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He stands guard at the entrance until I’m safely inside and up the stairs. I watch from the small oval of a second floor window as he slowly ambles down the street.
The sound of a laugh track blasts from a television somewhere in the building. My forehead hits the smudged glass and loneliness engulfs me. Conner’s wounded face keeps flashing before my eyes. I expect he will haunt my dreams.
A sudden impulse to be beside my twin is overpowering. Over the years the night staff at the care home has become accustomed to the sight of me randomly showing up in the pre-dawn hours. No one objects when I go to my sister’s room and curl up for a few hours of fitful sleep on the sofa.
The sudden vibrating trill of my phone yanks me back to the present moment. As I tug the thing out of my purse I can admit I’m hoping it’s Conner.
But when I see the words ‘Queen Valley’ on the screen my mouth goes dry. Panic and terror join forces. Talon’s hideous threats race through my mind.
“And what about Lita? Does she need you to protect her?”
I can’t even breathe as I answer the call. The blood roaring between my ears is almost louder than the sobbing coming through the other end of the phone.
It’s Hannah, one of the night nurses. She’s wailing, “Oh my god, you need to come! You need to come here right now!”
I don’t hear any other words because I’ve already cut the call off and I’m scrambling to get downstairs. The world becomes a blur as I race to the adjacent parking garage. There’s not a complete thought in my head as my tires squeal through the east side, clipping curbs and running red lights.
I can’t remember if I repeated the usual mantra on my last visit to Lita. This feels important now.
I hear the words echo in the car and realize they are coming from my mouth.
“Please don’t take my sister away. Please don’t take my sister away. Please don’t take my sister away.”
If my cousins have harmed Lita I’ll go scorched earth on everything those fuckers care about. No matter how far they run they will never be able to escape the raging inferno.
By some miracle, after careening through the streets of Em City I arrive at Queen Valley Care Home in one piece. I leave my car right at the front door and kick my heels off so I can run faster into the building.
Rather than the usual subdued hush of the late night hours, there’s a buzz of voices and staff members are milling around. A few are crying. One of Lita’s doctors sees me blasting through the lobby like a wild animal and says my name. He reaches for my arm. I shove him into a wall and run down the hall to my sister’s room.
The door is open.
The lights are on.
There is a collection of wide-eyed people scattered throughout the room. A nurse clutches the cross hanging at her neck and whispers words of prayer as tears leak out of her eyes.
And Lita sits upright in the reclining chair where she often sits during the day between physical therapy sessions.
My first response is to drop to the floor with relief. That’s why it takes me longer than it should to notice that she’s not staring, dull-eyed and unseeing, at a fixed point.
No, she’s staring at me.
Lita’s mouth opens and she tries to cough out a sound.
She winces, like the effort is painful.
She swallows and tries again. Her voice is a whispered rasp but her words are clear as a bell to me.
“Haven, what happened to your hair?”
PartTwo
“You once said you didn’t know who
you are without football.
I don’t know who I am without you…”
Chapter21
