Distant Shores

"I . . . am . . . not. "

Elizabeth and Anita gasped. They leaned down at the same time.

Daddys eyes were open; one side of his face remained pathetically slack.

"We can hear you, Daddy," she said. "Were both right here. "

"I . . . am . . . not . . . ornery. "

Anita took his motionless hand, squeezing it hard. Tears bubbled along her lashes. "I knew you couldnt leave me. "

He reached across his own body and touched Anitas face. "There you are, Mother. Ive been looking for you. "

"Im right here, Daddy," Anita said breathlessly, crying softly. "I wouldnt go anywhere. "

Elizabeth knew it was childish, but she felt excluded by their love. She always had. There was something special between Anita and Edward, so special that everything around them paled in comparison.

"Our Birdie is here, too. She hopped on a plane the very second she heard," Anita said, smoothing the hair away from his eyes.

Slowly, he turned to look at Elizabeth. In his eyes, she saw something shed never seen before--defeat--and it scared her. "Hey, Daddy," she whispered. "Youve got a hell of a nerve scaring us this way. "

"Give me just a moment with m little girl, wont you, Mother?"

Anita leaned down and kissed his forehead. When she drew back, the bright pink lipstick print of her kiss remained. "I love you," she whispered fiercely, then left the room.

A second later, the door opened again. White-coated nurses bustled into the room. They shoved Elizabeth aside--politely--and busied themselves around their patient, checking machines, taking blood-pressure readings, listening to his heart. Phillip was the last to arrive. He rushed into the room, a little breathless, then saw his patient and smiled. "So, you decided to quit playing possum, huh? You had two beautiful women mighty worked up. "

Daddys smile was sadly lopsided. "Just wanted you to earn some of that hellacious bill youre gonna send me. Itll probably stop my heart right then and there. "

Phillip listened to Daddys heart, frowned briefly, then straightened. As he made a notation in the chart, he said, "I earn every penny putting up with your sorry butt, and you know it. I suppose Ill have to let you win at golf for a while. " He turned to Elizabeth. "Make the old coot take it easy. Ill be back in a little while to check on him. Well want to run another EKG. "

Phillip herded the nurses out of the room and closed the door behind him. Through the glass wall, Elizabeth could see that he was talking to Anita.

"Damn doctors," Edward said, breathing hard. "They wont leave a man in peace. " He tried to smile.

All the way down here, Elizabeth had been rehearsing what to say to him, and now nothing came to her. She was afraid that if she said a word, shed start to cry.

"Wheres golden . . . boy? And my granddaughters?"

"Jack is in the waiting room. Stephie and Jamie will be here in a little while. "

Edwards eyes fluttered closed. He took a few rattling breaths, then came awake with a start and shouted, "Anita!"

"Shes just outside, Daddy. You said you wanted to talk to me. "

"Ah . . . yes. " He calmed down. Very slo

wly, he lifted his hand and touched her hand. "When I saw that movie, Forrest Gump, all I could think about was my little sugar beet. We were peas and carrots, werent we?"

She squeezed her eyes shut, then slowly opened them. "Yes. "

"I didnt handle things well. I surely didnt. "

Elizabeth didnt know what he was talking about. Before she could ask, he went on:

"Anita. Marguerite. I shoulda done it differently, God knows. But your mama near killed me . . . I swear, I dont know what I should have told you. "

"What are you talking about, Daddy?"