Ellie was rushed to acute care at Langston Memorial, her left arm swathed in seeping bandages. She had suffered second- and third-degree burns from the top of her left shoulder all the way down to her left wrist. Miraculously, the rest of her body, along with her left hand, had been spared.
The emergency personnel gave her drugs to blunt the pain, and now Ellie was so loaded up on painkillers she barely recognized her mother. Grace sat next to the hospital bed in the ICU, stroking her daughter’s cheek.
Ellie opened her blood-riddled eyes. “Mom?”
“You’re going to be okay,” Grace said a little too quickly, trying to absorb all of Ellie’s pain at once.
“Aunt Natalie?” Ellie said hoarsely. “Thanks for saving my life.”
Natalie smiled back, all torn up inside—if only she’d arrived a few seconds earlier. “You’re welcome,” she said, brushing away a tear. She had a flash memory of two-year-old Ellie smiling happily in her crib, tiny hands clasping her tiny feet. First smile, first step, first word. First tragedy.
Way off in the distance, a TV set droned. Natalie took a moment to check her messages. A patrol car had stopped the girls heading out of town on Route 87. They were being booked and charged with assault and battery.
Soon the attending ER physician was back. Their time was almost up. They were going to prep Ellie for transportation to the burn unit in Albany. “How’s the patient?” Dr. Mendez asked, securing a cotton cuff around her right arm.
“Better,” Ellie said bravely.
Natalie listened to the dull pump of the inflation bulb and the snakelike hiss of the air-release valve as the doctor pressed his stethoscope to Ellie’s chest to assess her heartbeats, in sync with the heart monitor’s rhythmic blips.
“Is she going to be okay?” Grace asked.
“She’s in guarded but stable condition,” he answered, tearing off the Velcro strap and jotting a few notes on the clipboard. “Her left arm sustained most of the damage. Albany has a great burn unit. They can fix this. She was lucky. It could’ve been much worse.”
“Mom?” Ellie whispered. “I’m sorry. For everything.”
Grace shook her head. “There’s nothing to be sorry about, sweetie.”
“You’re crying. Why are you crying?”
“Shh. Doesn’t matter.” Grace traced a finger down her daughter’s velvety cheek and watched her fondly, the worry lines on her forehead beginning to soften. “Listen to me, Ellie. I love you so much.”
“Love you, too, Mom.”
“You make me proud every day.” Grace brushed a veil of hair off Ellie’s face. “Now get some rest.”
The girl’s eyes dragged shut.
Grace turned to Natalie and said, “We need to talk.”
“Buy you a cup of coffee?”
“Sure.”
They took an elevator car down to the hospital cafeteria. Tears rolled freely down Grace’s face as the elevator descended.
“Hey, hey. Everything’s going to be okay,” Natalie reassured her. “You heard what the doctor said. They can fix this.”
Her sister’s teeth chattered involuntarily. She had a lost, terrified look—sweaty forehead, shallow breathing.
Natalie grew worried. “Grace?”
“I’m okay,” she said, giving into waves of involuntary shuddering.
“What’s wrong?”
She shook her head stubbornly. “Like you said, everything’s going to be fine.”
Downstairs in the brightly lit cafeteria, Natalie fetched herself a cup of coffee, while Grace grabbed a can of Coke.
“My one guilty pleasure lately,” Grace muttered. “Sugar and caffeine in one brilliant package.”
Natalie didn’t respond. There was no click. No ah-ha moment. Just the dull thrumming of blood inside her skull.
“I’ve got this, Natalie.” Grace rummaged through her big leather bag. “Oh, shit … did I forget my wallet at home?” She dumped everything out on a nearby table—lip balms, ballpoint pens, her phone charger, a tube of sunscreen, hand wipes, loose tampons, Tic Tacs, her car keys. Grace found her wallet, but among the spillage was something that made Natalie’s heart go glacially still.
A vintage leather-bound pink diary with yellow daisies on the front cover.
Daisy’s missing diary.
Grace suddenly went rigid, her stunned eyes acknowledging that something vital had passed between them. She set the Coke down on the countertop, grabbed her keys and took off, leaving the entire mess on the table.
“Grace? Where are you going? Grace?”
When Natalie realized she wasn’t coming back, she shoved everything back in the leather bag and ran after her sister, her heart going supernova.