Chapter 4 - The Doctor Who Asked the Wrong Questions
Dr. Patrick Voss visited on a Thursday afternoon.
Carolyn had never seen him before.
Sarah introduced him as a friend.
"Patrick works with seniors."
Carolyn looked at Sarah.
"Why is he here?"
Voss smiled.
"Just a social visit."
Carolyn immediately disliked him.
He asked too many questions.
Did she ever misplace keys?
Yes.
Did she sometimes forget appointments?
Occasionally.
Did she ever enter a room and forget why?
Of course.
Did she manage her own finances?
Yes.
Did she feel anxious after Robert's death?
Obviously.
Voss nodded while making notes.
Carolyn stopped answering.
"What exactly are you writing?"
He closed the notebook.
"Nothing important."
"Then you won't mind showing me."
Sarah intervened.
"Mom."
Carolyn held out her hand.
Voss smiled.
"I think we've taken enough of your afternoon."
He stood.
Carolyn did not.
"Who asked you to evaluate me?"
Nobody answered.
Carolyn looked at Sarah.
Then Greg.
Finally Sarah said, "We're concerned."
"About what?"
"Your memory."
Carolyn stared at her.
"My memory is fine."
"Last week you couldn't find your glasses."
"They were in my bedroom."
"You forgot Lily's school meeting."
"You told me the wrong date."
Sarah shook her head sadly.
"See?"
Carolyn's stomach turned.
It was theater.
Every moment from the past several months rearranged itself in her mind.
The jokes.
The accusations.
The blocked calls.
The documents.
They were building a story.
Not for her.
About her.
Carolyn stood.
"Dr. Voss, leave my house."
Sarah gasped.
"Mom."
"Now."
Voss did not argue.
Greg followed him outside.
Carolyn looked at Sarah.
"You are trying to have me declared incompetent."
Sarah's face collapsed into practiced hurt.
"How can you say that?"
"Because I am not confused."
"No one said you are."
"Your doctor just spent forty minutes documenting ordinary forgetfulness."
"He's not my doctor."
"Whose doctor is he?"
Sarah did not answer.
Carolyn walked toward the phone.
Sarah followed.
"Who are you calling?"
"My attorney."
Sarah stopped.
Carolyn dialed.
No service.
She tried again.
Nothing.
She checked her cell phone.
No signal.
Greg had disconnected the house line.
The cell phone showed no network because the SIM card had been removed.
Carolyn turned slowly.
Sarah stared at her.
"Give me my car keys."
"Mom."
"My keys."
Sarah's voice lowered.
"You shouldn't drive when you're upset."
Carolyn felt genuine fear for the first time.
She went toward the garage.
Greg stood there.
The keys were in his hand.
"Looking for these?"
"Give them to me."
"No."
Carolyn stared at him.
"You are imprisoning me."
Greg laughed.
"Don't be dramatic."
"Give me my keys."
"Tomorrow."
"Now."
"Tomorrow."
Carolyn moved forward.
Greg stepped closer.
He was nearly a foot taller.
For several seconds neither moved.
Then a small voice came from behind them.
"Grandma?"
Lily stood in the hallway.
Carolyn looked at her granddaughter.
The fear on Lily's face broke the moment.
Carolyn walked away.
That evening she waited until everyone slept.
Then she entered Robert's study.
Greg had removed the computer.
But he had forgotten something.
Robert had kept an old emergency cell phone in the bottom drawer of his desk.
Carolyn found it.
The battery was nearly dead.
She turned it on.
One bar of service.
She dialed David.
The call rang once.
Twice.
Then voicemail.
"David."
She whispered because the walls suddenly felt thin.
"It's Mom."
A floorboard creaked upstairs.
Carolyn lowered her voice.
"I need you to call me. Don't call the house. Sarah is..."
The study door opened.
Greg stood there.
Carolyn froze.
He looked at the phone.
Then at her.
"What are you doing?"
Carolyn ended the call.
Greg walked toward her.
"Give me the phone."
"No."
"Carolyn."
She backed away.
Greg extended his hand.
"Give it to me."
"No."
He grabbed it.
Carolyn fought to hold on.
The phone slipped between them and hit the floor.
The battery popped out.
Lily appeared at the top of the stairs.
Sarah rushed down behind her.
"What happened?"
Greg picked up the phone.
"Your mother is having another episode."
Carolyn stared at him.
"You liar."
Sarah looked at Carolyn.
"Mom, you need to calm down."
"You took my phone. My keys. My house phone."
"For your safety."
"I am not unsafe."
Greg smiled.
"You're proving our point."
Carolyn looked at Sarah.
For one moment she searched her daughter's face for the child she had raised.
The teenager who once cried when her dog died.
The young woman Robert walked down the aisle.
The mother who had placed newborn Lily in Carolyn's arms and whispered, "I hope I'm half the mother you were."
Carolyn saw none of that now.
Only fear.
Not fear for Carolyn.
Fear of losing the house.
Carolyn walked upstairs.
She did not see Lily quietly pick up the battery from the floor.
She did not see the child hide it in her pocket.
And nobody knew the phone had successfully connected to voicemail for twenty-seven seconds before Greg grabbed it.
Three days later, thousands of miles away, David Miller finally heard his mother's voice.
He listened once.
Then again.
On the third time, he heard Greg in the background.
May you like
"What are you doing?"
David stopped breathing.
