becoming a family. Atlanta was less than 2 hours away. She and Bobby could split their time, three or four days a week in Atlanta, the remainder here in Cousins. Ida would forever be in her life. At their wedding she’d be given a corsage and sit in the first pew. It would be the way she’d always wanted, and, best of all, Annie would have a grandma and a daddy.
The more Suzanna thought about it, the more convinced she became that it would work. When the excitement of such a prospect swelled in her chest, she couldn’t bear the thought of waiting another week to tell Bobby. It was foolish for people in love to go from week to week without seeing one another, without having a chance to talk things over. She grabbed her purse, fished through the side pocket, and found the business card Bobby had given her.
She dialed the long-distance operator, said she was calling Atlanta, and gave the number on the card.
As she waited, she tried to think through what she would say, but it was a jumble of happy thoughts running together. She wanted Bobby to feel good about this, so it couldn’t sound like a demand. Instead, she’d make it sound like the best thing ever, maybe start by inviting him to the house to meet Annie and suggest he come for Sunday dinner. She’d whisper something to the effect that for now he had to call her Darla Jean, then hopefully in time that name would roll off his tongue as effortlessly as Suzanna now did.
When she heard the first ring, Suzanna chastised herself for such foolish thinking. Here she was, worrying about something that was nothing. Of course Bobby
