ON THE BUS TO ATLANTA, Arianne did the popcorn bounce in her seat. She still couldn’t believe she’d spoken to Nikolas Clark, let alone that he brought her to the nurse’s office. He’d been charming and too handsome for his own good. Yummy, the tip of her tongue ran over her lower lip. The brooding expression he wore when she’d asked him about his health made her like him even more. And his voice…so smooth, so warm, it wrapped around her like hot fudge on vanilla ice cream. She could listen to him speak all day if she had her way.
Ben hadn’t been too happy with her talking all through lunch and American history about her encounter with Niko. The friendship code had him listening patiently for a while, but when she got to the part where Niko brought her to the nurse, he’d shut down faster than a police checkpoint. She thought back to Ben’s reaction at lunch…
“What’s with the face?” Arianne asked, seated at their usual table. “You’re doing that thing where you want to keep smiling but you’re feeling something else. It makes you look distorted.”
“Who’s making a face?” Ben said. “Not me.” He twisted the top off his water bottle and washed away his lie.
“Spit it out, Ben.”
He brought down the bottle like a gavel, making Arianne twitch. The table looked so interesting right about then. “I take it you heard about the ‘pull and puke,’” she said.
“Why do you keep letting Darla bully you?”
“Be-en,” Arianne whined, pronouncing his name as two syllables instead of one. “You know it’s not that simple. I have to live with what I did.”
“But how long will you have to suffer for something that isn’t even your fault? You have to let me help you.”
Arianne shook her head emphatically. “That’s not part of the bargain. She will leave you alone as long as you don’t interfere.” She took his hand in hers. “Ben, please, I don’t want you getting the brunt of what Darla can do. What she’s putting me through is relatively mild. All she wants is to humiliate me. I can take it.”
The breath he released brought with it a slumping of his shoulders. “Fine, you can go back to gushing about Nikolas Clark.” He cringed.
“I know. I know. I’m getting ahead of myself.” Arianne peeled a banana. “But you should have been there.”
“I’m glad I wasn’t,” Ben mumbled into his pizza.
Arianne’s exhale came from a place in the clouds. “He’s a total gentleman. He waited until Nurse Betty started fussing before he returned to class.”
“I would have stayed,” Ben whispered between bites.
“Okay —” she poked his shoulder “—don’t think I don’t hear you. Would it hurt for you to give a little support here? I mean, I finally got to talk to Nikolas Clark. The guy no one, not even the great Darla Masters, can pin down. Granted, I must have sounded like a total crazy person…”
“Ari, don’t you think this crush has gone on long enough?” Ben swirled the contents of the bottle he held. “Maybe he bats for the other team.”
“That’s just cruel! And no one could substantiate your claim.”
“Don’t tell me you’ve checked?”
“Of course, I checked!”
“Can anyone say stalker?”
“There’s nothing illegal about satisfying one’s curiosity. But I’ll admit to a few stalker worthy moments,” she said in exasperation. “Today, I got my wish. I was front and center at the Niko Clark experience. The way he smells —”
“Eww.” Ben gagged. “Seriously? You sniffed him?”
“You don’t know how much this means to me.”
He grimaced then leaned in closer. “Oh, yeah? Remember Joey Tarrintino in second grade? Weren’t you supposed to marry him?”
“That was before he bit me. I thought I had rabies for a while.” Arianne laughed out of embarrassment and nudged Ben away.
He’d laughed with her. She’d sneaked a peek at Darla’s table. Everyone seemed preoccupied with cleaning up a spill.
The bus lurching to a stop popped the memory. Arianne left her window seat and scrambled to get off before the driver closed the door. She hopped onto the pavement and gazed up at the massive building of St. Joseph’s Hospital. The green foliage surrounding the structure softened its hard edges and intimidating size. Still, Arianne had to beat with a stick the instinct to run away. Even with the exciting news she wanted to share with Carrie, standing outside the hospital gave her pause.
Just get on with it, Arianne psyched herself up. After a steadying breath, she took the plunge to the entrance one quick step at a time. The stink of antiseptic coupled with an atmosphere of sickness and suffering twisted her stomach the second she passed through the glass doors.
Visiting Carrie at St. Joseph’s rose to the status of complicated when Arianne’s skill sprouted like a toadstool after a rainstorm. Every time she entered the building, she’d see the living and the dead walking past each other in an eerie dance, not noticing one another. Arianne had never liked hospitals from the get go, but now, seeing all the recently deceased made the experience worse. She couldn’t bring herself to think about Carrie…Arianne pushed away the thought with maximum determination. Carrie would keep going. No matter what, she’d beat the odds. The strength of her younger sister as she fought her battles belittled what Arianne went through within the halls of St. Joseph’s. If her sister could wait patiently for a kidney without losing her firework smile, then by God, Arianne could survive witnessing dead, naked people walking around. Mostly, she kept her eyes on the floor as she scurried along. That way, all she really saw were feet. Nothing gut-wrenching about feet.
“Sorry!” Arianne yelped after she slammed into someone.
“Ari? Is something the matter?” a nurse in Winnie the Pooh scrubs asked, concern bringing her caramel eyebrows together. Arianne took her in. Small wisps of hair curled down the nurse’s nape even though she had her wild tresses in a bun. A clipboard shield and stethoscope stole made up her everyday battle uniform.
“Hey, Mila. Didn’t see you there.” Arianne rubbed her battered nose. “What’s up?”
Mila tsked. “Are you worried about Carrie again?”
“Carrie? Who’d be worried about her?”
“You’re right. It’s hard to worry about that one. So, what’s with staring at the floor all serious like?”
“School stuff, you know?”
“Is it about a boy?”
“No!” The hamster in Arianne’s chest got on its wheel and started running. “Yeah, maybe a little.”
“That’s ma’girl.” Mila ruffled her hair. “I’m sure you’re dying to tell Carrie.”
“Totally.”
Mila pointed at the white bandage. “What’s with the hand?”
Lifting her hand to give the nurse a clearer view, Arianne shrugged. “Chemistry.”
With a knowing gaze, Mila shook her head. “Get on with it then. I’m sure Carrie’s waiting for you.”
Arianne gave the grinning nurse a small wave and hurried along. She ignored the naked old man who’d stepped out of the room two doors down from Carrie’s by pretending to shift her school bag to her left shoulder. Five determined strides later, her attempt at a grand entrance into her sister’s private room failed. The trumpets and drums that announced her arrival ceased.
Carrie sat in bed propped up by three pillows when most patients only got two—a testament to her people smooching skills. She devoured the latest Lisa Kleypas novel their mother had bought for her over the weekend. Her hair—once a vibrant red—hung loosely over too-thin shoulders. Now, it was a dull brown and so brittle that combing it resulted in clumps breaking off. No more hospital hair spa days after that. Carrie took her punches like a champ. She had dusted herself off and said, “Who needed hair spas when I can wear mine all loose and sexy?”
Carrie flipped a page, ignoring the dialysis machine that whirred at her bedside. Arianne sent up a silent prayer of thanks for her sister’s continued life and for whoever invented the machine that prolonged it while they waited with bated breath for a miracle. No matter how much she hated hospitals, Arianne had to admit, St. Joseph’s did a great job with Carrie.
Arianne’s gaze landed on an arrangement of sunflowers, their yellow petals brightening up the space. “Where’s mom?” she asked.
“Hey, sis.” Carrie handed out her signature cheeky grin. “Mom is…”
Out of nowhere, wildflowers seemed to blossom around Carrie. Arianne’s love for her sister drowned out anything the girl in bed had to say. A well-spring of tears bubbling up blurred the scene of her sister as the fairy princess among the flowers. Terminally ill thoughts disappeared from Arianne’s mind.
A book flew by, erasing the wonderful tableau. Arianne ducked reflexively. The romantic missile hit the wall, barely missing her head. “What was that for?”
“Stop standing there like a ninny.” The fairy princess pointed. “Are those tears I see?”
“Allergies.” Arianne sniffed. She crossed the room and positioned herself on the bedside chair their mother often slept on. “What was that you were saying about Mom?”
Carrie’s penchant for melodrama resurfaced when she portrayed the perfect lady during a swooning spell. “Oh, what am I to do? No one loves me anymore.”
“My lady,” Arianne played along, “whatever have I done to cause such ire? I only came to inquire about our mother dearest.”
And like a switched channel, Carrie went from classical movie to the news. “She went to work this morning and plans to come back tonight. It’s only you and Dad again, I’m afraid.”
“We manage. You know he took the morning off?”
“Without telling Mom?”
Arianne nodded like a seal being offered a bucket of fish. “Our little secret, he said. And he even griped about being entitled to a morning off once in a while.”
“I’d love to hear him say that to Mom.”
“He wouldn’t dare.”
They shared a giggle.
Moving on to another topic, Arianne said, “What happened last night? Dad said you guys were waiting on news about a possible donor?”
Carrie winced. The pillows seemed to engulf their precious patient, shielding her from harm. It made her look smaller and frailer. The fairy princess wilted.
To the rescue, Arianne jumped out of the chair and gripped the guardrails, ready to banish the source of Carrie’s pain. “Is something wrong? Should I call for Mila? Where does it hurt?”
“Oh, you know,” her highness answered breathlessly, “dialysis day isn’t exactly a walk in the park. Sit, sit, I’m fine.”
“I can call for Mi—”
“Sit down, Ari!”
The sisters had a staring contest until Arianne fell into the chair again. The image of Carrie looking more tired than ever tattooed itself behind her eyelids.
“That pile-up on I-75. There were possible donors from the casualties, but none of them were a match.”
“I talked to Niko Clark today,” Arianne blurted out, unable to take the hint of desolation hiding in the corner of Carrie’s neutral expression.
“Way to bury the lead, sis!” By the power of the sun’s rays, the fairy princess had been revived. “How did that miracle happen? And please don’t tell me you babbled.”
The embarrassment that moved into Arianne’s gut when she’d hit puberty must have been clear because Carrie clucked her tongue several times.
“You babbled. Oh, Ari, I can’t leave you alone for a second. He must have thought you were a total crazy person.”
“Thanks for the support, sis.” Where’s a good foam bat when you need one?
“So, spill, and don’t leave anything out.”
Forgetting the bat, Arianne launched into an animated narration of what had happened: Seeing Niko on the bus, Tammy and Carl getting called away, Mr. Todd asking Niko to be her stand-in lab partner, the acid on the hand accident, which had Carrie in stitches.
“It’s not that funny, you know.” Arianne let the chair give the comfort she needed.
“You’re such a dork,” Carrie said between giggles. “What did you do next?”
“I didn’t do anything. He took me to Nurse Betty’s office. He stayed until I had an ice pack on my hand.” She ran her fingers over her bandaged hand.
“I would have stayed.”
“Ben said the same thing.”
“Great minds.” Carrie’s eyebrows wiggled.
“Oh, but he’s so yummy, sis. I swear, I’d bring home a pint of that any day.”
“Speaking of all things yummy, how’s my fake boyfriend doing?”
“That reminds me…” Arianne disentangled herself from the suddenly touchy-feely chair and rescued her discarded backpack at the other end of the room from the attack of the paperback.
“He wanted me to give you something,” she said, tossing the book aside before unzipping her bag and liberating the plush panda from its depths.
Carrie squealed, her hands stretched out. “He’s so cute! Gimme, gimme, gimme!”
“The panda or Ben?” Arianne handed her the stuffed animal, which her sister proceeded to crush to her chest until girl and animal became one.
“Both.” She gave the panda one more squeeze before subjecting it to a thorough examination. “I name thee Sir Harold.” Carrie’s smile almost made Arianne fall off the chair she’d forgiven and reunited with. “Tell him thanks.”
Regaining some semblance of control over her mental functions, Arianne recited Ben’s message. “He said he couldn’t make it today or the rest of the week. But the weekend he’s free.”
“Coach Simmons having him fill in again?” Carrie plopped Sir Harold on top of her head and balanced him there.
“I don’t know why he refuses to join the team. He’d certainly make it to the regular line up without any trouble.”
“Ben loves baseball, but he can’t abide being on a team for long. He’s more a lone wolf that way.”
“Eww! Will you remove that dreamy, mushy sigh from your voice?” Arianne shuddered. “I keep telling him he should learn to play nice. He could even get a college scholarship the way he plays. Maybe even go pro!”
“Don’t be hard on Fake Boyfriend. He doesn’t need a scholarship. His dad earns enough to send ten kids to any university of their choice. And FB’s an only child.”
“FB?”
“Fake Boyfriend. I’ve decided to abbreviate.”
Arianne chuckled. “I’ll let him know he’s been abbreviated.”
“You do that.” Carrie showed all her teeth. “What’s with the unibrow?”
“Niko.” Arianne took a stab at unraveling the Gordian knot of her brow. “He looked so tired. Like really tired. I’ve never seen him that way before.”
“Worried? Wait.” She lifted an all too fragile hand. “Of course you are. You’d worry if he’d gotten a split end.”
“Carrie!”
“As if I’m not right.”
“Come on, be serious. He really looked like he’s coming down with something.”
“And it’s not even flu season.”
Arianne threw her hands up. Ding, ding, ding. KO! Trying to figure out what was up with Niko would prove to be an exercise in futility anyway. But it didn’t mean she couldn’t torture herself by going over the possible scenarios. He had the flu. He worked several odd jobs at night to survive. Or he helped fight crime as some caped crusader. Hitting a brick wall with the third one, she resolved to ask him again the next day, assuming they’d be chem partners again. Then she remembered the most exciting part of her interaction with Niko said.
“He said I was exquisite,” Arianne said. “What do you think that means?”
“Oh ho!” Carrie clapped her hands. “Maybe he likes you too?”
Ari frowned despite her heart’s fluttering beat. “Carrie, he didn’t even know I existed until today. I think he was just being nice.”
“Don’t be like that.”
“Like what?”
Carrie gestured at her older sister by a year. “I know you don’t look at yourself often, but seriously, sis, you’re gorgeous.”
A blush exploded on Arianne’s face. “I’m nothing like Darla. She wins in the looks department.”
“Stop being so cynical. Just because you don’t think you’re worth looking at doesn’t mean others don’t notice. Niko was right, you are exquisite. Odd word to use though.”
“Right?” Arianne sighed dreamily. “But I love how formal he sounds. So gentlemanly.”
Carrie rolled her eyes. “A gentleman who doesn’t stay with you in the clinic?”
“See! That’s why, no matter what he says about how exquisite I am, I really think he’s just being nice.”
The sisters held down the fort until their mother arrived. Even an expensive power suit couldn’t hide the haggard chic the strawberry blonde embodied when she walked into the room with several grocery bags.
“Mom,” both girls said at the same time.
“Hey, ladies,” she breathed out, dumping her handbag and groceries on a table.
“Mom, you look—”
A warning glare from Carrie cut short the rest of Arianne’s words.
Their mother flipped her hair. “I’ll take nothing less than ravishing.” Her eyes narrowed at Arianne. “What are you still doing here? You’re father’s on his way home as we speak.”
Both girls grinned like twins. “Talking boys,” they answered.
Her face melted into a teary smile. She squeezed both her daughters into a tight hug. “I love you two!” She kissed them on each cheek then returned to mom mode. “Ari, I left lasagna in the fridge and a load in the wash.”
“I’ll take care of it.” She snuggled Sir Harold. “See you tomorrow?”
Carrie opened her mouth to answer, but it was their mom who said, “She has tests.”
Arianne glanced at the woman who managed to combine sophistication and fatigue into a cover-worthy pose. Her heart scrunched up a little more. “The next day?”
“Of course.”
The sisters hugged and giggled one more time before Arianne left. Counting the tiles on the floor, she gripped the strap of her school bag and hurried to the hospital’s main entrance. When the glass sliding doors parted and the balmy early evening Georgian air welcomed her with open arms, she lifted her gaze and halted in her tracks abruptly.