Bridget sinks back against a bed of pillows. A nurse comes in and adjusts her IV. Then another one comes in and checks her medication.
We go on as if this is normal because this has become our new normal.
“Tell me a little bit about yourself, Erin,” she says in a deep, masculine voice, and I can’t help but giggle.
“Don’t ask me that,” I tell her, shaking my head.
“Why not?”
“Because I can’t tell him that I’m into knitting and puzzles, Bridget. He’ll think he’s marrying an old lady.”
“Who do you think he wants to marry?” she says. “He wants to marryyou. You’re not an old lady. You don’t have shriveled up titties and ovaries.”
I roll my eyes but snort.
“Listen, Erin.” She leans forward into the camera, and I wish that she didn’t, because when she does, the harsh fluorescent lighting makes her eyes look bright and highlights the dark circles underneath. It scares me.
“You need to be honest. Honesty is still the best policy. You have to understand,” she says vehemently. “In our world, everything is cloaked in lies, right? It’s all about who you know, how you play the game, who the power players are, who’s rising, who’s falling. Who’s next.” She swallows hard. “Youdon’t play by those rules. Honestly, babe,” she says with a soft smile, “it’s one of the things I love best about you. You are who you are, no matter what anybody else thinks.” She gives me a half smile and lowers her voice again. “So tell me, Erin. Tell me a little bit about yourself.”
Hmm. “I…don’t like to drink? I don’t like loud music. I don’t like…”
Me pushed up against the wall, his hand on my throat, his voice right up against my ear, and the way my heart fluttered in excitement. I liked that. But I quickly move on, pushing the thought away.
I swallow hard. “What about you?”
Bridget grins. “I like guns, fast cars, and fighting,” she says in this comically gruff, masculine voice. “And the plans I have for the beautiful woman I’m marrying.”
“Oh my god, Bridget,” I say with a giggle.
“Erin?” My father’s voice calls from downstairs, and there’s a soft knock at the door.
“Yes?”
I open it to find our housekeeper on the other side. “Your ride’s here, ma’am,” she says, her eyes wide. “And what a ride it is,” she adds with a little smile as she quickly scurries away.
“Oh god. Oh god, Bridget. I have to go. He’s… he’s here.”
“Relax,” she says with a big smile. “Remember, this is the man you’re marrying, okay?”
“I know,” I say with a grimace.
“It’s not like it’s a blind date,” she says. “Justgo. Have fun. Eat good food.”
“How do I look?”
Bridget clasps her hands over her heart, sighs, and leans back against the pillows. “You look absolutely, stunningly, amazingly beautiful. And if you weren’t my sister, and he wasn’t marrying you, I would ask to marry you myself.”
That makes me smile. “You’re crazy.”
“But you love me,” she says.
“I do. So much.”
I can’t cry, not now, because even though this mascara is supposedly waterproof, I don’t want to risk fate.
“Bye.” I kiss the tips of my fingers and waggle them at her. “I love you so much too.”
There was a time when my sister and I didn’t tell each other that we loved one another, but now we realize there’s no way to know when the last goodbye will be.
