Page 106 of The Sign for Home

“Hanne! What the fuck?” I shouted. “You stole medical records? That’s a felony! Did he know you were with us?”

“Oh, stop making such a big deal. No, he had no idea I was with you. I said I was there researching possible jobs postgraduation. And he won’t even know the file has gone missing by the look of the place, which is a disorganized mess. And to respond to Arlo about the danger in helping Shri to leave that place, in mynearlyprofessional nursing opinion, I think it would be far more dangerous to let Shri stay.”

At that point, I was so furious at what Hanne was saying, my hands froze, and once more I stopped interpreting.

“We have to get her out of there,” Hanne said. “And that’s not all. Hey, aren’t you supposed to be interpreting everything I’m saying? Isn’t that a rule?”

“Yes,” I snapped, reanimating my hands. “I love how you’re only conscious of rules when other people break them.”

I quickly caught Arlo up on anything he had missed, including Hanne’s admonition when I had stopped interpreting. Arlo sneered at me when I got to that part.

“Anyway,” Hanne continued. “I read through Shri’s file and then I called one of my nursing school teachers who has a lot of experience working with spinal injuries. Yes, Shri’s paralyzed, but that’s all. Her file doesn’t indicate any other condition that requires her to be in a nursing home.”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“From what her file says, yes. But you want to know the worst part?”

Hanne reached into the bag that held the medical binder and pulled out a full blister pack of pills with the initialSand the last nameMukherjeewritten with marker. She shook the blister pack like a maraca.

“Besides the mild bedsores from them not getting her out of that bed enough, they’ve also been sedating her with antianxiety pills that aren’t even prescribed by a doctor. Including enough Xanax to knock out a forty-year-old man. Talk about a felony.”

Hanne then explained the dangers of giving someone Shri’s size that kind of dosage. Arlo pulled his hands from mine as his face became a mask of rage.

“How is this fucking possible?” I asked.

“We have to do something, Cyrilje,” she pleaded.

“I agree,” I said, and I meant it. I got Arlo to put his hands back on mine.

“Calm down,” I told him. “We’ll take care of this. First, we need to call Adult Protective Services! And I’ll do that immediately. Hopefully they can get Shri to a safe place soon.”

Once again Arlo went off about Shri having a plan. Again I attempted to explain the impossibility of taking Shri from the facility, but he immediately shoved his hands into his armpits, silencing me.

I was furious.

Hanne pointed at Molly, slowly walking back toward us. Molly looked tentative, wanting to make sure Arlo and I had finished our private discussion.

“Come on! We need to talk!” I called out to her. “Hurry!”

I filled Molly in on everything Hanne had discovered. She took the news of Shri’s situation even harder than I had, and nearly broke down. She agreed that we should let the proper authorities know about the nursing home ASAP.

“As mandated reporters, we must,” Molly insisted.

“Yeah, I know,” I said. “And I will.”

“Surely they’ll move her someplace safer?”

“I hope so, but first we need to convince Mr. Escape From Alcatraz here that we can’t take her out ourselves. And she won’t be leaving tonight.”

Then I had an idea of something that might change Arlo’s mind: guilt.

I tapped Arlo’s arm. “Molly’s back,” I signed. “I need you to understand something. If we go back there tonight and take Shri out without the proper permission, it’s not only you who will get in trouble. You understand me? Molly and Hanne could go to jail. Do you want that?”

Arlo’s eyes narrowed; he squeezed his fists and adjusted his position as if he were ready to plead his case in front of a judge.

“Pay attention,” he demanded, more sober and steady than he had been all evening. “Save Shri? Save me? No! We don’t need! Shri and I save ourselves… will! We have plan. If Hanne wants, she can stay away. Safe. But you worry if help me will get in trouble, right? But you and Molly both interpreters… understand? Molly also my SSP. Means what? You told me before, remember? Interpreter and SSP must interpret whatever a Deaf person says. Boss who? Me! Me! Not you! It’s not your job make decisions for Deaf person. Cyril, you think you must become hero? No! We don’t need hero. Understand? We hero ourselves.”

My head wanted to explode. I tried to think of something to say, but my fingers became stuck in the wordbut. Molly took Arlo’s hands from mine and tried to explain, in her way, the dangers of Shri leaving with Arlo that night. She said something about God’s law and the need to obey man’s law. Arlo pushed her hands away and picked up Snap’s harness.

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