Page 19 of Meet Me on Greenwood

"Just remembering how terrified you’ve always been of water. Remember all the times Mother had to save you? Things never change, do they?" She frowned. "I thought at least I had Mother’s love. I certainly didn’t have Father’s. I suppose I can’t blame them."

"I’ll help you," I said holding the elevator door open and stepping out until water pooled around my sandal. "We will get you back on your feet, and maybe we can repair this thing between us. God, I’ve missed you, Bri. I’ve missed my sister."

Bri removed her shirt, revealing a bright pink bra, and stepped out of her skirt.

"Bri, don’t!" I warned.

She winked, diving headfirst into the deep end of the pool, lightning flashing above us.

"Please," I begged, my heart racing. "You’re scaring me."

"It is not so far down. You used to love it before you got so scared," she mused, coming back up to tread water. "Jump in sis. The water is great!"

I held onto the metal elevator door until my muscles strained, just as a memory I’d locked away came back unbidden. I closed my eyes, trying to shut out Evan’s screams and my father yelling at my mother over her negligence. "Why do you always insist on hurting me?" I said, a tear grazing my cheek.

She laughed bitterly. "It is always you who is the saint. You cannot fathom that you are hurting me!"

I put the amulet over my head to free my hands, and I pulled out my phone. I noted vaguely that the ORI was still operating. "Get back here, or I swear I’ll call the emergency services and put you on a 72-hour hold."

"Wouldn’t be the first time, big sis." Bri said wading through the water, her arms cast wide.

"Come on, Bri!" I said looking up warily at the sky.

She turned back with a self-satisfied smirk that quickly turned to horror as a flash of light hit me.

It wasn't pain I felt exactly. This was beyond pain, something that started at the crown of my head and moved through me so fast my body didn't have time to register it as anything until it consumed everything. Every nerve ending fired at once. My teeth. My fingernails. The backs of my knees. Places I had never once thought about suddenly screaming with white heat.

The metal door I had been gripping conducted the current straight up my arm, and for one suspended, terrible moment, I couldn't let go. I was welded to it. I could smell my own hair burning.

Then the world tilted.

8

Houston

Tulsa Struck by Violent Storm: Lightning Reported Across the Country

It had been a long day of seeing patients. Paul Hatley had been particularly difficult, insisting he had ailments that he didn’t have. I’d been so long, I couldn’t put any time in at Frissel, the only Negro hospital in the city.

Frissel, much like the White hospitals, was unable to keep capable doctors on staff for very long. The difference was in the number of White doctors like me who were in private practice. I was one of many, but Black people had fewer options, and often tried to remedy their ailments at home.

I locked up the practice a little later than usual and crossed the street, the bell over Ms. Terry's door announcing me before I'd even fully stepped inside. The familiar smell of cut stems and damp paper wrapping greeted me, along with Ms. Terry's voice calling out from somewhere behind the coolers. I looked through the variety of flowers until I found the dark red ones Sarah preferred. "I’ll take a dozen."

Ms. Terry ran the flower shop across from my practice in Midtown. I stopped by almost every day once I realized Sarah appreciated flowers so much.

"She should have enough bouquets to fill a room by now," Ms. Terry commented.

I laughed. "I offered to plant rose bushes on my land, but she said that going out of my way to buy them is what makes them special."

She raised an eyebrow. "Ms. Page certainly knows what she wants. Congratulations on the engagement. You are moving up in this world."

I tipped my hat to her. "I’m the same as the day I moved across the street."

Ms. Terry waved me off. "I can guarantee you’ll be running for office soon. You can’t be a Page and not be in politics."

"Well, maybe I will be the first."

She gave me a look like she doubted it. "Be careful going to your car. That storm looks awful."