Marion’s bedroom was at the end of a long hallway. She looked around at the room as if nothing in it was familiar, and then she looked at Jenny, seeming baffled. “Who are you?”

“I’m Alex’s friend Jenny. I’m here to help you get ready for bed. What can I do to help?”

“I…I don’t know.”

“She has trouble with buttons and snaps,” Alex said from the door. “Nightgowns are in the third drawer. She needs to use the bathroom and brush her teeth, and then she has to take these pills.” He put a medicine cup and a glass of water on the desk inside the door. “Sure you don’t want me to do it?”

“We’ve got this, don’t we, Marion?”

“Of course we do.” She shooed her son from the room with a wave of her hand.

As Jenny helped her to unbutton her blouse and unhook her bra, her heart broke at the thought of her sons handling these tasks on most evenings. How difficult it must be for all of them. It took about twenty minutes to guide Marion through her nightly routine. At least once per minute, she had to remind Marion of who she was.

“He’s a very nice boy,” Marion said, taking Jenny’s hand after she tucked the older woman into bed. “My Alex.”

“Yes, he is.”

“He watches you. Every minute, his eyes are on you.”

Astounded by Marion’s moment of utter clarity, Jenny said, “Are they?”

Marion nodded. “Will you take care of him for me? I wish I could, but I can’t anymore.”

“I will. Of course I will.”

“Thank you. Jenny. Did I get your name right?”

Her uncertainty brought tears to Jenny’s eyes. “You sure did.” Jenny leaned in to kiss Marion’s lined cheek. “I’ll see you again soon, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Good night, Marion.” Jenny closed the bedroom door and took a moment to get her emotions under control before she joined Alex in the kitchen.

He stood when he saw her coming. “Everything okay?”

“Everything is fine.”

“I don’t even know how to properly thank you. That was way above and beyond… Well… Thank you.”

Jenny went to him and put her arms around him.

He hesitated for a second, as if he thought he might not deserve the comfort she offered so willingly, before he sagged against her and held her so tightly she could barely breathe. And then he raised his head and captured her mouth in a ravaging kiss, full of all the emotion he normally kept bottled up inside. It poured forth in passionate strokes of his tongue that had Jenny on tiptoes trying to get closer to him.

“Christ,” he whispered when he finally broke the kiss. “I’m all over the place tonight.”

“That’s okay. Kissing you is certainly no hardship.”