Dad, I need you to show up.
The memory hit me so suddenly that I nearly lost control.
I held Nora a little longer.
Then June gently helped her step back.
The paramedics were leaving.
The grandmother was being contacted.
The manager was working with the appropriate staff to make sure Nora remained supervised until a responsible family member arrived.
I could have left.
My motorcycle was outside.
My water bottle sat forgotten near the shelf.
Nobody had asked me to stay.
But I looked toward the little girl.
And I knew I wasn't going anywhere until somebody she knew came to take her safely home.
The grandmother arrived about twenty minutes later.
She was a white woman in her early sixties, with short silver hair, a pale-blue blouse, and the terrified expression of someone who had received the worst telephone call of her life.
She hurried through the entrance carrying a handbag.
“Where's Nora?”
Eric met her.
After confirming her identity and relationship through the available information, he guided her toward the pharmacy area.
Nora spotted her immediately.
Her face crumpled.
She hurried forward.
The older woman dropped to her knees and embraced her.
“Oh, sweetheart.”
Nora began sobbing.
Her grandmother held her tightly.
Then she looked toward June.
“What happened?”
June explained carefully.
She described the father's collapse, the emergency response, and the ambulance transport.
The grandmother listened with one hand pressed against her mouth.
Then she looked toward me.
The enormous bald biker in the black leather vest.
The gray beard.
The tattooed arms.
I could see her confusion.
June noticed.
“This is Ray. He helped give CPR until the paramedics arrived.”
The older woman's eyes widened.
She stepped toward me.
For a moment, she seemed unable to speak.
Then she reached for my hand.
“Thank you.”
I shook my head.
“Ma'am, everybody helped.”
Her eyes filled.
“They said his heart stopped.”
I swallowed.
“For a while.”
The older woman closed her eyes.
Then whispered, “That's my son.”
I didn't know what to say.
She looked toward Nora.
Then toward me.
“She's all he's got.”
The words settled heavily in my chest.
I glanced toward the child.
She was still holding June's hand.
The grandmother continued.
“Her mama died when she was little. He's been raising her alone.”
I felt cold.
I thought about Claire.
About her children.
About all the ordinary days I'd wasted being angry at the world.
Then I looked toward the grandmother.
“I hope he pulls through.”
She nodded, tears running down her cheeks.
“Me too.”
She gathered Nora's belongings.
June gave her the information she had about the emergency response and hospital.