Chapter 7 - WHY ANDREW WAS EASY TO PERSUADE
Andrew wanted to believe he would never have signed the care plan.
Clara was less certain.
They talked after she came home.
She sat on the sofa with water beside her.
Toby colored at the coffee table.
Andrew said:
“I would’ve asked you.”
Clara looked at him.
“Would you?”
He stopped.
She continued.
“Your mother tells you I’m overwhelmed. You say she means well.”
“Yes.”
“She says I need sleep. You tell me to listen to her.”
“Yes.”
“She takes Toby to school because I’m tired. You thank her.”
“Yes.”
“She says I shouldn’t drive. You take my keys.”
Andrew’s face changed.
“That was one day.”
“Did you ask the doctor?”
“No.”
“She did.”
“What?”
Clara nodded.
“She told you the doctor said I shouldn’t drive.”
Andrew remembered.
Evelyn texted:
Doctor doesn’t want Clara driving this week.
He never verified.
Clara said:
“The doctor told me to avoid driving if dizzy. Your mother turned that into no driving.”
Andrew sat down.
He had not controlled Clara directly.
He had delegated control.
Because it arrived as medical competence.
Because his mother sounded certain.
Because he was exhausted.
Because certainty is comforting when someone else carries it.
Clara asked:
“If she handed you that plan after I fainted, what would you have thought?”
Andrew looked at the floor.
“That it was temporary.”
There.
Not:
I would never sign.
He might have.
For a week.
For safety.
May you like
Until Clara was stronger.
Exactly what Evelyn expected.
