it to you to explain when the office personnel get back. We’re going out!”
“You can’t do that! We have rules. They’re for the patient’s benefit,” the cranky nurse grumbled.
“I’m sure they are, but we’re just going to ignore those rules for now,” Hannah said.
A knock sounded on the door before it opened cautiously. A young girl, a volunteer by the look of her uniform, stuck her head in the door, and said, “Mr. Cisco called and said he’s been calling his mother and there’s no answer. He wants to know if something is wrong. He’s on hold. What should I tell him?”
Hard-Hearted Hannah marched over to the door. Her voice was syrupy-sweet when she said, “Tell Mr. Cisco the Trips have the situation under control.”
Sara held the door open for the nurse, who was carrying the breakfast tray. “We won’t be needing you anymore today, Nurse. We’ll be back at some point. I’m just not sure when that will be exactly. You have a real nice day now,” she added as she shut the door.
Cisco clapped her hands. “Oh, you don’t know how I’ve wanted to do that. Thank you.”
“You know, Cisco, part of this is your own fault. You should have called us. We would have dropped everything and come here. I know, I know, you don’t whine, and you don’t complain. But there are exceptions to everything, and this is one of those times when you should have made an exception,” Sam said.
The phone rang again. The Trips looked at one another. Hannah nodded as she picked up the receiver. “This is Hannah Cisco speaking. How may I help you?” She made a face as she held the phone away from her ear to listen to her father’s tirade. She waited until her father paused to take a deep breath before she spoke. “I think the question should be, what’s gotten into you, Dad, not the other way around. You washed your hands of us, remember? You got yourself a new life. We prefer the life we’ve always had. Mom must be spinning in her grave at what’s going on. No, I’m not going to let you speak to Cisco. Not after what you did to her. Sara, Sam, and I are going to make this right. Our arrest? Cisco took care of it for us since you couldn’t be reached. We can take care of ourselves. I don’t hear you saying you’re rushing here to check things out. We are not screwups!”
Sam snatched the phone out of his sister’s hand. “Listen, Pop, your squeeze said you were sleeping and couldn’t be disturbed. She said she’d tell you in the morning. I’m just damn glad it wasn’t a life-or-death matter. Stop pretending you care. I know what you care about, and it isn’t us, or Cisco. You’re just trying to make yourself feel better. You told us a man or a woman is only as good as their word. You also said a promise is something to be honored and never taken lightly. The three of us talked about that, and, you know what? Those were Mom’s words. You just repeated them. Mom was always as good as her word, and she never, ever broke a promise. You have a nice day now.”
“Wow!” Sara said.
“Oh dear, now your father is going to be upset,” Cisco murmured.
“That’s a good thing,” Hannah said. “Maybe he’ll finally wake up to what’s going on. We didn’t want you to worry about us, Cisco.”
Cisco made her way to the couch and sat down. “He really hurt you three, didn’t he? You led me to believe everything was all right between you and your father. Why didn’t you tell me how unhappy you were?”
The Trips clustered around her. “At first we thought he was just working too hard and didn’t have time for us. As you know, it all started when he didn’t show up at our high school graduation. That was his way of telling us we were on our own. He was going to start living his own life. A set of teenage triplets didn’t help his image,” Sara said.
“When we’d ask to go to New York, he would always say it was a bad time. I guess it was because of his different girlfriends. We called,
“You can’t do that! We have rules. They’re for the patient’s benefit,” the cranky nurse grumbled.
“I’m sure they are, but we’re just going to ignore those rules for now,” Hannah said.
A knock sounded on the door before it opened cautiously. A young girl, a volunteer by the look of her uniform, stuck her head in the door, and said, “Mr. Cisco called and said he’s been calling his mother and there’s no answer. He wants to know if something is wrong. He’s on hold. What should I tell him?”
Hard-Hearted Hannah marched over to the door. Her voice was syrupy-sweet when she said, “Tell Mr. Cisco the Trips have the situation under control.”
Sara held the door open for the nurse, who was carrying the breakfast tray. “We won’t be needing you anymore today, Nurse. We’ll be back at some point. I’m just not sure when that will be exactly. You have a real nice day now,” she added as she shut the door.
Cisco clapped her hands. “Oh, you don’t know how I’ve wanted to do that. Thank you.”
“You know, Cisco, part of this is your own fault. You should have called us. We would have dropped everything and come here. I know, I know, you don’t whine, and you don’t complain. But there are exceptions to everything, and this is one of those times when you should have made an exception,” Sam said.
The phone rang again. The Trips looked at one another. Hannah nodded as she picked up the receiver. “This is Hannah Cisco speaking. How may I help you?” She made a face as she held the phone away from her ear to listen to her father’s tirade. She waited until her father paused to take a deep breath before she spoke. “I think the question should be, what’s gotten into you, Dad, not the other way around. You washed your hands of us, remember? You got yourself a new life. We prefer the life we’ve always had. Mom must be spinning in her grave at what’s going on. No, I’m not going to let you speak to Cisco. Not after what you did to her. Sara, Sam, and I are going to make this right. Our arrest? Cisco took care of it for us since you couldn’t be reached. We can take care of ourselves. I don’t hear you saying you’re rushing here to check things out. We are not screwups!”
Sam snatched the phone out of his sister’s hand. “Listen, Pop, your squeeze said you were sleeping and couldn’t be disturbed. She said she’d tell you in the morning. I’m just damn glad it wasn’t a life-or-death matter. Stop pretending you care. I know what you care about, and it isn’t us, or Cisco. You’re just trying to make yourself feel better. You told us a man or a woman is only as good as their word. You also said a promise is something to be honored and never taken lightly. The three of us talked about that, and, you know what? Those were Mom’s words. You just repeated them. Mom was always as good as her word, and she never, ever broke a promise. You have a nice day now.”
“Wow!” Sara said.
“Oh dear, now your father is going to be upset,” Cisco murmured.
“That’s a good thing,” Hannah said. “Maybe he’ll finally wake up to what’s going on. We didn’t want you to worry about us, Cisco.”
Cisco made her way to the couch and sat down. “He really hurt you three, didn’t he? You led me to believe everything was all right between you and your father. Why didn’t you tell me how unhappy you were?”
The Trips clustered around her. “At first we thought he was just working too hard and didn’t have time for us. As you know, it all started when he didn’t show up at our high school graduation. That was his way of telling us we were on our own. He was going to start living his own life. A set of teenage triplets didn’t help his image,” Sara said.
“When we’d ask to go to New York, he would always say it was a bad time. I guess it was because of his different girlfriends. We called,
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