Chapter Seven
David sat in the living room and watched the video of their wedding. If someone had told him when they were first married that he would ever re-watch the thing, he would have told them that they were crazy. But now, it was all that he had to prove that the event had actually occurred. And David needed that reassurance that the vibrant young woman who he'd married, who danced and laughed and teased on the wedding video, was really the pale, confused and frightened young woman upstairs in his bed.
He was pulled from his musings by the sound of doorbell ringing. Pushing himself up from the sofa, he hurried to answer it.
Elaine's questioning gaze greeted him from the opposite side of the door. "Is she sleeping?" she whispered, seeming to notice right away the stillness of the house. Even the sounds of the grocery bags in her arms seemed muted.
"Yes," David answered, grabbing the bags from her arms and delivering them to the kitchen.
"Good," Elaine said, following.
"Good?" David glanced questioningly over his shoulder at her.
"Yes, good," Elaine reaffirmed. "There's something we need to talk about. I'm frankly surprised the doctor didn't mention it. But he probably didn't get to review all of the files," she quickly brushed the straying topic aside and got back to her point.
"I've been thinking about this a lot. We need to take Tammy to Albert's grave," she continued. "I think that she needs to see the obituary, the pictures, everything. Whatever it takes to sum up the time she's...misplaced."
David was hesitant. "I don't know, Elaine. Don't you think we should ease her into those things, maybe give her a little time to get used to the things we've already told her?"
"No, I don't," Elaine told him matter-of-factly. "No matter how much advance warning we get, death doesn't ease up on a person. It's sudden and it's harsh, and it can be devastating. But I think we should do this. The longer we linger, the longer it will take for her to get on with her life, for the two of you to get on with your lives together."
"Okay," David agreed, still somewhat reluctantly. "I guess you're right. You are older and wiser," he said half-teasingly.
Elaine smacked him on the arm with a stalk of celery.
David ducked, but continued, musing. "I suppose some sense of moving on can only help her. When do you want to do it? I've taken a couple weeks off, so you just say when is a good time for you."
"I think as soon as possible would be the best," Elaine said. "How about tomorrow? We could drive up tomorrow. It's on this side of Valuma county. The only question left is do you tell her or do I?"
"I broke the news to her in the first place," David said grimly. "I guess I should be the one." She couldn't possibly hate me any more, he mentally added. "I'll tell her in the morning," he continued aloud. "I'd like for her to have a good nights sleep tonight."
Elaine nodded her agreement and David finally noticed the items she was taking from the bag. "What in the world are you making?" he asked, taking in the exotic items she pulled from the bag.
"Have you never had panuzit?" Elaine asked smiling. "It was one of Tammy's favorites growing up. It's been years since I made it. I thought she might enjoy it."
David's brows raised as she ticked off the list of ingredients, and his eyes bulged at her finishing statement. "Traditionally it's made with canine meat, but--"
"Oh, Elaine, please tell me you are not going to pull any dog meat out of the bag. I had pets growing up you know."
Elaine laughed at him. "How do you feel about chicken? Care to try your own kind?"
"Call me what you like, lie to me if you have to just don't tell me we're having dog meat for dinner," David replied, moving to fold the bag and put it in the recycle bin.
"Did you have anything planned for dinner by the way?" Elaine asked, almost as an afterthought.
"No, I actually hadn't thought much about it." David admitted. "I thought I'd leave that to you," he grinned innocently, "You have such...interesting ideas about meat, though. I might need to revise my opinion."
"Pay attention young man and learn," Elaine shot back at him. "Here, cut these," she flung a bag of carrots his way.
David grumbled good-naturedly but took the bag.
"Can I trust you not to cut yourself?" Elaine kidded.
A thump from upstairs cut off David's reply. They both froze and then looked at one other. David moved first, running toward the stairs. He stopped short in the doorway to his bedroom. Tammy was sitting up in bed, a startled expression painted across her features.
David followed her gaze to the floor where what used to be the entire contents of the night stand lay across the carpeted floor. Chief among the items was a then, mostly un-potted plant--its dirt was splattered all over the carpet as were several of its broken green leaves.
Tammy looked up pitifully. "I'm sorry," she said. "I think I've killed your plant."
Elaine appeared behind David, catching the tail end of Tammy's statement. Looking down at the once flourishing philodendron, Elaine declared. "Actually, dear, that was your plant. I gave it to you last year."
"Oh," Tammy let out a small breath. "I guess I should clean it up then," she moved to get up.
"Why don't you let me," David said rushing to her side, certain that the last thing she needed was to be on her hands and knees trying to clean up a bit of dirt. "It'll keep me from having to peel carrots," he said to lighten the mood.
Elaine snorted mildly.
Tammy looked between the both of them in confusion. David, catching the look, pointed accusingly in Elaine's direction, before going back to the task of picking up the alarm clock, several books and a large quantity of plant debris. "Your mother, the slave driver, is trying to teach me the fine art of cooking exotic cuisine, strong emphasis on exotic.
Elaine laughed outright. "I was trying to teach him not to cut himself," she told her daughter. "Tammy you really need to let this one in the kitchen more often."
Tammy just barely managed a weak smile. "Well, it looks like you two are having a lot of fun." Though the words were innocuous enough, her tone was just a bit brittle.
David immediately sobered, but Elaine spoke up first. "Of course we were, Honey. David and I have become friends since the two of you married. You used to join in."
David thought Elaine's words a bit harsh, but didn't speak. Everything she had said was true, and the sooner Tammy accepted that as a part of her world, the better.
"Yeah," was all Tammy said before getting up and heading toward the bathroom. She closed the door firmly behind herself.
~*~
Dinner that night was a silent affair. Tammy didn't seem to have any appetite. Even though Elaine had made her favorite meal, she only pushed it around on her plate. Eventually Elaine and David gave up trying to make conversation. When dinner was done David promised to clean up the dishes since Elaine had cooked. Elaine said that she needed to go upstairs to pack.
Tammy stared down at her plate after her mother left the room. David watched Tammy for a full minute. Fighting to contain his growing irritation, he pushed himself up from his seat and headed for kitchen. Perhaps the exertion of loading the dishwasher would calm him.
"Would you like me to take that for you," he asked Tammy, indicating her nearly full plate. He bit back any further comment.
"I'll do it," she said, standing up stiffly. The air that had surrounded her most of the evening was suddenly gone. It seemed to have dropped from her like a cloak, leaving only a tired worn out figure of a woman behind.
" Are you sure you don't want me to do that?" he asked, concerned. "Why don't you rest a bit and let me take care of these." He reached out to take the dishes from her. She let him take them without argument.
"I think I'm going to go watch television," she said instead. "Do you have cable?"
David frowned, but nodded. "Yes, we have cable. I guess you have some catching up to do. Just call if you need anything."
By the time David cleaned up the kitchen and arrived back in the living room to check on Tammy, she had fallen asleep in the recliner in front of the television. Clicking off the television, he carried her up to bed.
~*~
The next morning when David arose, Tammy was downstairs making muffins with Elaine. Obviously the two had made up as they were joking about something that David never did quite figure out. He wondered briefly, before shaking the idea off, if they were talking about him.
After breakfast, he found himself packing up Elaine's car. It wasn't long before they were all on the road, headed for Valuma County. Tammy and David followed in their car, while Elaine led the way. Unfortunately, Elaine and David didn't have an opportunity to do much planning.
David was surprised when Tammy apologized almost immediately. "I'm sorry about last night." He wondered just what Elaine had said to her.
"That's no problem," he said. "Although, I would like to know what happened. Where you upset with Elaine?"
Tammy looked away uncomfortably and shrugged. "I was just a little irritated," was all she said. But David could tell that there was more.
"Was it something I said?" he asked, hoping she would go on. "I've never known you to be that way toward your mother."
That seemed to have touched a nerve. "That's just it," she said. "I'm in this almost completely foreign place, and I'm supposed to think of it as home. I feel like I'm visiting--half the time afraid I'm going to break something and the other half worried that I'm going to do something wrong. The only thing that's even remotely familiar to me is my mother and then you and she carry on like old friends, carrying on these conversations full of 'private jokes'. Dammit David, I felt left out! I was jealous."
David drove silently for several stunned moments. He wasn't sure what to say. "I'm sorry," was what ended up coming out. "We...I...I was trying to make you feel more comfortable. You were so upset about the plant..."
Tammy let out a sigh. "I know, and thank you. It was me. I overreacted. I apologized to mom this morning." She smiled wryly. "There is one think I do know: You were upset with me last night. Yeah, you were trying to hide it, but I could tell."
"How could you tell?" he asked, delighted to see her smiling in any fashion.
"It was practically oozing into the air," she replied, a hint of her old humor appearing in her eyes. "I'm surprised half the county didn't know."
David winced, "That bad huh? I'm going to have to work on hiding my emotions better." His smile wilted slightly as he remembered their last conversation before her accident. He was ashamed at how badly that meeting had gone. That thought reminded him of the reality of the situation. There was something he needed to tell his wife, and soon.
"Uh...Tammy. Elaine doesn't live so far away that we have to tail her home. Elaine and I thought that perhaps we should help you find some of the past that you are missing by revisiting some of the places associated with those events. We were planning to take you to visit the cemetery..."