I let Rhiannon go first, then bodily moved her into Ahsan’s arms so she could sob in peace.
Samira’s eyes looked wet when I went in to hug her. “Look after her, okay?”
“I will.” I squeezed her just this side of too hard to make her gasp and punch me in the ribs. The door opened and the nurse stepped in. “I’ll see you on the other side, Warrior Princess Fairy.”
I kissed her forehead and let go, wiping my own eyes.
We’d been through several of her surgeries when she was younger. That was why this was such a stressful situation for us. I knew it triggered Rhiannon, and I felt so glad that she was still close with Ahsan and they could support each other.
Oh, and that girlfriend who had found the lump? She’d freaked, knowing Samira’s history with cancer, and she’d ghosted Samira. Yeah, fuck that chick.
* * * *
I stayed with them for longer than I thought I would. Rhiannon had work and Samira needed someone to be there for her while she recovered. She was a thin little thing to begin with, so I spent a lot of time trying to figure out things for her to eat that would keep her nourished when she didn’t want to eat anything at all. The pain medication made her queasy, always had, and since the incisions took time to heal, she was on them for a while.
Then, at the beginning of May, I got an email from Halley, the PA for my next boss. Elise was part of a girl group who were going on a hiatus for the summer. She wanted to stay on her borrowed yacht, and since I’d worked for the girls before, she wanted to hire me. So, Bahamas it would be for a while.
I liked Elise more than the rest of the girls, so I was relieved when Halley told me that they weren’t going to make an appearance.
We’d have the captain, three people of various crew, Elise, her best friend Ravi, Elise’s two security people Ramon and Izzy, and Halley for the first month. After that, some of Elise’s family might join us, but at first, that was it, at least in the current plans.
It would be half work, half vacation for me, too. When Halley subtly let me know that she knew there had been loss in my family and that Elise wanted me to take it easy for a while, I felt my heart squeeze a little.
I’d mentioned the loss of Ruth to Elise directly when she’d called me to check if I was available for this trip. It had been couple of days after the funeral. I supposed she’d heard how tired of everyday existence I was in my voice.
“Sammie?” I lifted my head to look at her.
She raised her brows at me from her spot on the couch. “Wazzup?”
“Halley says we leave in two days.”
“For the Bahamas?”
“Yup.”
She frowned. “Can I come with?”
I was pretty sure if I asked, Elise would say yes. “Your mother would never let you, and you don’t have a valid passport. Besides, you’re feeling better, and didn’t you say you’re going back to school next week?”
Groaning theatrically, she let her arms flop to her sides. “I guess so.”
“I’ll make you a week worth of food. If you’re quick and make me a list, I’ll start cooking today.”
She immediately grabbed her phone and started on said list. “You need to do laundry,” she reminded me.
“Oh, thanks.” I didn’t have many belongings and tended to carry my possessions around in an old army duffel bag.
“No problem,” she murmured as she concentrated on figuring out what she wanted me to make for her.
Food was my love language as much as it was my sister’s, and the whole family liked to take advantage of that, especially when I offered.
Her phone beeped. “Oh, Auntie Billie says hi.”
“Tell her hi back.”
Billie was a year younger than Rhiannon. I knew she felt guilty that she hadn’t been able to take me and the twins in when we were plucked out of the place we’d called home back then, but I never saw it as anything she should be faulted for. She’d been twenty-one and working three jobs to be able to afford community college in Anchorage. She’d lived in a shitty little place with two roommates.
Rhiannon hadn’t been much better off, but she and Ahsan had just gotten married and were figuring their shit out. Maybe they’d been in a marginally better position to take us in, but they’d lived in their first crappy rental which had no room, and both of them were making fuck all from their two jobs each.
