42

WAKE UP

Early morning light shone through the blinds. I opened my eyes.

Where am I?

I fell back to sleep and dreamed that a doorbell rang. “Wake up, Violet,” my mother’s voice said.

“Not now. Go away, Mom, I’m dreaming,” I said.

A hand touched my cheek. “Wake up, V,” I heard again. This time it was Daisy’s voice.

I opened my eyes all the way. Mom was sitting on the bed beside me and Daisy was behind her. “Is it really you?” I asked.

“Really me, V.”

I sprang up out of bed, hugged them tighter than ever, and cried, “Mom! Daisy!”

In the doorway, the Diamond twins watched like spectators.

“The chambers in Bibi’s heart aren’t working right. You have to fix them,” I said.

“I’m a baby doctor, V. I don’t think I can fix them.”

“You have to try. Please!” I pleaded. “C’mon, we have to go to the hospital.” I jumped up out of bed. “Where’re my clothes? I gotta get dressed.”

I rode in the backseat with Mom and Daisy. “Are you okay?” Mom asked.

“Nope. But if Bibi gets better, I will be,” I said, leaning into her. Sitting between Mom and Daisy almost made me think everything was going to be just fine.

As we drove, Daisy ran her fingers over my braids. “They look good, really good,” she said, and Mom agreed.

“Thank you,” I told them.

At the hospital, because they only allowed two visitors at a time in the ICU, Daisy waited outside with the twins while Mom and I went in.

The first thing I noticed when we got to Bibi’s room was the tube to help her breathe was gone. “This is my mom,” I told the man who was standing beside Bibi’s bed. “And she’s a doctor, so you should listen to her.”

The man introduced himself. “I’m Dr. Ramirez.”

My mom put out her hand for him to shake. “Justine Diamond. I’m a neonatologist . . . in Moon Lake, just outside of Seattle.”

They smiled at each other.

“Some very good news,” he said. “As you can see, we were able to take her off the respirator very late last night. So, she’s breathing well on her own and her pupil reflexes are normal. Oxygen levels are still low, but I’m very optimistic.”

Optimistic? That’s a good word.

“Thank you, Dr. Ramirez,” Mom said.

I kissed Bibi’s cheek again. “Wake up, Bibi,” I told her, watching her eyes. Nothing. “What do we do now?” I asked my mom.

“We wait.”

“She’s off the respirator,” Mom told the twins and Daisy as we left the ICU.

Lorna and Laura squeezed each other’s hands, uttered “Praise the Lord” at the same time, and went inside.

Because it was such a sad place, I didn’t want to go to the ICU waiting room, but that’s where we headed. Can you guess who else was there? Victoria, Harris, and Ahmed Diamond.

While my mom, Daisy, and the Diamonds got acquainted, I talked to Ahmed. “She’s breathing by herself now, not with a machine,” I told him.

“Now that’s cooltastic news, real cooltastic news,” he said.

Cooltastic. I was starting to like that word.

Every now and then, we checked on Bibi to see if anything had changed, but by noon nothing had. We were heading to the cafeteria to have lunch when Ms. Collins, the social worker from yesterday, showed up.

She ignored everyone and made a beeline to Ahmed’s mom, Victoria, and stuck out her hand. “So nice to meet you, Dr. Diamond. I’m Ms. Collins, we spoke yesterday,” she said.

Victoria smiled and shook her hand. “Pleased to meet you, but I’m not Dr. Diamond. She’s—”

Before she could finish, Ahmed pointed at my mom. “She’s Dr. Diamond.”

Ms. Collins’s face got that I’m-so-embarrassed-I-wish-I-could-evaporate look. “Oh . . . I’m so sorry,” she said.

“No problem,” Mom told her as she put one arm around my shoulder and reached out her other hand to Ms. Collins. “Thank you for looking after Violet.”

Ms. Collins took out some cards and handed one to my mom. “If there’s anything I can do to be of further assistance, please feel free to call.” Then she handed a card to Ahmed’s mother. “You too, Mrs. . . . ?”

“Diamond,” Victoria replied as she reached for the card.

Harris spoke up and extended his hand for Ms. Collins to shake. “And I’m Harris Diamond.”

Ahmed chuckled. “We’re all Diamonds, can’t ya tell?”

“Of course,” Ms Collins said, then added, “I sincerely hope Mrs. Diamond will fully recuperate. Nice meeting everyone.”

“Nice meeting you, too,” the Diamonds echoed.

The cafeteria food wasn’t bad, or maybe it just tasted good because I hadn’t really eaten since yesterday and now that we had good news, I pigged out. Mom, Daisy, and the rest of the Diamonds seemed to like one another.

It feels like a family.

Lunch was over and back to the sad waiting area we went. We’d only been there for a few minutes when one of the ICU nurses came and asked us to come into the ICU.

“What happened?” I asked.

“She’s awake.”

As soon as the nurse opened the ICU door, we disobeyed the hospital rules and all rushed inside. Before the nurse could stop us, we were in Bibi’s room. She still had oxygen things in her nose, but her eyes were open. I took her hand and she squeezed it. She cleared her throat and tried to talk but could only whisper.

“Easy now,” the nurse who was at her bedside told her, then frowned as she reminded us, “Visitor policy is two at a time.”

“Just for a minute?” Mom asked.

The nurse nodded. “Okay, Dr. Diamond. But just for a minute.”

Bibi glanced around until her eyes finally landed on Daisy.

“That’s my sister, Daisy,” I told her. “Daisy Diamond.”

“Daisy? Warren sure loved him some you. Like a daughter, he told me,” Bibi said in a low, raspy voice, and reached out her other hand to Daisy.

Daisy took Bibi’s hand and replied, “And he was my daddy.”

Next, Mom took Bibi’s hand in hers and held it gently.

Just like real diamonds, the people surrounding Bibi’s bed came in many colors. And one by one Bibi admired their faces, smiled, and briefly held their hands.

Ahmed’s words from earlier rang in my brain. We’re all Diamonds.