“I think she cares about you,” I said evasively, for that much I thought was true. “She just doesn’t know how to show it.”
“She’s learning.”
“Yes, because you’re a good teacher.”
Lily allowed herself a smile. “I’m going to lie down. I feel dizzy. Will you... will you sing for me?”
She sounded so tired. Some rest would do her good, I thought, stroking her hair. I parted my lips to sing:
There are two hwamei in the tree,
Singing their sweetest song
For at last, the rain is lifting,
Chattering into the sea.
There are two hwamei in the tree,
Snow melting off their feathers.
They perch upon the blossomed bough,
Ready to fly wing to wing.
Lily’s eyes fluttered half closed. She hugged my old doll, and I pulled the blanket over them, cocooning them together. “Gah Jeh.” The words came out haltingly, with a faint wheeze. “If I sleep too long, will you... will you kiss me awake?”
“Of course I will.”
That made her smile. “Once I’m better,” she murmured, “I want to tell you... about the books I read. I found some... some stories I know you’ll love.”
It only took one more song before she fell asleep. Her tight hold on my doll eased, and I smoothed away the pinch in her brow before I kissed her pale cheek good night.
I closed her door and practically skipped down to my room. From my window, the sky was blue and clear once more, just like in my song, and across the city, trucks were cleaning up the devastation of the storm. We’d weathered the worst, and I was so sure it was over.
Not long after midnight, I heard Sai Ma scream. For the rest of my life, I would regret that I didn’t make it to Lily’s room fast enough, that I didn’t give her the kiss she’d asked for. Maybe if I had, she would have woken up.
But I was too late.
My sister lay with her feet sticking out from her pink sheets, the way she liked to sleep, half an arm dangling off the side of the bed. And I knew.
“No,” I choked out. Only a few hours ago I’d been at her side. She’d asked me to sing to her. She’d been fine!
A sob wrenched out of my chest as I took Lily’s hand. Her skin was gray under the moonlight. She looked like she was sleeping.
“Wake up,” I whispered. “Come on, silly. Not another one of your pranks, wake up!”
I tapped her cheeks, my grief welling inside me. “Lily!”
I buried my face in her pillow, sobbing.Come back,I pleaded.Lily, don’t leave me.
We were supposed to run away together. We were supposed to build a life together where we’d erase each other’s heartaches, where I’d show her what it meant to be wanted, to be loved. She was supposed to have a future! And now...
And now . . .
“Yut Ying,” came a soft voice. My stepmother placed her hand on my shoulder.
Sai Ma’s eyes were red and raw, her tearstained cheeks mirrors of my own. She was the last person I ever wanted to see, but in this moment, I turned to her and buried my face in her chest. I wept.
