Katrina calls the night before her surgery.
“How are you?” I’m starting to talk like Mel.
“Hmm … uh, nervous?”
“It’ll go fine. You’ll be gorgeous. No, actually you already are gorgeous. You’ll just be more gorgeous and I will totally hate you.” My nervous laugh, then silence. “What time are you scheduled for?”
“Seven … I know I’ll be up all night.”
“I’ll be with you in mind and spirit, remember that.”
“Thanks, Allie,” she says. “I love you.”
“Love you too, Katrina.”
I didn’t expect the conversation to be so strained. I’m nervous for her. I really do love her. I never had a sister, but if I did, I’d want someone just like her. I think of what she endured and how she goes on like it’s something in her past that she can totally handle now.
“Anything new on your end?”
She wants to change the subject. I already told her about seeing Dr. Jordan.
“I’m seeing another doctor next week. After that, I’ll just go with my gut. Until then, I’m going to hold off thinking about it.”
Katrina’s mom calls her for dinner.
“Gotta go,” she says. “Steak and fries, my favorite meal.”
The day before surgery, you’re not allowed to eat anything after twelve at night. “Call me the second you get home.”
“I swear.”
“You swear you swear?”
“I swear.”
I think of Mel’s last words the night before her surgery: “It’s all in the name of beauty.”
I don’t bring that up now.