Therese blinked her eyes as Carol leaned over her saying, "Wake up, sweetheart. The lieutenant is here."
Carol smelled like her mother. She smelled like Haiku perfume and Jergen's lotion.
A memory of her aunt teaching her to blow into the flute distracted her for a moment. They had given one another manicures and pedicures, and when the polish had dried, Therese had asked to try the flute, which Carol had played in high school years before. She had the scent of Haiku and Jergen's even then.
"Therese?"
"I'm still in the hospital? What day is it?" Therese tried to sit up. Her neck was stiff, but slightly better. She rubbed it and noticed the IV was still attached to her hand.
"It's Tuesday morning. You woke up from your coma yesterday," Carol said. "There's a tray of breakfast for you here. Are you hungry? You slept through yesterday's dinner."
Therese looked across the room at a short, round man with gray hair and razor stubble. He wore a policeman's uniform and looked to be in his late fifties.
"Maybe I'll eat something later."
"Hi there, Therese." The lieutenant approached her bed. The smell of body odor wafted above her head. "How are you feeling?"
"My neck is stiff, but I'm okay." She pulled the covers up around her.
"Good. I'm glad to hear that." He scratched the stubble on his chin. "Look, I know what happened to you was pretty scary. I'm really sorry it happened. But I want you to know that I'm going to do everything I can to find out who did this, okay?"
Therese nodded as the tears welled in her eyes.
"I'm Lieutenant Hobson with the Durango Police Department." Beads of sweat forming on his forehead dripped around his temples as if he had run all the way to the hospital.
"Hi."
"What can you tell me about what happened? What do you remember?"
She told them what she could, and then cleared her throat, her mouth suddenly dry, her chest tight. "I couldn't save them."
Carol stroked Therese's arm. "It's not your fault, sweetheart."
Therese grabbed Carol's arm. Panic overtook her as it had beneath the water trapped in her mother's car. Her throat burned, like it had when the water rushed through her lungs and she had hit at every space around her. "Tell me I'm dreaming!" Therese wailed. "Tell me I'm going to wake up and it will all be over!"
Carol kissed her cheek and started crying. "I wish I could."
The lieutenant took a small notepad and pen from his front shirt pocket and gave Therese a moment to recover. Then he cleared his throat and said, "Can you remember anything else?"
The face. It popped into her head and startled her as much as it had the night her parents were killed. "I might have been imagining this, but right before the shooting, I thought I saw a gruff-looking face outside my car window. It was a man."
"A man's face? Can you tell me what he looked like?"
"His skin was dark."
"Black?"
"No."
"Native American?"
"No, oh, I don't know. He had dark brown eyes, black hair, kind of short, like yours, and a scruffy beard."
"How old would you say he was?"
"I don't know. Not too old. Younger than my dad."
"Would you describe him as heavy-set, thin, tall, short?"
"I just saw his face. I don't know."
"Do you think you can remember enough details about his face to work with an artist from my department?"
"I can try."
"Anything else you can remember? Anything at all?"
"Right before I went out, I saw a bright light and someone swimming toward me."
The lieutenant nodded. "Yeah, that would have been the rescue crew. They went in and pulled you out of the car."
"Oh." She wondered if they got her parents out then, too.
"Therese, do you know if either of your parents had any enemies?"
"What? You mean you don't think this was just some random school shooting? An angry student gone postal? Like Columbine?"
"That's a possibility, Therese," the lieutenant said. "But your car seems to have been the primary target. Other people suffered some minor injuries when the perpetrator drove recklessly through the parking lot, but your car was the only one shot at."
The hair on her neck stood up and she felt her heart go wild. She could hardly breathe. She never imagined someone would want to murder her parents.
"Do you know if your parents had ever received any threatening phone calls, emails, or letters?"
"No, sir. I don't know of anything like that. My dad got letters and emails from his readers, but they were fans, not enemies. My mom's students all loved her. Both of my parents were well liked by everybody, I think. I can't imagine why anyone would want them, want them..." She lost her voice and broke into sobs again. "I'm sorry."
The lieutenant closed his notepad and stuffed it back into his front shirt pocket. Then he added his ballpoint pen. "Thanks, Therese. I'll follow up with you again soon. I'll have an artist meet with you for that description later today, while your memory is fresh."
A panicky feeling threatened to surge through Therese again. "Lieutenant Hobson?"
"Yes?"
"What do you know so far? Who do you think did this?"
"I shouldn't discuss the case with you, Therese. You just focus on getting better."
"That's not fair." Therese's voice was desperate. "I have a right to know. They were my parents."
"Get some rest, and I'll come back and tell you something when I know more. Maybe your description of the face will give us the lead we need." The lieutenant reached out and took her hand, shook it, patted it, and said, "You take care, now. Call me if you think of anything else."
"Okay." She wiped the tears streaming down the sides of her face.
The lieutenant handed his card to Carol.
"Thank you, Lieutenant," Carol said.
Just as the lieutenant walked out of the hospital room, Therese's three best friends—Jen, Ray, and Todd—walked inside carrying balloons and a toy stuffed animal lemur.
"She's really awake!" Jen cried, rushing in and grabbing Therese's hand.
"Hi guys," Carol said. "Therese? Are you sure you're ready for company?"
"Yes, I'm sure. I need some cheering up."
"Well, if you're really sure..."
"I'm sure."
"Then I'm going downstairs for a bit. Enjoy your visit."
Once Carol left the room, Ray said, "Todd wanted to get you the lemur. You should have seen him moaning and groaning in the shop if either one of us picked up anything else. So if you don't like it, blame him." Ray was tall, chubby, and Native American.
"I love it. He's cute."
"His hands have velcro," Todd said. "You can wear him around your neck, like this." Todd put the lemur's long, skinny black arms around his neck and attached them. "You can wear him here in front," he moved the monkey to his back, "or back here. It's quite a fashion statement." Todd was tall and thin with sandy-blonde hair and a face full of acne.
"Just what everyone wants, Todd," Ray said. "A monkey on their back."
Therese and Jen laughed.
"I like him guys," Therese said. "Let me have him." She was glad they hadn't said anything about her parents. For a little while, she wanted to pretend everything was normal again.
Todd handed the lemur over. "He's going to miss me. He wants me to come visit."
Therese smiled. "I guess I can allow visitations."
"When I called yesterday, your aunt said your neck has been hurting. Are you any better today?" Jen asked as she tied the balloons to the railing at the foot of the hospital bed.
"Some. Still stiff." Then she thought, please don't say anything about my parents. "How did we do at the championship meet?"
"Pagosa Springs won by thirteen points," Jen said. "We came in second. Bayfield got third."
"Did Lacey swim breaststroke in the first heat?"
"Yeah. She got first. You would have beaten her though, I just know it," Jen reassured her.
"Maybe. I guess we'll never know."
"There's always next summer," Todd said. "Hey, listen. I finished rebuilding the engine for my truck."
"The fifty-seven Chevy?" Therese asked. "Are you serious?"
"You should see it," Ray cut in. "He painted it yellow, of all the colors in the universe."
"I like yellow," Therese said.
"It looks awesome," Jen added. "Todd's going to take us for a ride as soon as you get out."
"Hey," Todd said, coming close to her, his face taking on a more serious expression. "I haven't told you yet how sorry I am about your parents. I know you already know it, but I wanted to say it, you know?"
"I know." Therese clenched her jaw as she fought off tears. She supposed she couldn't go on pretending, and it was nice to know he cared.
"Me, too," Ray murmured. "What he said."
"Me, too," Jen said, taking Therese's hand.
"Thanks guys."
Her three friends stood there now in awkward silence, brushing away tears they didn't want one another to see. Luckily, Carol eventually returned and asked the visitors how they were doing, shifting the focus from Therese. She lay there in the bed wiping more tears from her face.
Her friends chatted with her and her aunt for a few more minutes, and then they said their goodbyes. Therese put the lemur's long, furry arms around her stiff neck and closed her eyes.
Carol said, "Your lunch is here. You never ate your breakfast. Do you think you can eat something now?"
"I think so."
A different nurse was standing over Therese with a tray. She moved a few things on the rolling bedside table and set it down. "Today we have a turkey sandwich, vegetable soup, fruit cup, and chocolate pudding."
"Thanks," Therese said.
The nurse studied the machines near Therese's bed. "Everything looks in order. My name's Letty. Just call if you need anything. How's your neck?"
"Better. Still a bit stiff."
"I can give you something for the pain."
"Okay."
"I'll bring it in a while, give you time to eat." Letty left the room.
Carol gave Therese an update about her pets while Therese ate. They chatted about school and Therese's friends. Therese really didn't feel like talking, but she could see it made Carol feel better. The food tasted good. She hadn't realized how hungry she was. Not long after she finished her pudding cup, Letty returned with the medication.
"Thank you," Therese said.
"You're welcome, mija." The nurse removed the empty tray and left the room.
Carol must have noticed the tears welling in Therese's eyes, for she leaned over the bed and took Therese's hand. "You know, when your grandpa died, even though we knew it was coming, it was so hard. It felt like a part of me died with him. And then when your grandma died two years ago...gosh, I can't even believe it's already been two years. Then all I had left were you and your mother. Now that my big sister's gone, well, Therese, you're all the family I have left."
Therese sucked in her lips as she watched the tears slide down her aunt's cheeks. "And you're all I have left."
"I'm coming to live with you, Therese. I've already moved out of my San Antonio apartment. I hope that's what you want."
Therese hadn't thought that far ahead. She was still trying to get used to the idea that her parents were, that her parents had....she couldn't even think the idea through in her mind.
"I mean, I could take you with me to San Antonio, but you have your life here, and I can live anywhere. Since I work from home, my boss has no problem with me coming to Durango. Now that grandma's gone, there's really nothing keeping me there."
"What about Richard? And I'm sure you have friends."
"Richard and I will work something out. We've dated long distance before. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, you know." Carol gave Therese a smile.
"I do love my house," Therese murmured.
"I do, too," Carol said.
"I guess we can see how things go, right?"
"Oh, sure. We don't have to decide anything today." Carol kissed Therese's cheek. "You know, I've always been so grateful for you in my life. I don't know when or if I'll ever have children, and having you for my niece has kind of fulfilled that maternal part of me. I know I can't replace your mother—and I don't want to—but I want you to know I will be there for you. I'm not just a babysitter. I'm not just a temporary fix. I'm here for you for the long haul, through thick and thin, and the works. Okay?"
Therese nodded, more tears piling up in the corners of her eyes again.
"Now, sweetheart, I can ask them to bring me one of those hideaway beds and sleep here with you tonight if you want me to. I've been staying at the house because of Clifford, but he can go a night without me if you want me to stay here now that you're staying awake for longer periods of time."
"No," Therese said. "I'd be worried about Clifford. Go ahead and go home. I'm just gonna go right back to sleep."
"Good. You need the rest," Carol said.
Therese sighed, nodded.
Carol nodded too. "I'll come back this evening to check on you again. Go to sleep."
"Okay. Thanks."
Carol kissed her forehead and stroked her hair. Then she crossed the room and waved one more time before disappearing through the door.