Chapter 8: Sarah
The hospital room was small and very quiet.
Sarah Harrison lay in the bed with her eyes closed, her dark hair spread across the pillow, an IV line taped to the back of her hand.
She looked smaller than Arthur remembered.
But her face was the same — the same structure, the same set of the jaw, even now.
The nurse at the door had said ten minutes.
Arthur had nodded and said nothing about the ten minutes.
Leo went to the left side of the bed.
Mia went to the right.
Neither of them said anything at first.
Mia reached out and very carefully put her hand over Sarah's.
Sarah's eyes opened.
She looked at Mia first.
Then at Leo.
Then, slowly, across the room at Arthur.
She didn't speak for a long moment.
"You found him," she finally said to Leo.
Her voice was thin but steady.
"I told you I would," Leo said.
A small sound came from her.
Not quite a laugh.
"I told you to wait."
"You were getting worse."
"I know." She looked at him.
"I'm not angry."
Mia leaned in close.
"We slept at his house.
He made us eat."
"Leo made us eat," Arthur said from the doorway.
"He found the cereal himself."
Sarah looked at Arthur again.
Her eyes were clear, even if the rest of her wasn't.
"I didn't know if you'd still be there," she said.
"At the diner."
"I'm there most Tuesday nights."
"I know.
I checked." A pause.
"I'm sorry, Arthur.
For all of it.
For the letter.
For asking this of you."
He crossed the room and sat in the chair beside the bed.
"Don't apologize for the letter."
"I had no right —"
"Sarah." He said it firmly, not unkindly.
"You had every right.
We can argue about the last twenty years later.
Right now I need to tell you something."
Her eyes steadied on his face.
"Ray knows about the children.
He's been watching for weeks.
He's filing for custody on Friday."
The change in her face was immediate.
The color that was already thin went thinner.
"He can't have them," she said.
"He's going to try."
"Arthur —"
"I know.
I have a lawyer.
I have Greta Solis working on his background.
I'm not walking away from this." He leaned forward.
"But I need to know everything you know about Ray.
Why he came to your door.
What he asked.
What he said."
Sarah closed her eyes for a moment.
When she opened them, she looked at Leo.
"Can you take Mia to get a drink from the machine down the hall?
There's money in my coat pocket."
Leo looked at Arthur.
Arthur nodded.
Leo found the coat, found the money, and took Mia's hand.
The door closed behind them.
Sarah waited until their footsteps faded.
"Ray came three weeks ago," she said.
"He said he'd found out about the children through Donna's old neighbor.
He said he wanted to do right by them.
He seemed —" She stopped.
"He seemed reasonable.
At first."
"What changed?"
"He asked about the life insurance." Her voice was flat.
"Not Donna's.
Leo and Mia's.
He asked if Donna had taken out any policies on the children.
I told him I didn't know.
He asked twice more, different ways.
Then he asked if I'd ever registered them for any government assistance in their names."
Arthur was very still.
"He's not after the children," Arthur said.
"No," Sarah said.
"I don't think he is."
She reached out and put her hand on Arthur's arm.
Her grip was weaker than it should have been but it was deliberate.
"Don't let him near them," she said.
"Whatever he's looking for — whatever he thinks is attached to their names — don't let him use them to get it."
The door opened.
Leo stood in the frame, two cans of juice in his hands, Mia just behind him.
May you like
He looked at Arthur's face, then at Sarah's.
"What did we miss?" he said.
