Page 20 of Crash
Quynh wasn’t really sure what to expect when she came here. It certainly wasn’t this giant mansion. She didn’t remember this home from any of her memories.
“You must be Quynh.”
She nodded as the woman stepped aside and gestured for them to come inside.
“He will be so happy to see you again. My, how you’ve grown up.” Quynh resisted the urge to frown. She didn’t remember this woman, but maybe she knew her when she was a child. “You probably don’t remember me. I’m Cynthia. Arthur’s housekeeper. You can call me Cindy. You were so young when you left.”
Cindy led them into the sitting room and gestured for them to make themselves comfortable.
“Let me check with his nurse and see if now’s a good time for a visit.”
Cindy disappeared back into the foyer. Quynh glanced nervously at Griffin, who sat stiffly on the uncomfortable bench. She chose the armchair across from him, though it wasn’t much more comfortable than his bench. On the coffee table was a tray with a pitcher of pink lemonade. Her hands were shaking as she poured two glasses and took a small sip, though her stomach was churning with anxiety. Griffin took the glass she offered him, but didn’t drink from it. They waited in stilted silence until Cindy returned a few moments later.
“He’ll see you now.”
Quynh slowly stood up and straightened her pink sundress as she followed closely behind Cindy. Griffin stayed put on the bench as she walked by him. Thescent of his cologne wafted toward her in a comforting embrace. She squared her shoulders to prepare herself for the impending encounter.
Cindy led her up a set of stairs until they were on the second floor. The hallway was long, but they stopped in front of the closest set of doors to the stairs. Cindy’s soft knock echoed loudly in the dim hallway. She didn’t wait for a response before opening the door.
She expected to see her father lying in bed with tubes and beeping machines, but the sight that greeted her was more shocking. An elderly man sat upright in an armchair with a distinct robe covering his slim frame. Besides the oxygen tube wrapped around his nostrils to hide behind his ears, leading to a portable oxygen tank, she did not spot any other medical equipment in the room.
At the sight of her in the doorway, his eyes seemed to gleam with hope and excitement. He sat up straighter and tried to stand up. Cindy picked up her pace and admonished him for overexerting himself. Quynh watched the disgruntled man be chastised by the much older woman and almost smiled.
When he was back in his armchair, he gestured vaguely for Quynh to have a seat across from him. After a moment’s hesitation, she sat perched on the edge of the seat. A tray of tea and biscuits sat on the table between them.
“Quynh. It’s so good to see you again.”
His voice was raspy from misuse, and she could tell the short sentences caused him a great deal of effort. He was already looking winded. She guessed he probably suffered from chronic lung disease. Perhaps even cancer, given his gaunt cheeks and sallow skin.
She tried to find the man she used to call her daddy in the aged man sitting across from her. The shape of his eyes, though now wrinkled, was the same. So was the earnest look in his eyes, as if he truly was happy to see her.
“Hi,” she offered lamely as she sat on her hands. She didn’t really know what there was to say. There was a giant elephant sitting in the room with them in the shape of her deceased mother.
“I heard…”
He didn’t even need to finish the sentence. Quynh knew what he was going to say.
She nodded, “Yeah, she passed a couple of years ago. Breast cancer.”
She watched as the man seemed to deflate, sinking deeper into his armchair as his lips thinned. He blinked back tears and offered a small smile.
“She was a wonderful woman.” His heavy breathing filled the air as she nodded. Her mother was a wonderful woman. She didn’t deserve to be humiliated like she was.
Quynh’s thoughts bolstered her. He didn’t get to talk about her mother when he clearly broke her heart. Hermother changed after she left town. She became quieter and more withdrawn, almost as if she were walking around with a heavy boulder weighing her down. Quynh recalled a time when her mother easily smiled and laughed a lot, but it all changed that fateful night.
She bit back what she wanted to really say to him. In his dying days, he didn’t need to hear about how he broke her mother’s spirit. He didn’t deserve to know anything about her mother or her life. She was here to pay her respects so the memories of what could have been would stop haunting her.
She deserved some closure. There was no use in torturing a dying man.
“How have you been?” His simple question was laced with layers of complexity.
Oh, just great. Peachy. Really. Not like my entire life was literally collapsing around me.
“Fine.”
She didn’t think it was possible, but he seemed to deflate even further, shrinking into his body at her curt response. Quynh wasn’t sure what he was hoping for from the encounter. He was practically a stranger to her, but the least she could do was to be polite. She’d worry about her feelings later.
“I’m doing fine. I’m between jobs right now as a nurse practitioner.” It wasn’t exactly the truth, but it wasn’t a lie either. Besides, he did not need to know she wasrecently unemployed or how her boss killed himself shortly after. It was depressing enough. Better to keep the information to herself.
