“Ollie’s mentioned your eyes a few times, too. He said it’s like… you have brown eyes. Just plain, boring, standard brown.”
“He said I have boring eyes?”
“At first glance, he said. But when you look for more than two seconds, you see the other colors. The red and green and gold and black and…” She stares straight into my eyes, unaffected by how impossibly close we are. “He said it’s like someone took a bunch of old glass bottles, all different colors from different places and times, and smashed them up. Then all the shards were blended and put back together. And that’s how we got your eyes.”
“He’s always had the most romantic heart,” Alana sighs, patting her baby’s frilly-pantsed bottom. “Oliver Darling was always, and will always be, the sweetest man I’ve ever known.”
“She married Tommy,” Eliza quips. “But he ain’t sweet. He’s an animal.”
Alana scrunches her nose in agreement. “It’s true.”
“I can tell this is a lot.” Eliza takes my hand again, clasping it between hers. “And I know I’m just some arrogant, noisy stranger you never invited into your room. But I wanted to drop by today and bring you this stuff. The world is huge and lonely, even at the best of times. Some of usdon’t mind being by ourselves, because we enjoy our own company. But you don’t even have that.” She points her elbow back toward the bags. “We grabbed you a bunch of books from Alana’s store, too. Thought you might like to read.”
“Really?” My heart grows heavier in my chest, pounding and aching. But it’s not a bad ache. It’s not even uncomfortable. “You brought me books?”
“Got you some bodice rippers,” Alana smirks. “Somelet’s solve a mysterykind. Some with dragons and elves. Flick through them when you’re bored. Hopefully, something will pique your interest. If they do, let me know and I’ll get you more just like it.”
“And I told Ollie to get you a new TV.” Eliza firms her lips and casts judgmental eyes toward the teeny, tiny embarrassment bolted to the wall. “That thing is ridiculous. It’s too small to read the subtitles, and the speakers are so shit, you can’t hardly hear what anyone is saying.”
“It’s Valentine’s Day in a few days.” Alana leans against the doorframe, happily shifting her daughter in her arms and smiling down at the sweet sleeping baby. “Every year in February, there’s a new movie on every night. If you can’t spend time with yourself, since your thoughts are kinda foreign right now, and if reading isn’t working for you, you should be able to watch a movie. Having a respectable-sized screen is the very least you deserve.”
“You really don’t have to do?—”
“It’s already done,” Eliza beams. “I stole a flat screen from Cliff’s house, since he’s got way more than he’ll ever need and never gets mad anyway. You don’t know Cliff, and chances are, you probably won’t meet him, since he’s always at the gym or at work. But I promise he won’t mind.”
“It’s already in the car,” Alana adds. “We’ll drag Ollie out to the parking lot while you’re in the shower and?—”
“Ollie had to rush off to the ER, I think.” I nibble on my bottom lip and glance past the duo, into the hall. “He was here, then his beeper beeped and he had to run.”
“It’s fine. It’s not like we’re wiring the damn thing into the wall.” Eliza releases my hand and backs up. “I’ll go grab it and plug it in. Easy peasy. Later, when Ollie has time, he can take the old one down and bolt the new one up. Until then, we’ll steal another bedside table and use that.”
“You, go shower.” Alana orders, pushing off the door frame and meandering two steps into the room. “The camera guys will be here in less than an hour, and you’ll need all that time to shampoo your hair and choose what to wear. Swipe on a little lip gloss. Decide if you’re a rule follower, wearing Monday undies on a Monday, or bucking tradition and steppinginto a pair of Thursdays just to screw with the system.” She grins, wide and teasing and entirely too kind. “I’ll wear Wednesdays on a Saturday and not give it a second thought. But my son…?” She whistles under her breath, shaking her head from side to side. “Wouldn’t dare.”
“Come on.” Eliza scoops my new clothes up and stuffs them into the bag they started in. She tosses the packs of underwear into another. Grabs the bras and simply pushes them against my chest, forcing me to hold them. Then she double-fists the bags and carries them to my attached bathroom, toeing the door open and stepping in as the automatic lights flicker on. “I’m gonna set them over here to the side.” Her voice echoes against the stark white tile. “They’ll stay dry until you decide how you want it all organized. You don’t want to have a shower and realize you left most of your stuff out here in the room, so we’ll move it all for now, and you can take your time.” She comes back into the room and grabs more, turning on her heels and repeating. “While you’re gone, Alana and I will get the TV sorted. Have you eaten yet?”
So much commotion. So muchhappening. Flustered, I look from the bathroom to Alana.
Eliza strides out of the bathroom and stops in front of me. “I don’t see a breakfast tray, so…”
“N-not yet. Ollie said he would get me some stuff…” But then he ran off to the emergency room. “It’s fine. I’m not?—”
“You’ll shower.” Eliza drags me into the bathroom. “We’ll take care of everything else. By the time you get out, fresh clothes, clean hair—we even grabbed cleanser and moisturizer for your face—we’ll have the TV ready, that way you can watch yourself on the news when it airs and totally cringe, since we always come out looking stupid. Lana and I will have food waiting for you. Oh, and I got you a suitcase.”
“A-a suitcase?”
“Yeah. A small one. It’s still in the car. I’ll grab it in a second, since no one wants to live out of shopping bags. I know this is a lot. I knowI’ma lot. But I also know what it is to sit in this hospital, bored out of your brains and considering a life with the woodland creatures. My brother really gives a shit about you. He really cares that you get better and the people who love you are able to find you again. If it matters to him, then it matters to me.” She releases my arm, only to pinch the zipper of my… her…ourjacket, and tug it down. “No need to rush. And if you hear a loud crash and running feet, just assume I dropped your TV and I’m making tracks before my brother notices.” She stops moving, fussing, zippering… and meets my eyes with a beautiful smile. “Oliver Darling is the king ofyou should have known betterlectures. We rarely give him theopportunity to start these days, but on the off chance he does, you learn to run away real fast.”
“Does…” I peek over my shoulder at the door. Then back around to Eliza. “Does he get mean?”
She scoffs. “He getspreachy. And worse, he blames himself. If I drop the television, he’ll get mad at himself for not reading my mind and carrying it in himself. If I catch a cold, it’s his fault for not nagging me to stay warm. Stick around long enough and he’ll start complaining thatheshould’ve been the one smeared on Barbara’s windshield.” She rubs my arm, a quick one-two swipe of her hand, then she steps around me and strides through the door. “Relax. Warm up. Shave your legs if that’s what you wanna do. We’ll see you on the other side.”
“Well, I?—”
Too bad. She slams the door, silencing whatever retort I might’ve thought to toss at her and leaving me to a brand-new isolation amongst glaring white tiles and headache-inducing fluorescent lights. I draw a deep breath and study the dozen shopping bags lining the wall through narrowed eyes. So many bags. So many things scattered in each. Releasing my breath, I wander closer and look—but I don’t touch. Socks. Folded shirts. A fluffy beanie. Dental floss. A shower cap. And that’s just the stuff at the top. “I guess I have things now.” Chewing my bottom lip, I peel my jacket off and hang it on the hook on the back of the door, and shivering all the way to the shower, I flip the taps on and wait in a blue and white hospital gown I hope to never,everhave to wear again.
It’s time to make my television debut.
Goodie.
