Page 74 (1/2)
S ecret L ives
I dreah a valley, laced with fire and blinding anyone that it cae the fire no led All I could do hat was co for me
Part of me felt like I deserved it
“Sang?” a voice woke me from my dream
I sat up in bed, shivering, confused It was dawn My alarone off yet
A knock sounded at the door “Sang?” my father called “Are you awake?”
Was so to the hospital with ainst my half-asleep body My father never ca I sed backdown the hem of my t-shirt onWhen I was decent, I openedout
My father loomed in the hallway, dressed in dark slacks, a white collared shirt and tie A suit coat hung off of his ar that He peered in at me with his dark and tired eyes
I opened the door ?” I asked
“I’ on a business trip,” he said He nodded toward the stairwell, in the direction of his bedroo “I won’t be back for a couple of days I need to one You kno she gets when she doesn’t”
I nodded Since I was about nine years old, my mother had been sick She first went in for a sinus infection but came back weeks later with bottles of ed to know about She’d never been the sa in and out of hospitals almost as often as I went to school
Her illness was bad enough as it was The drugs, however, made her paranoid My sister and I spent e years at herus isolated in our rooms She told us that men would rape us; monsters would kidnap and kill us If we disobeyed, if we left the house and she found out we’d talked to anyone outside the fa us to kneel on a hardwood floor or sit on a stool for hours at a time If she didn’t eat, didn’t take her ot worse
“Where are you going?” I asked It was Friday, and not only did I have school, but I also had so secret to do with the Acadeht, and it wouldn’t take all day
“Mexico,” he said “I’ll be back soon Tell your sister”
Marie, my older sister, was probably still asleep across the hall I wondered why he told me and not her I couldn’t remember the last time he went on a business trip I usually didn’t notice until he was already gone I hardly saw hi why he er
He one A h the house His suitcasewas like an afterthought No goodbyes No promises to call
A hollow household with hollow people We did e had to do
I got dressed for school in shorts and a blouse When I was ready, I went to the kitchen downstairs I found sourt cup and a spoon, along with a bottle of water I tiptoed through the quiet house toward my parents’ bedroom
My mother was slu Her graying hair was pulled back in a ponytail, recently brushed out and fixed up If I didn’t know any better, she looked almost normal, peaceful
I didn’t want to wake her I dropped the crackers and everything onto her bedside table I hoped it would be enough if she woke up and was hungry
Soht oing to wake up I dropped tomy head
There was an open shoebox on its side under her bed I recognized her handwriting on solint was a picture frame The picture was a little faded, and it took a moment for me to realize it was my mother She had to have been no more than twenty or so at the tier then, and her eyes clearer, sharper than I’d ever remembered
It was in thata picture of anyone in my family I didn’t think she owned a camera Why hadn’t it occurred tothat never crossed my mind
This photograph, as far as I kneas the only one of any of us in the entire house She’d kept it hidden
The sight of this hadin my chest Why was it under her bed? Did she not like it? She didn’t want anyone knowing she had it Did my dad know?
There were other objects in the box as well, needles and old bottles of prescriptionback before I was born
I didn’t want to go through her private things or get caught doing so I closed the lid for her, slipping the box back underneath the bed again I scraet out of her room
I would let her keep her secrets I had ht noas too et to school
That afternoon, I was flat on my back in
a thin, pale green hospital gown as I waited for the MRI uys had takenin don Charleston with the promise that my parents wouldn’t learn about where I was or why I’d skipped et here, with Mr Blackbourne covering for me I wasn’t sure how late it was I orried ere running short on tihborhood, preferably before my mother noticed I was late from school
“Just lay still for a second, Miss Sang,” Dr Green’s voice filtered through to me in overhead speakers
It was difficult to be still The room was cold and the table I was on rattled with the moveown around me I knew Luke, Gabriel, Victor, Nathan, and Kota were probably watching fro in
I shifted lass here I knew they were standing, but frohts overhead, I couldn’t see their faces
“I said be still, Miss Sang You can talk if you want, but don’t move”
“You ht want to listen to him, Miss Sorenson,” said the disembodied voice of Dr Philip Roberts I’d met him briefly before they chased me into the MRI rooe-spotted cheeks He was Dr Green’s mentor and supervisor for Dr Green’s internship and residency I liked hiht have to start over”
“It’s cold,” I said, shivering
Kota’s voice cut through “Didn’t you wear shorts and that pink shirt to school today?”
I blinked, and worried if blinking counted as“Yes”
“Why’d you take those off? They didn’t have any metal You could have worn theown”
My mouth popped open “Luke!”
There was snickering in the background from both Luke and Gabriel
“I hate you both right now,” I said
“Oy, Trouble You’ve got to have the full hospital experience”
“Yeah, Sang,” Luke said “Rite of passage”
I grumbled Earlier, it sounded reasonable when they told own on After all, I was in a hospital and about to go into a very large machine Medical draowns I’d never been to the doctor before Hoas I supposed to know?
Victor’s sweet baritone voice sounded through the speakers “Do you want a blanket?”
“She can’t have one now,” Kota said “She’s in the middle of the MRI”
“We can start it over,” Victor said “She said she’s cold”
“She’s tough She can take it Can’t you, Sang?”
I sighed “Maybe” I knew I could, I just wanted to gru parts around me They were kind of scary
“This o’ button,” Dr Roberts said
“I’ll pay for it,” Victor said
“We’ve already started,” Kota said “Let her finish She’ll be fine”
There was a softly spoken protest from Victor but he quieted