Radiant (25 page)

"And he hasn't been the same since," Mrs. Maxwell said.
"He holds doors for people. Says 'thank you' and 'please.' Addresses people with 'sir' or 'ma'am.'"

"He's actually good to Eva," Carter's dad said. "For years, he hardly
acknowledged her existence. But now he hugs her when he sees her and talks to her kindly. It's like…like having a real family again."

"
And he speaks so well of Mary," said Mrs. Maxwell. "He never used to talk about any of his girlfriends before. But since they started dating, he's asked me things like when would be a good time for him to ask her to hold his hand or if he should wear a suit and tie when taking her to dinner. She's such a sweet girl. You must be very proud of her."

Mary could hear the smile in her mother's voice. "I am. Thank you."

Mary smiled as well.

"Has anyone seen Carter?" they heard Raj call from the main party area. "We're ready for him to blow out his candles."

"I guess we should get back down there," Phos said. He translated them to his room, where he closed the window before going downstairs with Mary. They found that the buffet trays had been cleared and replaced with a giant cake and sparkling candles.

Mr. Maxwell smiled and put his hand on Phos' shoulder.
"Make a wish, son."

Phos looked at him. Then at each person there, lastly fixing his eyes on Mary. He smiled. "I don't need to. I've gotten it already." And he blew out the candles.

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- 24 -

Bad Day

"Where would you like to go this afternoon?" Phos asked after school the next day.

Mary thought
for a moment. "Actually, I'd like to go see Ba. I told her that I'd take her shopping."

"That
sounds like a good idea," he said. "May I come along?"

She
laughed. "Of course."

When they arrived at Agape, they didn't find
Ba in the courtyard. She wasn't in the reading room, the dining room, or in the lounge. Emma was reading her Bible at a table, and Julia sat next to her playing Solitaire.

"Have either of you seen my grandmother today?"
Mary asked.

They shook their heads. "We didn't see her at breakfast or lunch," Emma said. "I think she's been in her room all day."

"That's weird," Mary said.

She and Phos took the elevator up.
Mary squeezed his hand.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"I really hope not," she said. But dark thoughts plagued at her, and some of them were her greatest fears. She knew one of them would come some day. Ba wasn't young. Mary hoped that she would live into her 90s, like Mr. and Mrs. Penny. Maybe even her hundreds, since she was physically very healthy. But people even younger than Ba passed away all the time.

Mary's
second fear was not as awful as the first, but it was still bad. If Ba hadn't come to meet them, and she hadn't passed away, then it meant she was having a bad day.

The elevator doors opened, and t
hey walked to Ba's suite. The door was open, and they heard her yelling. "I don't like pills! I feel fine. I don't need them."

Inside, they found
Ba sitting on the edge of her bed with her back to them. Her long hair dangled freely past her waist in tangled strands. Two nurses, including Ms. Nancy, tried to coax her to take some medication.

"Please, Mrs. Phan," Ms. Nancy said. "Calm down."

"Why am I here?" Ba asked. "Where's my husband? Where's Jean-Marc?"

"Ba?" Mary asked.

Ba turned around and stared at her for a moment. Her brow wrinkled. "Who are you?"

Mary gulped
. "It's me. Mary. Your granddaughter."

"Don't be silly," Ba said. "You're
not my Mary. You're too old. Mary's a little girl."

Ms. Nancy
came to meet Mary and Phos at the door. "I'm so sorry, Mary, but can you and Carter please wait out in the hall?"

"What's wrong?" Mary asked. "Was she given her medication on time?"

"Who is she?" Ba asked frantically. "Why is she calling me Ba? She's not my granddaughter. She's too old! Mary's only seven years old."

"Pl
ease, Mary," Ms. Nancy said and shut the door.

Mary could hear Ba screaming on the other
side. "Ba!" Mary started to open the door again.

Phos put his hands on hers.
"Wait."

"What do you mean wait?" she cried. "They're hurting her!"

He shook his head. "They're trying to help her. Let's do as she said and wait."

She stared at him
like he was speaking a foreign language to her.

Phos took her hands from the doorknob. "We can wait right here.
Okay?"

Mary
said nothing. Finally, she nodded.

They sat
on the floor in the hall. Mary hated to see Ba like this. Tears started making their way from her tiny tear ducts.

A few minutes later, Ms. Nancy opened th
e door. "You can come in, now."

Cautiously, Mary and Phos walked into the room. Ba was lying
quietly on her bed now. Her eyes were heavy and not looking at anything in particular.

"We had to give her a sedative," Ms. Nancy explained.

Mary stared at her. "Can I stay here with her?"

Ms. Nancy nodded. "She'll be like this for
a while. Maybe even past bedtime. Of course, call if you need one of us."

The nurses left, and Mary turned back to Ba. She took her hand. She felt fragile
, and she looked so out of it.

"She's like this because of me," Mary said.

"What do you mean?" Phos asked.

"I heard a long time ago that people
with Alzheimer's need routine," she said. "It helps them keep their memories longer. I've been visiting her almost everyday since she's been here. But I stopped coming regularly."

Phos looked do
wn. "When you started seeing me?"

A tear trickled down Mary's face. She wiped it away with her sleeve
. "Can you do something for her? Like you did for that kid at the hospital. Can you help my grandmother?"

"
I wish I could," he said. "I would cure her in a heartbeat. But I don't know how."

"What about
Mayim?" Mary asked. "Or maybe another radiant? Someone who has the right energy for this kind of thing?"

"
I'm sorry," he said. "The human mind is so…complex. Your memories are so fragile."

Mary looked at Ba again.

"Mary?" Phos asked. He put his hand on her shoulder gently.

She shrugged it off, pretending to push her hair behind her
ear. "Um, is it okay if I just spend some time with her alone? I just…I need to be alone for a bit."

Phos nodded. "Of course
."

After he left, Mary lay on the bed next to Ba, still holding her hand.

"I'm here, Ba," she whispered. "I'm here. And I'm not going anywhere."

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- 2
5 -

Watched

Mary,

I've sent you, like, a million emails. Where are you? Did the you-know-what get to you too? Kinda freaking out over here. Call or email ASAP.

- Drew

Mary sighed and opened a blank email.

Drew,

Sorry. I'm fine. Some family stuff came up. I'll get in touch with you as soon as I can.

- Mary

Hopefully, that would keep him off her back for a little while longer.

Phos missed school the
next couple of days. Mary had heard from the news that a comet was supposed to be making an annual flyby. Meteor showers were expected as the Earth passed through the comet's trail of debris, so that was probably keeping him busy.

Mary actually welcomed the
Phos-less days. That day of Ba's latest episode, Mary had stayed at Agape all the way until bedtime. She saw Ba the next day and she was fine, but the episode still bothered Mary, and she didn't feel like seeing him again right away.

At lunchtime, Sienna came into the Art room. "So this is where you hide out."

Mary began peeling her orange. "Hi Sienna."

She
sat down across from Mary. "Where's Carter?"

Mary shrugged. "He has stuff to do, I guess."

Sienna narrowed her eyes. "Are you okay? Is something going on with you two?"

Mary wrinkled her brow. "No. Why?"

"Well, you two seemed fine at the party. But now he isn't here, and you were pretty down in Art class," Sienna said.

"It's
nothing," Mary said.

Sienna sighed. "Okay, remember that accountability thing you asked me about? You're not quite scary, but even a blind hamster can see that something's bothering you."

Mary looked at her. "I think you mean three blind mice."

"
Whatever. The point is I'm worried about you," Sienna said. "I just wanna know if you need any help. And I promise I won't blab your business to anyone. Not even David. Scout's honor."

Mary said nothing for a moment. Then, she sighed. "It's sorta about Ph
—Carter. But it's not his fault. It's mine." She told Sienna about the episode at Agape.

"Wow, I didn't know your grandma was in a nursing home," Sienna said.

"It's a retirement home," Mary clarified. She looked down at her peeled but uneaten orange. "I feel like I failed her. I thought if I saw her often, she would remember longer. The hardest part is when she doesn't remember me, except when I was little. What's it going to be like when she doesn't remember me at all?"

Sienna remained silent
for a second. "So, what does this have to do with Carter?"

"Didn't you hear what I just
said?" Mary asked. "I totally ditched my grandmother for him. I'm such a horrible person!"

"No you didn't, and no you're not," Sienna said. "Listen,
I'm about to sound like the shallowest person on the face of the earth right now, but you can't control your grandma's disease. You don't make it any better or any worse. And you visit her a lot. I only see my grandma once a year, and that feels like too much. She always tells me I need to lose weight."

"Really?" Mary asked. Sienna
had curves, but she was far from fat.

"Yeah. I don't know
if it's a Brazilian thing, but she tells me it
every
year," Sienna said. "One day, your grandma isn't going to remember anything. Hopefully it's still a while a way, but it's coming and there's nothing you can do about it. So, there's no use feeling bad about something you can't control. You just have to enjoy how things are now."

Mary looked down. "Maybe you're right."

"No, I
am
right," Sienna said. "And it's not like you gotta choose between hanging with Carter and hanging with your grandma. You can do both."

Phos
liked going with Mary to Agape and spending time with Ba. And Ba liked him.

"You're right," Mary said. "I guess
I kinda got shook up. Thanks Sienna."

She smiled. "Any time. Well, I'm gonna find David before lunch is over. Later."

***

Phos wasn't back in school for the rest of the week. The news said that the Earth was past the comet trail, so Mary figured he wouldn't be busy with that anymore. She started to worry.

One night, while she was dozing on the roof, Mary woke with the touch of blazing lips on hers.

She smiled. "About time you showed up."

"My apologies," Phos said.

Mary sat up. "Where have you been? You missed a lot of school."

He looked down.

"Phos?
" she asked. "What's wrong?"

He didn't answer right away. Finally, he met her eyes. "I'm being watched."

"Watched?" she asked.

He nodded.

Mary stared at him for a moment. Then she asked, "You mean by radiants? By others of your kind?"

He nodded again.

"Is that a bad thing?" she asked. "Mayim seemed pretty cool."

"These are not l
ike Mayim," he said. "These are like judges. Their job is to keep order in the universe."

Mary
still didn't see how this was bad.

Phos sighed. "D
o you remember the boy at the hospital?"

She nodded. "The one you healed."