She left the hospital after a shorter shift, drove to Marcus's office, and arrived at three-fifteen, which was during the window. Cody looked up from the reception desk and this time did not flicker; he only smiled, cautiously, and said she could go back. In the small conference room she found Ruth and Elias at the table with a box of crayons and a spread of paper, Marcus standing by the window on a muted call, one finger raised in apology. Elias saw her first.
"Mommy!" He held up a drawing of a house with too many windows. "Grandma Ruth said your house looks like this from the outside. Does it?"
Grandma Ruth. Not nice lady. The upgrade had happened gradually, over months, and Aaliyah had let it happen the way she let certain rains continue after she had already gotten wet.
Ruth turned in her chair. For an instant fear moved across her face—the old fear of Aaliyah's anger, of being sent out, of the restraining order that had never actually been filed but had lived in both women's imaginations like a loaded thing. Then Ruth saw that Aaliyah was not wearing her courtroom face, and the fear eased into something more complicated.
"I didn't know you were coming," Ruth said.
"I didn't either." Aaliyah set her bag down. She nodded at Marcus, who ended his call and mouthed, You okay? She nodded again. "I thought I might sit in today. If there's room."