What?
In a daze, I placed Beatrice-Rose’s fork on her plate. I cried out when I realized that instead of the clean fork I got for her, I’d stupidly given her the fork that had been in my mouth.
“Omigod. I’m so sorry!”
Caleb laughed. He was such an ass sometimes.
In a rush to fix my mistake, I reached for Beatrice-Rose’s plate and accidentally knocked her hand just as she lifted her glass of red wine. The glass hit the floor and shattered.
“Oh no!” She abruptly knelt on the floor, hurriedly picking up the broken pieces of glass with her bare hands.
Caleb stopped laughing. “The hell are you doing, B? Stop.”
Her hands were starting to bleed, but she didn’t stop.
“Beatrice-Rose.” Caleb’s voice turned hard. She stopped and looked up at him. My mouth opened in shock as I saw tears running down her cheeks.
Silently, Caleb helped her up and led her to the sink, gently shaking her hands. I heard the pieces of glass as they fell in the sink.
“Let’s go to the bathroom,” Caleb said softly. “I’ll clean you up.”
She nodded imperceptibly, looking like a broken doll. Caleb wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
“Red, could you grab the first aid kit, please? I think it’s in the—”
“It’s okay. I know where it is. Just clean her up.”
He gave me a grateful smile.
What the hell is going on?
Was she crying because she cut her hand? But the way Caleb spoke to her told me it was something else.
Not my problem, I thought. I got the first aid kit from the laundry storage room and headed to the bathroom. I froze in my tracks as I heard Beatrice-Rose’s soft voice.
“I’m sorry I broke down in there. She must think I’m insane. Your Red.”
“No, she’s not like that.”
“What is she like?”
It was a moment before Caleb responded. “Everything.”
Silence.
“Don’t move,” he continued. “I still have to remove some glass from your skin. What were you thinking?”
“My dad’s dementia is worsening, Cal. I don’t even want to go home anymore. My mom takes it out on me. It’s hard. I don’t want to watch my dad… It hurts to see him like that.” She sobbed.
“Shh. It will be okay.”
“I need you. Don’t leave me. You’re the only one who understands me, Caleb.”
I felt awful for her. Dementia was a debilitating illness I wouldn’t wish on anyone. But…was I rotten to wish she would leave? Did Caleb have to be the one she turned to for comfort?
It wasn’t like Caleb was mine.
But he was.