“Daddy lost his Asa,” she said.
A Loss
“WHERE IS DADDY?”
She didn’t reply.
I hurried to her.
When I reached the top of the stairway, I looked down and saw Daddy sitting on the small, decorative bench in the entryway. He had his hands clasped in his lap and was staring ahead. I thought he looked stunned.
“What happened? Is Mother all right?”
Cassie shook her head. Then she rose like a woman four times her age and started down the stairs. I followed slowly. My heart was racing so fast and hard I thought I would lose my breath and tumble down after her. When she reached Daddy, Cassie fell to her knees and embraced his legs, laying her head on his lap. He seemed to snap out of his melancholy and stroked her hair. Then he began to speak in a slow mumble.
“They blame the anemia … weakened her … a miscarriage … she needed a transfusion … hemorrhaging … we nearly lost her, too. It all happened so quickly … I wasn’t there five minutes … rushing her out to the operating room. Dr. Moffet did all he could. I stayed with her … held her hand, but she didn’t speak, barely opened her eyes … emotional … traumatic … state of shock.”
He lowered his head.
“Will she be all right?” I cried.
He didn’t reply. Cassie lifted her head and glared angrily at me, her eyes so full of heat and fury that I stepped back. Then she rose and sat beside him, putting her arm around him, pressing her cheek to his shoulder.
“I know you’re both terribly disappointed,” Daddy said.
“Only for you, Daddy,” Cassie quickly told him. “We’re worried about you more.”
“And Mother,” I said.
Finally, he looked at me and smiled. Then he lifted his arms, and I rushed into his embrace. He held me tightly. I had my eyes closed, but when I opened them, I saw Cassie had turned away. Daddy kissed the tears streaming down my cheek, and I stood up, wiping the rest of them away.
“She’ll be fine after she rests,” he said. “But she’ll be … very fragile.”
I looked at Cassie. Fragile? That was what she always called me.
“We’ll take care of her,” Cassie told him. “Don’t you worry, Daddy. You have so much to worry about. Don’t you get yourself sick over this.”
He smiled at her and sighed deeply, so deeply I thought his heart had slipped down into his stomach and he would keel over. Then he pressed down on his knees and stood.
“We all should get some sleep. We’ll need our strength for the days to come,” he told us.
Cassie rose and seized his left hand quickly. He pulled it free but put his arm around her shoulders.
“Yes, Daddy,” she said. “Lean on me. Lean on me for as long as you like. I’m strong enough.”
“That you are, dear Cassie. That you are.”
They started toward the stairway, and then he stopped and turned back to me.
“Come along, Semantha. You should go back to bed.”
“She will,” Cassie said, her eyes narrowing.
I started after them. I don’t think I shall ever forget Daddy walking up the stairway that night. He did lean on Cassie, and he lumbered along as though he had aged centuries. My handsome, robust daddy was reduced to a weak old man. For a moment, when he reached the middle of the stairway, he looked as if he might topple backward. I could see Cassie tightening her grip around his waist. She was strong. She was actually holding him up, helping him climb those stairs. I wanted to do more, but there was no room for me beside him. All I could do was remain as close behind them as possible, maybe to catch him or push him forward.
When we reached the top of the stairs and Cassie had turned Daddy toward his and Mother’s bedroom, she paused and nodded at me.
“You go to sleep, Semantha. I’ll help Daddy get to bed. Go on. Be a good girl, now.”