Those 70ish Girls

(Be sure you have read part 40, first)

Kat felt uneasy about what she had just witnessed. Annette and Vanessa had left Edith Morris’ room together. Vanessa was Edith’s granddaughter and Annette was her daughter…

Still…it made sense that Annette would go to see her mother and inform her of the arrangements she had made to take her home the next day. But why did Annette stand outside the room while Vanessa was obviously talking to a grandmother she didn’t know or at least hadn’t remembered?

Kat was exhausted and wanted to go back to her room and get some sleep before the long trip home the next day with Vanessa and Jack, who would be there later that night to drive them back. She decided to look in on Vanessa before leaving the hospital and see if she had packed her things and was ready to go.

Vanessa was standing by the window and she was sobbing.

“What brought this on?” Kat asked.

“I remembered everything, Kat. That woman, my grandmother, killed my mother.”

Kat stood there not knowing what to do as Vanessa told her the whole gruesome story. When asked by Kat how Jennifer’s tragic accident happened, Annette had said she only knew what her mother had told her. Vanessa had blocked it all out…until now.

Vanessa was so distraught, Kat stayed with her until she was able to calm down and fall asleep. She couldn’t believe it was after ten before she was able to leave the hospital and she was stunned by what Vanessa had just told her.

Jack had arrived earlier and was able to get a room for the night at the same hotel where Annette and Kat were staying. He had driven straight through without eating and decided to go to the restaurant off the lobby and grab a bite to eat. He spotted Kat on his way and invited her to join him. As exhausted as she was, she decided to tell him that his daughter now remembered everything about the day her mother died.

Annette was back at the Roadside Cafe. She and Sandy, the waitress, had become friends and Annette wanted to see her and get something to eat. Suddenly, she was hungry. She hadn’t had an appetite for days, but even though it was after 9:00 p.m., a burger and fries sounded good.

Around midnight, the nurse went to check on Mrs. Morris and take her vitals. The first thing she noticed was that her patient’s pillow was on the floor and Mrs. Morris was lying flat on the bed. The second thing the nurse discovered was that her patient was not breathing.