Read Online See What I See by Gloria Whelan - Free Book Online

Shouldn’t he be the one to encourage me? But I know this isn’t going to change. It’ll be a race for Dad to finish his work while he’s still able to paint, and I’ll have to be cheerleader as well as housekeeper and nurse.
    In the late afternoon the doorbell rings. A large woman stands there, solid as stone. With her dark suit and black bag she looks forbidding, but I notice she is wearing fanciful earrings that are a dangle of little hearts. She asks, “Is this Dalton Quinn’s house? I’m Erlita Parker, the visiting nurse.”
    â€œI’m Mr. Quinn’s daughter, Kate. Come on in. Let me talk with my dad.”
    I go into Dad’s studio. He gives me a furious look. “What do you want?”
    â€œThe visiting nurse is here.”
    â€œGet rid of her.”
    â€œI’m afraid he won’t see you,” I tell Erlita.
    â€œHoney, you looked wiped out. Better let me in to see for myself.”
    â€œIs she gone?” Dad shouts.
    Erlita motions in the direction of the studio. “He’s in there?”
    I nod.
    â€œSounds cranky.” She walks past me and into the studio.
    Dad stares at Erlita. “Who are you and what the devil do you think you’re doing here?” He turns to me. “I told you to get that woman out of here.”
    Erlita introduces herself.
    â€œThe last thing I need is some officious nurse telling me what to do. I didn’t ask for you and I don’t want you.”
    Erlita looks around. “My, you must be an artist. Why don’t you paint something pretty? I wouldn’t have one of those on my walls.”
    Dad goes through a string of curses, some of which are new to me, but Erlita stands her ground. She says, “Those bad words are like vipers issuing out of your mouth. Don’t you know what the Bible has to say about such language? And in front of your girl. You ought to be ashamed. Now I’m here to check your lungs and that’s what I’m going to do. I guess you want to get back to your painting, but unless you let me do my job, you aren’t going to have many painting days left, and if I were you, with a mouth like that, I wouldn’t be too anxious to meet my maker.”
    Dad spits out, “If you think you’re getting any money from me, I can tell you that even if I had it, I wouldn’t pay you a cent. So you can just clear out.”
    â€œThat’s not a problem. The hospital made arrangements for these visits. Believe me, they don’t want to see you back there anytime soon. Now if you’ll just be quiet.” Erlita gets out a blood-pressure cuff and a stethoscope. I hold my breath.
    Erlita looks over at me. “Honey, why don’t you get me a nice cold glass of water? I’ve been running all morning.”
    I return to find Dad is lying down. When she’s finished, I accompany Erlita to the door. “How did you get him to agree to the examination?”
    â€œI treated him just like I do my five-year-old—let him get it all out of his system and then close in for the kill. What you’ve got to realize is that your dad is scared. He knows he doesn’t have a lot of time left. Now what about you? You making some time for yourself, honey?” She puts her arm around me and that’s too much. It’s like my mom being there, and I haven’t realized how much I miss Mom and how much I need her. I lose it, and the next thing I know, I’m crying into Erlita’s shoulder and she’s patting me on the back.
    â€œAnytime you want to slip out, he’ll be fine for a couple of hours on his own. I’ll tell you what I’ll do,” she says. “We don’t live too far from here. I’ll send my little girl by to give you a night off. You don’t have to pay her a cent. She belongs to our church’s Good Deed Girls, and she needs the credit. Her name is Ruth after the lady in the Bible. She’s a little