18961127 07:36:58

MK-S-4798

Carbondale opened the door to her bedroom and saw her sitting upright on the chair set before her dresser and mirror. She looked directly upon him as he entered the room, and remained precisely still as he approached her.
"Your mother can make you some toast. You should have something before the service."
"No, thank you."
The only part of her body which she allowed to move was her eyelids as she blinked. He found himself looking around the room at random spots while searching for what to say next - though it had been some time since he was fully within her room, he didn't quite recall it being so disheveled and brown. He recalled there being more floral decorations in here before, but couldn't recall specifically when now. The lack of organization also intrigued him - it wasn't like her to have so many books removed from proper placement in shelves and in haphazard piles on the floor.
"Well, your mother would like to see you before we leave, and we both would appreciate to see you join us and be around us. It would mean a lot to us both."
"I'd rather not, though."
"OK. By the way, you may like to know that my collection efforts have been great, and I have close to fifty thousand set to donate to the hospital. I think-" He stopped speaking when he noticed her eyes begin to well up.
"What good is it, Dad? Why bother? What difference will it make?"
He nodded and rolled his tongue around in his mouth while choosing his words.
"The difference is that we learn from her passing. The difference is that we start to find a way to keep people from thinking that way. That seems like a good thing to me. Isn't it?"
"Maybe a good thing for you." Her response was barely above a whisper and stated with her head turned away to the side "Make you feel good about yourself."
"Grace. Look. It's one thing for me to just pat you on the back and tell you everything will be fine and walk away. I don't need to do anything else. Don't even have to do that. And I could just take that money anywhere else and not give that place a dime. What I'm doing is to show how I can make things better for people like her in the future. That's something you should be proud of. To know that in response to this crisis, I do something to help all of us - not just you or this family, but everyone living here. All of us. This is what I can do for all of us."
She smiled weakly in response.
"You're right." He caressed her cheek gently with his fingertips.
"That's better. You should come down for some toast." He turned away from her and left the room. She remained seated.
"You're too late." Grace said this no louder than a whisper to the empty room.