Page 102 of Light Up The Night
I'm a sweaty, gasping, shaky-legged mess by the time I get to the far end of the concourse.
I see her. A gate on the left, sitting in one of the blue seats. She's rocking back and forth, muttering under her breath. Her arms are wrapped around her midsection, and her eyes are fixed on the floor in front of her, seeing nothing. She has one small carry-on suitcase beside her with a small brown leather purse on top of it, and the handle of the suitcase slipped through the handles of the purse.
I skid to a stop, dropping to my knees in front of her. Take her hands—she's been picking at the cuticles of her thumbs with her index fingernails so much that the nail beds on each thumb are bloody.
"Cadie?" I whisper, trying to catch her attention. "Hey. It's me. It’s Riley."
"Riley Crowe, Three Rivers. Riley Crowe, Three Rivers." Repeated on a loop, her voice scratchy.
A crowd is gathering, and I glance over my shoulder. "Fuck off!"
An imposing Black woman with pale pink hair hustles over, herding and ushering the onlookers away firmly but kindly.
"You must be Riley Crowe," she says to me once the area is cleared.
"Yeah," I answer, distracted. "Candace?"
She nods. "Yeah, I called you. Poor thing's been there since before my shift started, and I'm about to clock out. Won’t respond to anything, not since we got her to say your name, and now that's all she'll say. She sick or something?”
"Or something," I answer. "I've got it from here, Candace. Thanks."
"I'll be around for a few more minutes if you need anything, yah?"
Even through my worry for Cadence, I recognize the compassion this woman is showing, and I smile at her. "I will. You're an angel, Candace. Thank yousomuch.”
"I dunno 'bout all that, but anyone can see she isnotokay."
"She will be." I squeeze Cadence's hands, kiss her knuckles; her hands are dry and cracked, her lips are chapped, and she has heavy black bags under her eyes. "Cadence, hey. It's me. I'm here."
Her eyes flutter, twitch, and she blinks once, focusing on me—not without effort, either. "R-Rye—?”
I sniff a laugh. "Yeah, honey, it's me. Riley. I'm here. I've got you."
She blinks at me. "Real?"
“Yeah, I'm real." I place her palm on my cheek—I quit shaving weeks ago, so I've got a scraggly beard going. "Touch me, honey. I'm real.”
Her fingers curl into my beard. "Beard."
“Yeah, I grew a beard."
Her eyes go unfocused again. "Riley Crowe, Three Rivers…."
“Hey, hey, hey—baby, come back." I shimmy closer, so she rocks into me. "Cadence, sweetheart. It's Riley, I'm here."
"Riley—Riley." Her eyes try to focus on me, fail, try again. "Riley?"
"Yeah, right here. Hey, look at me, yeah?" I clutch her hands inside mine. "You wanna go home?"
"Home?"
"With me."
"Three Rivers?"
“Yeah, honey. Home to Three Rivers with me."
"Home to Three Rivers with you."
