"Good. Then forget it all. It was gibberish, the
babbling of a confused, sick man. Do you understand?" he asked. "Do you?" he insisted.
"Yes, Uncle Jacob."
"Good," he said again. "I hope you're helping
Sara during this hardship."
"Of course I am.
"And you're not taking advantage of my
incapacity," he added.
"I never took advantage, even when you were
well, Uncle Jacob."
He widened his eyes and I looked away. I didn't
want to get into any arguments with him now. If
something should happen, I would surely be to blame.
Maybe that was what he hoped.
"Just remember this discussion."
"Okay," I said. "I hope you feel better," I added
and turned to leave.
"Oh, I will," he said. It sounded like a threat. I
didn't look back. I couldn't wait to get away from him,
and I marched out quickly.
Cary looked up expectantly when I stepped out
of the elevator. Aunt Sara had been talking to a
hospital aide, but stopped and looked my way, too. "Everything all right?" Cary asked quickly. "All right?" I thought a moment. "Everything's .
. back to normal," I said dryly. Cary raised his eyebrows.
Aunt Sara heard my words and misunderstood. "Yes," she said. "Isn't it wonderful? The doctors
think Jacob will be home sooner than we thought. Of
course, it will be hard for us to make sure he doesn't
try to do anything he shouldn't. He'll have to rest and
avoid stress of any kind," she added.
"Sounds as if I should move out then," I muttered under my breath. I thought Cary might have