Read Online A Field Guide to Burying Your Parents by Liza Palmer - Free Book Online Page B

proper party etiquette. Leo got so upset he went over, unplugged the living room floor lamp and shoved
the plug right in his mouth, quietly electrocuting himself as we fought. We spent the rest of the night in the emergency room
while Leo told wild stories about how his vision looked like a staticky television screen.
    “Fine,” Abigail answers.
    “Have you seen the twins yet?” Leo interrupts.
    “Twins?” I ask, scanning the room for electrical sockets.
    Abigail and Leo look at each other.
    “Twins?” I repeat.
    “We have twins. Manny and I,” Abigail admits.
    “And no one thought to tell me this on the phone?” I ask, my voice raspy as I try to continue whispering. Even after finding
out that whole people exist that I knew nothing about.
    “It just didn’t seem like something to tell over the phone,” Leo says.
    “How old are they?” I ask.
    “Four,” Abigail answers, trying not to smile at the mention of them.
    “Four,” I repeat.
    “What does Evie think about all this?” I ask.
    “Inconvenienced half the time—well, really she’s inconvenienced by all of us, so…” Abigail smiles.
    “And the other half of the time?”
    “When she thinks we’re not looking, she’s… she’s adorable with them.” Abigail beams.
    “And this was… planned?” I tiptoe. Abigail is quiet.
    “She did IVF,” Leo jumps in.
    “Leo!” Abigail says.
    “IVF?” I ask.
    “After Mom—” Leo starts.
    “Can we talk about this later?” Abigail asks, her voice rising.
    We are quiet.
    “Is Huston here yet?” I finally ask as the silence settles in.
    “He was here earlier. He said he had some business to take care of,” Abigail answers, relieved.
    “The kids are out in the waiting room,” Leo continues.
    “Evie is watching them while I—” Abigail motions at Dad. I zoom back into the surroundings. The beeping and whirring of the
machines come back up. Dad’s labored breathing fills the room once again. How easily I forgot why I’m here. Dad coughs into
his oxygen mask and I back away, instinctively looking to Abigail.
    She comes forward and stands on the other side of his bed. Dad lifts his left arm to reveal that he’s wearing a restraint
around his left wrist.
    “What’s that?” I sputter.
    “The stroke paralyzed his right side. They had to restrain his left arm. He was pulling everything out. The tubes. The catheter,”
Abigail explains, as she buzzes for the nurse. I step away from Dad’s bedside and find a place closer to the glass wall of
his room.
    “Not pretty,” Leo adds.
    “Haven’t seen my father in twenty-two years and the first glance I get is of his—” Abigail trails off, motioning to the more
nether regions of our father. I wince. Dad wheezes again into the oxygen mask.
    “He’s sedated, right? He’s on pain meds?” I ask, my voice rising.
    “Yeah… he shouldn’t be feeling any pain. But they tell me that it’s uncomfortable, you know… all the tubes,” Abigail explains,
looking up as the nurse comes in the room.
    “Everything okay?” the nurse asks, immediately walking over to Dad’s side.
    “He’s trying to pull the tubes out again,” Abigail explains, as she takes Dad’s restrained hand in hers. He grips her hand
tightly. Find a point on the horizon. Find a point on the horizon. He knows what’s going on. He’s in there somewhere. I look
up at the ceiling of the hospital room.
    “Now, Mr. Hawkes—just calm down. Everything’s okay,” the nurse says.
    “This is Grace. My sister,” Abigail says to the nurse.
    The nurse laughs. “How many of you
are
there?”
    “Just the four of us.” Abigail’s voice is tight.
    “You’re like those Narnia kids.”
    “Those Narnia kids?” Abigail asks, as politely as she can.
    “I just saw that movie with my kids. They loved it,” the nurse oozes.
    “It’s actually a book—a series of books,” I say.
    “Four of them, four of you,” the nurse adds.
    “Do we also remind you of the Beatles?”