Part 4.5 – Me Three
Alice Street sat alone in a corner of the C.C.U. waiting area, arms hugging her middle and chin lowered to her chest. Her sons had wandered away to find coffee and a place to smoke that wouldn't bother her and to avoid her 'Mom' look of disapproval. She was convinced cigarettes had caused the premature death of her husband, and she was driven to distraction that both Jamie and Robbie smoked – and she suspected that Della did as well.
Another thing driving her to distraction was her daughter's reaction to seeing her. Or maybe it was because Della didn't see her that was so troubling. She had opened her eyes, those eyes her father had been so thrilled were the same color as her mother's, but she looked right through her and wouldn't allow any of the maternal comfort she so desperately wanted to give. No, she had called for him, that man she worked for; that man who had gotten her arrested and jeopardized her life on more than one occasion; that man who spoke so suavely and commandingly and was so darned handsome. She wanted him to comfort her, him to hold her, him to soothe her.
And after what she had seen, Alice Street understood why.
Her daughter was in love, and that man did a good job of making it seem like he loved Della. Both Mae and Kathy had sung his praises, about how devoted he was, how he had probably saved her life by sheer force of will and quick thinking. She should be grateful to him, but the knowledge that her daughter was obviously intimate with that man filled her with disappointment.
Alice thought her daughter was beautiful and special, but what could a man like Perry Mason possibly see in a small-town Michigan girl like Della? He was older and charming and no doubt had dated his share of movie stars and wealthy, sophisticated women. What could a girl who had planned to go to college and join her father's advertising firm, marry her clean-cut sweetheart, and some day be a mother give to him, a brilliant, well-known attorney? Did he know how after Gregg was killed and her father died and money became scarce that she had given up her plans for college and instead attended business school at night while working full time at her father's flagging firm? Did he know that what she earned had paid the mortgage and allowed Jamie and Robbie to finish college? That her selflessness had allowed her brothers to devote their energy to their studies, and that both boys had taken jobs in town when they could have made so much more in Detroit or Grand Rapids or Chicago? Did he know that she moved to California only after the firm's partners abruptly closed the firm without consulting her, and that the final business settlement offered could have paid for her to attend college, but that she had taken it directly to the bank and paid off the house for her mother?
She didn't like how she felt right now, just moments after being unceremoniously ushered from her daughter's hospital room by that terribly efficient nurse. It hurt to know your daughter was too grown up for her mother, that the arms of a man, the arms of that man, brought the comfort that had always been your purpose in life.
Della was her only daughter, her baby, and the miles that separated them these many years had been difficult. While telephone calls and letters sufficed for her friendship with Joan Martin, they simply weren't enough when it came to being involved in her daughter's life. She felt distant and disconnected, as if she no longer knew her own daughter. Her Della, her sweet, loving Della, the Della who left home still in mourning for her deceased fiancé wouldn't take a man to her bed without being married to him. And certainly not that man.
What she had seen, what she had heard in that hospital room made Alice happy and sad and angry all at once, a jumbled reaction to the reality that her daughter was a grown woman with a life she knew virtually nothing about. A grown woman who didn't need her mother anymore, and who didn't feel comfortable telling her mother about her new life. That hurt, too. It hurt almost more than she could bear.
Someone sat down beside her but she was too wrapped up in her thoughts to pay much attention. In the back of her mind she reasoned it must be Jamie or Robbie, so when Perry Mason's deep voice spoke her name she was surprised.
"Mrs. Street?"
She lifted her chin and met his brilliant blue eyes. There was no way around it – he was the best looking man she had ever seen up close. No wonder Della was so enamored. His eyes alone were enough to make a woman swoon, but their intensity could intimidate and flash with rage, as they had all witnessed. She couldn't even think to reply, so mesmerized was she by them.
"I see where Della gets her powers of concentration," he said with a small smile.
"I knew you were here. Well, I knew someone was here," she amended. "My thoughts are a bit consuming at the moment."
"Would they be less consuming if I told you I'm here to take you back in to see Della? She was agitated and uncomfortable earlier, but she's much better now. Come with me before she falls asleep. She wants to see you."
Alice Street hesitated. Lord knew she wanted to see her daughter, but as she studied his face, she wondered if the sincerity in his words and tone was real or if that solicitous, convivial manner of speaking was what he used to extract testimony from witnesses. "You have no idea how much it hurts to know your own daughter doesn't want you."
"Mrs. Street, she wants you. She just –"
"She just wants you more, Mr. Mason." Alice tried to keep the bitterness she felt from her voice. "When she moved out here she was still my little girl, fresh out of business school and unsure of what she wanted to be when she grew up. She was so homesick and disillusioned that her skills weren't appreciated. We talked all the time on the telephone and wrote long, long letters. Then she called one day and told me she had accepted a job as a legal secretary. Her boss was an up and coming criminal trial attorney, and he was paying her a small fortune. The work was challenging and exciting, everything she had always wanted in a job. And the longer she worked for this attorney, the shorter her letters became. She didn't call as much and she kept secrets from me. I learned more about my own daughter from Mae than I did from Della herself."
"Mrs. Street –"
"Let me have my say, Mr. Mason, and then we'll go see exactly how much my daughter needs her mother. When she brought you to visit us Mr. Mason, we were all concerned. Mae had warned us about your relationship with Della. She sees much more than most of us see, except for maybe Della. Anyway, it was very plain how Della felt about you, and the boys and I were worried. I tried to talk to her, but she wouldn't tell me anything. She said what she felt for you was private and that it was nobody's business. I thought nothing could break my heart as much as when she left, but knowing that she couldn't – or wouldn't – trust me with her feelings about you crushed me. And now she's sick and I want to be her mother, and she won't let me."
"That's not true, Mrs. Street. I know for a fact Della loves you very much. And she misses you every second of every day. As a matter of fact, we're in Carmel because I wanted to ease her homesickness."
Alice Street went on as if he hadn't spoken. "There's a saying, Mr. Mason: be careful what you wish for. All her father and I ever wanted was for our daughter to be happy and to be her own person. Logically I know Della is a grown woman capable of making her own decisions, but in my heart she's still my baby, and that will never change. I guess I just want her to be her own person closer to me, where I can see her every day, or at the very least more than once every couple of years. I feel like something is broken between us and I don't know what it is or how to fix it. Mothers are supposed to make everything better, but I can't. Not when she's so closed off about her life here." She almost added 'with you', but didn't because she didn't know how he would react. He was so big and exuded such authority and power. She had heard and read things about his courtroom persona and even though Mae said he was quite civil, she still wasn't sure.
Perry deeply wished that Alice Street didn't feel this way, that she and her sons weren't so upset with Della's choice of where and how she lived her life, but the older woman didn't want to hear anything from him right now. This wasn't a time for acrimony. Everyone close to Della needed to present a united front so that she could get better all that more quickly. She was getting better, but was still sick and miserable and uncomfortable and not herself. Didn't they see that? Didn't they see that everything he did he did for Della's wellbeing? Didn't they see how much he cared? How much he loved Della? He wanted to comfort this woman who had been responsible for giving him the best thing in his life. He wanted to help her understand that just because Della loved and needed him it didn't mean she didn't love and need her mother as well.
Perry reached into his pocket and withdrew his handkerchief. If he had learned nothing through this ordeal, he had realized he always needed to have a handkerchief within close range. He handed it to Della's distraught mother as tears threatened. With some trepidation he put his hand on hers – small and delicate like her daughter's and spoke gently.
"Mrs. Street, you may think I'm out of line, but I hope you'll take what I'm about to say in the manner in which it's intended. Della is the most wonderful human being I have ever met. She's beautiful and smart and funny, independent and stubborn, and sometimes downright impossible, but you have every right to be extremely proud of what she's accomplished in her young life. What she's brought to my life and to my practice can't be easily measured, but it's safe to say that if not for her I wouldn't be able to accomplish half of what I do and that I wouldn't be half the man I've managed to become." He paused to gauge her response, but she was hiding behind his handkerchief. "You and your husband gave me the greatest gift I've ever received and you have my undying gratitude for teaching her to be her own person. But you're wrong when you say she doesn't need you. She needs you now more than ever."
Alice Street peeked at him from behind the scrap of linen with teary, wary hazel eyes. "Mae said you could talk a fish out of water. That was quite a speech, Mr. Mason."
Perry got to his feet and extended his hand. After a slight hesitation, Alice Street accepted it and arose with a natural grace handed down to her daughter.
"Then I'll condense it, Mrs. Street. Della is happy. She's safe. She's loved. It's as simple as that." He cupped her elbow the same way he did for his secretary and escorted her toward room three-ten.
Alice Street gave her daughter's tall attorney an appraising sideways glance. How could any woman resist this man's looks and charm? For her daughter's sake she hoped he was sincere.
They entered Della's room and found Louise making notations on her chart. She smiled when she saw them. "She's much quieter now, thanks to you, Mr. Mason. But she has been asking for you. For both of you," she ended pointedly.
Alice stood back toward the foot of the bed while Perry advanced and unzipped the side of the oxygen tent. He reached inside and gently stroked Della's hand. She opened her eyes and smiled at him.
"Hi precious girl," he said quietly. "Look who I found waiting outside." He motioned for Alice Street to stand by his side.
Della's gaze moved past Perry as she tried to focus on who was there. Upon recognizing her mother, tears brimmed in her eyes and she lifted her hand. Alice moved tentatively to Perry's side as he withdrew his hand, grasped Alice's and placed it in her daughter's. He took a few steps away and Della's eyes swung back to him.
"Not far. Don't go far."
"I'll just be down the hallway, baby. I think I'll find your brothers and get a cup of coffee while I'm at it." He wrapped his arm around Alice's shoulders. "Don't give your mother a hard time. She came an awful long way to see you."
"I'm glad," she said, weak fingers squeezing her mother's hand.
"Me too," he agreed.
Alice gazed at her thin, pale, but unbelievably beautiful daughter. "Me three," she quipped.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
For several minutes mother and daughter held hands, words between them unnecessary as they reconnected with a simple touch.
"You scared everyone, little girl," Alice Street said brokenly.
" I scared myself," Della admitted. "I'm sorry."
"Jeez-o-pete, honey, what are you apologizing for? You can't help it if you're sick."
"I'm sorry about before."
"Your Mr. Mason explained everything. Don't fret about it." Alice patted her daughter's hand and hoped she sounded less brusque than she felt talking about that man.
Della locked eyes with her mother through the distorting plastic, more focused than they had been in four days. "He's a good man, Mom."
"I'm sure he is, dear, otherwise you wouldn't…you wouldn't…" Alice couldn't say it, couldn't verbalize the relationship her daughter maintained with Perry Mason.
"Love him?"
Alice flushed uncomfortably, then realized that if she couldn't speak honestly and frankly with her daughter, how could she expect Della to speak honestly and frankly with her? "You can't blame me for worrying, Della. He's a bit overwhelming. I hope you know what you're doing."
"He loves me," Della said contentedly, and coughed.
"I want to be honest with you, Della, but I don't want you to get mad at me."
"You don't like him."
Alice should have known Della would read her like the proverbial book. "Whether I like him or not isn't here nor there. He's just so…so volatile. And pushy. Is he always such a bully?"
Della laughed, which brought on a coughing fit. She wiped her mouth with a towel and rested her head against the pile of pillows keeping her upright and closed her eyes. "I'm happy, Mom. "
Alice looked furtively around the hospital room for Louise, and when she was satisfied that the nurse wasn't lurking anywhere near, leaned forward and unzipped the oxygen tent. She stroked her daughter's cheek with cool, soothing fingers. "Okay, honey. I'm happy you're happy. I'll admit I heard him singing to you and just before we came in to see you he told me some things that gave me a lot to think about."
Della tried to open her eyes but couldn't seem to. "A chance," she whispered weakly. "Give him…a chance.
Alice smiled at her daughter as she continued to stroke her cheek. "For you, little girl, I'll see what I can do. He has a lot of maternal prejudice to overcome," she warned.
"I love you, Mom."
Alice brushed tears from her eyes with Perry's fine handkerchief. "I love you, too, Della. Go to sleep. The next time you wake up we'll send in the boys."
Della sighed. "Too much," she said.
Alice Street smiled, understanding her daughter's cryptic comment perfectly. "Nothing is too much for you. Did you really think they wouldn't come?"
But Della was already asleep. Alice bent and kissed her forehead, and smoothed back messy curls one more time before re-zipping the oxygen tent and tucking it more securely beneath the mattress. Kathy had said if she continued to improve, Della could be out of the tent in a day or two. Then it wouldn't be long before she was released. Nothing would make Alice happier, even though she wasn't looking forward to fighting with that man about who was going to take care of her while she convalesced. He might very well be a brilliant attorney, but she doubted he had ever crossed paths with the likes of her. Or, maybe he had, she thought, smiling down at her daughter.