Page 30 of Guarding Over You
“That’s what we like to hear. The husband fell and hit his head. I thought you could talk with them before Dr. Ridgeway takes care of it.”
She nodded and walked in. “Hi, I’m Arden with patient services. You asked for a social worker?”
“I did. Thank you for coming. I feel like such a failure, but my husband has early onset dementia.”
“I’m fine, Carol. I just lost my balance.”
Carol turned her head from her husband. “Tom says that a lot and he’s right, but there are other issues. I’ve found support groups online, but they aren’t much help other than complainingof what is to come. I think I need more safeguards in place. A better way to manage our lives. Is that something you can do?”
She reached her hand for Carol’s. “I can absolutely put you in contact with people who can help. And I’ll give you my card so that you can reach out to me at any point if you feel you’re still not getting the support you need.”
“Hi, Carol. I hear there is a head wound in here I’ve got to patch up on Tom this time.”
She turned to see Blaze walking closer. “I tripped and lost my balance,” Tom said. “I don’t know why Carol gets so upset all the time.”
“She’s only concerned about your well-being,” he said.
“And I don’t need his brains scrambled any more,” Carol said. “Which is why I’m asking for help.”
“You’re doing the right thing,” he said. “Arden will get things sorted. She’s great at her job.”
She smiled at the wink Blaze sent her. “I am good at my job. Why don’t you and I go talk in another room while Dr. Ridgeway takes care of your husband?”
Another nurse came in when she left with Carol. They talked for twenty minutes then she walked back with the older woman and left to return to her office.
On her way down the hall, her cell phone rang. It wasn’t the line from her desk rolling over, but rather Billy.
She wanted to ignore it, but sometimes that made matters worse. And it wasn’t as if she couldn’t just scoot out the door quickly to take it.
Which she did this time. “Hi, hang on for a second.” She moved toward the side door, opened it, and stepped out for privacy and to hear easier. “Okay. Sorry. I needed to get where there was better reception. What’s going on?”
“Why the fuck did you tell Julie that I stopped to see you ten days ago?”
“Well, hello to you too and I didn’t tell Julie,” she snapped. She always had more power, more courage to fight back when he wasn’t in front of her now. When he couldn’t throw things around the house. Scream in her face. Tower over her.
“You had to,” Billy said, “because I just got a call from my attorney giving me shit to knock it off or I’m only going to make it worse.”
“I didn’t tell Julie. Gracie did.”
“You must have told her to do it,” Billy argued. At least he wasn’t yelling now.
“No. I didn’t. And I did you a favor, but you’ll never see it that way. Gracie talks to Julie alone. She said she liked her new house and that you were there already but hadn’t seen her room. She was probed for more and Julie questioned me.”
“Which I’m sure you gladly filled in what was going on.”
She sighed. “I’m not going to lie. But I didn’t tell her we had fought. I didn’t tell her you wanted to see Gracie outside of the order either.”
There was silence there. “Bullshit. Because my attorney gave me crap about Tina, so that had to come from you.”
“Yep, it did. I said you stopped to see me and you had a girlfriend and would like Tina to meet Gracie but I said no. I’m not keeping that part a secret. But your actions and your motives and breaking all rules even asking to see Gracie outside of supervision, that part I kept out.”
“I don’t believe it. Why else would I get the call today?”
“I don’t care what you believe,” she said, her voice steady but edged with steel. “I didn’t tell Julie everything because I saw how happy Gracie was on Sunday. I thought I was doing the right thing by trying to defuse it. But maybe I was wrong. Seems like every time it comes to you, I make the wrong call. Maybe it’s time I stopped hesitating.”
“Don’t you dare push my buttons,” Billy snapped. “She’s my daughter too, and you’re trying to keep her from me.”
“I’m doing no such thing,” she shot back, then looked around to make sure no one saw her having this conversation. “If you can’t pull your head out of your ass long enough to see howscaredshe was of you, that’s on you.”
