The Sun Sister

by Lucinda Riley

  ‘Right,’ I said, deciding I needed to find out what words like ‘Dow Jones’ actually meant. ‘But I’m not thinking about anything in New York right now. I’ve seen a ranch down here in Arizona.’

  ‘Okay, can you give me some figures?’

  ‘Not at this moment, but I’ll find out as soon as I’m back.’

  ‘Well, most of your wealth is tied up in bonds, which are down in value because of the market, but we can certainly liquidate whatever you need to buy the property.’

  ‘Up to how much?’

  ‘I’d have to check on the numbers, but as you know, you’re a very rich young lady.’

  I wanted to ask him how rich ‘rich’ actually was, but then I just felt embarrassed because he’d know I hadn’t read anything he’d sent me.

  ‘Listen, does next Monday morning work for you? I’ll come to your office and we can go through some stuff, because there’s something else I want to talk to you about.’

  ‘Sure, Electra, I’d be delighted. Shall we say eleven o’clock?’

  ‘Great, see you then. Bye.’

  That wasn’t too painful, I thought as I ended the call and saw the cell was covered in the sweat from my palms. I sat there dreaming about the Hacienda Orchídea and how I could spend all my downtime – which I was determined to carve out of any schedule that Susie presented me with – there. I could make my own trail to run on, get a maid to take care of the house, and a ranch hand to look after the horses I was going to buy. Maybe Manuel might even sell me Hector . . .

  I went back to my dorm and sat down on the bed, thinking it was time to sleep, but I was feeling too pumped. I looked across the room and saw Vanessa’s bed was empty. I sniffed and a weird metallic smell filled my nostrils as I turned and saw that there was red liquid seeping out from under the bathroom door.

  ‘Shit!’ I screamed, then pressed the emergency call bell as I gathered my courage and pushed the door open. Vanessa was lying on the floor in a pool of blood. Her eyes were closed and I could see she had deep cuts along her splayed inner arms.

  ‘Help!’ I ran out into the deserted corridor. ‘Somebody help!’ As no one responded, I remembered I still had my cell and went back to pick it up from my bed to dial 911.

  As an operator answered, I gave the address of The Ranch and tried to respond to their questions. Mercy, the night nurse on duty, came into the room, her eyes widening in horror as I pointed to the bathroom.

  ‘It’s Vanessa,’ I managed. ‘She’s hurt herself . . . I don’t know if she’s okay . . . I don’t know . . .’

  Mercy ran into the bathroom and I could see her begin to resuscitate Vanessa, whose small body looked completely limp.

  ‘Ma’am?’ came a voice from my cell. ‘Ma’am, an ambulance will be right with you. Please make sure someone is at the front entrance to meet the paramedics and lead them to the patient.’

  I dropped the cell onto the bed and ran to the bathroom, panting in shock. ‘The ambulance is on its way. Is she going to be okay?’ I asked Mercy.

  ‘Grab me some towels, honey,’ she said briskly. ‘We gotta stem the bleeding. A nurse from the clinical ward should be here any moment to help.’

  With a deep gulp – I’d always been bad with blood – we both took an arm and I did as she directed, wrapping the towels as tightly around the gaping wounds as I could. I sat there on the floor, the towel in my hands getting steadily wetter as I held it. I saw a small kitchen knife on the floor by her and picked it up.

  ‘How in the hell did she get hold of this?’

  ‘Where there’s a will, there’s a way,’ Mercy sighed. ‘She probably snuck into the kitchen asking for something or other and stole it while no one was lookin’.’

  Another nurse appeared in the bathroom and I let out a huge sigh of relief.

  ‘Thanks, Electra, Vicky can take over from you now. Can you run to reception and tell them to ask security to open the gates for the ambulance?’

  ‘Of course.’

  I pelted to reception and gave them the message, then went to the nearby restroom to wash my blood-soaked hands. When I got out, two paramedics were already wheeling a gurney through the glass doors. I led them to our room and watched numbly as they tended to Vanessa. They placed her on the gurney and I followed them through the building and out into the parking lot, where the ambulance’s blue lights were flashing, lighting up the night.

  ‘Will she be okay?’ I asked one of the paramedics as they lifted the gurney inside the ambulance and Mercy followed it.

  ‘We’ll do our best, ma’am,’ he said. ‘We need to leave right now, though.’ He made to close the ambulance door, but I instinctively put out an arm to stop it.

  ‘I’m coming with you. Vanessa needs me,’ I added to Mercy.

  ‘Electra, it’s best you stay here. Vanessa is in good hands now.’

  ‘No! I’m coming.’

  ‘Okay then,’ Mercy said, ‘we’ll ride with Vanessa together, honey.’ She offered me her hand to help me up into the ambulance.

  ‘Right, ma’am,’ said one of the paramedics. ‘You sit down just there and strap yourself in while we see to your friend. Hold on tight now.’

  I’d never been in an ambulance before and I’d always imagined they’d be the ultimate in comfort suspension. But no, as the siren went on and we set off at high speed, I hung on to the handle attached to the side as we swerved and bumped our way towards the city. I watched with a mixture of disgust and awe as the paramedics worked to insert lines into Vanessa’s painfully thin and wounded arms.

  ‘The vein is shot in this arm, I’m going for the top of her hand,’ I heard one say.

  I winced and turned away as I saw the damage that constant needles had done to her inside elbow.

  ‘BP dropping,’ said the other as a machine beeped urgently. ‘Heart rate slowing.’

  ‘Stay with us, Vanessa.’ The guy now trying to get the needle into her hand continued to talk to her.

  ‘How far now?’ I asked.

  ‘Not far, ma’am.’

  ‘It’s still dropping! Get that line in!’

  ‘I’m doing my darnedest here!’

  Five minutes later, the ambulance screeched to a halt, the back doors were flung open and Vanessa’s gurney was rushed inside.

  I unstrapped myself, my heart banging against my chest as Mercy helped me climb out and together we walked inside to the bustling emergency room. I was ashamed to admit that the only thing I was thinking about right now was where the nearest liquor store was, because I doubted I’d ever needed ten shots of the Goose more.

  While Mercy was pulled aside by a nurse and disappeared with her through some swing doors, I was corralled by the nurse on reception, who then proceeded to ask me for details of Vanessa’s health insurance, about which I had no clue. In the end, I signed something to say that I’d pick up the bill if she was uninsured (which I had no doubt she was), but then she asked me for my credit card.

  ‘Listen, I just jumped into the ambulance, I didn’t stop for my purse – my friend was bleeding to death, for Chrissake!’

  ‘Yes, ma’am, but we need the number of that card. Is there anyone you can call?’

  I was about to say no, but then I realised that I still had my cell on me.

  ‘Yeah, give me a couple of minutes.’ I walked away from the counter, dug in my pocket for the cell and called Mariam.

  ‘Electra? It is wonderful to hear from you! How are you?’

  The sound of Mariam’s warm, rich voice calmed me slightly.

  ‘I’m good, I’m real good, but, um, a friend of mine isn’t. It’s a long story, but we’re in the emergency room of some hospital in Tucson and they’re demanding my credit card details. Could you speak to them?’

  ‘Of course I can. Oh Electra! You say this is a friend of yours?’

  ‘Yeah, I just need to guarantee the payment of her treatment,’ I said, walking back to the counter and handing the cell over to the receptionist. I lurked nearby as they sp
oke, then the receptionist handed the cell phone back to me.

  ‘She’d like a word with you, ma’am.’

  ‘Okay. Hi, Mariam, was it sorted?’

  ‘Yes, it was no problem. Although I must get the insurance details of your friend, because her treatment may be very costly.’

  ‘If it is, it is,’ I sighed. ‘I’m paying and that’s that.’

  ‘I understand. Now, are you sure that you are okay?’

  ‘I am, truly. Gotta go now, but I’ll call you back later. Thanks, Mariam. Bye.’

  Seeing the restroom opposite, I ran to it and shut myself in a cubicle, breathing hard as I sat down on the toilet seat. Putting my head between my legs because I felt dizzy, I looked down at my track pants and saw that they were spattered with blood. I groaned, thinking of all those people sitting in reception who may or may not have recognised me. I pulled out my cell, thinking I should text Miles to tell him what had happened, but then realised it was way past cell phone hour and he wouldn’t get it anyway. Instead, I called The Ranch and left a message for him at reception for them to pass on immediately. Then I sat there, staring at the ad about STDs stuck to the back of the door.

  ‘That could have been me one day,’ I whispered to myself. ‘You can never go back there, Electra,’ I added as I mentally smashed the bottle of Goose that was filling the television screen in my head. I heard the door to the restroom open.

  ‘Electra? You in here?’

  ‘Yeah,’ I said, opening the door to the cubicle to see Mercy standing there. ‘How is she?’

  ‘Why don’t we go and have a chat outside?’

  As I followed her out, I glanced around the reception area and saw ten faces staring at me in astonishment. I sighed as Mercy led me away fast around the side of the hospital and into an alley full of smelly trash containers.

  ‘So?’

  ‘She’s alive, honey. They’re stabilising her now. They got her in time and she’s gonna be okay.’

  I let out a huge breath and I felt Mercy’s arm go around me.

  ‘You helped saved her life, Electra. If you hadn’t found her . . . You did good, sweetheart. Now you should get some rest. I’m calling you a cab to take you back to The Ranch, while I stay on here. They can organise a different dorm for you to stay in tonight as well.’

  ‘No! I need to stay here for Vanessa. She doesn’t have anyone else, she’s all alone,’ I insisted.

  ‘Electra, you’re still in treatment and this is all too much for you right now. You should head back—’

  ‘No way! I’m staying here and I’m going to be right by her side when they say I can be. If you need me to sign something so I won’t sue The Ranch, I’ll do that, but you can’t make me leave, okay?!’

  ‘Okay, Electra, okay,’ Mercy said gently. ‘I’ll let reception know that you’re staying on, and speak to someone inside about getting you somewhere to wait with more privacy. It’s best you stay out of sight here until we do.’

  ‘Yeah,’ I sighed.

  ‘You want anything to drink?

  Vodka . . . I thought, but ‘Coffee, thanks,’ was what I said.

  ‘You wait here, an’ I’ll be right back.’

  I watched her go, at this moment hating my fame more than I ever had and not giving a shit if I got papped by every two-bit newspaper in Tucson. I just wanted to be inside with Vanessa.

  Twenty minutes later, I’d been smuggled in through a back door and given a side room that contained a couple of easy chairs and a TV. A doctor with kind blue eyes was waiting for me there.

  ‘Hi, Miss D’Aplièse, I’m Dr Cole.’

  ‘How is she?’ I asked him.

  ‘Her stats are stable now, so we’ve moved her out of the emergency room and settled her for the night. She’s a tough little nut,’ he smiled. ‘Would you like to see her?’

  ‘Yes please.’ I stood up.

  ‘Electra,’ Mercy said to me, ‘I’m going to head back to The Ranch now, but someone will be here in the morning to see how Vanessa is and collect you. And remember, you saved Vanessa’s life tonight.’ She reached out, gave me a warm hug and smiled up at me, before following us out of the room.

  ‘Vanessa’s awake, but not talking much. We’ve given her some strong meds for the pain, so she’ll be feeling sleepy,’ Dr Cole said as he led me into a dimly lit hospital room. ‘I’ll leave you to it,’ he said as he left.

  I walked round the bed and sat down in the chair next to Vanessa. She looked so frail and young lying there. I could see her eyes were open and her arms lay on top of the sheets, bandaged from her wrists to her inner elbows. She was attached to a drip and a monitor that beeped every so often.

  ‘Hi there, Vanessa, it’s me, Electra,’ I whispered as I leant towards her. ‘How are you feeling?’

  There was no response as she continued to stare at the ceiling.

  ‘The doctor says you’re doing real well, that you’re strong,’ I said, searching desperately for positive things to say. I lifted a hand, not sure where I could put it on her overcrowded forearms, so I laid it on top of her head and stroked her lovely hair. ‘I just wanted to tell you that I’m here for you.’

  Still nothing.

  ‘I came with you in the ambulance; I’d never been in one before. It was like being in an episode of Grey’s Anatomy, but the doc says you’re gonna do just fine.’

  There was a long pause, and then Vanessa made a noise.

  ‘My . . .’

  It sounded like ‘my’ anyway, I thought, as I watched her lick her cracked lips.

  ‘My mom used to do this,’ she whispered.

  ‘Do what?’

  ‘Stroke my hair. Feels nice,’ she said.

  ‘Then I’ll keep right on doing it. Would you like your mom to come here?’

  ‘Yeah, but she’s dead.’

  I watched as two tears trickled out of Vanessa’s eyes.

  ‘I’m so sorry, sweetheart,’ I murmured, feeling tears burn behind my own eyes. ‘I’m gonna stay right here with you, and stroke your hair until you go to sleep, okay?’

  She gave a slight nod and slowly, her eyes began to close.

  ‘You’re safe,’ I added as her breathing relaxed into a rhythm and I settled in for a long night.

  A few minutes later, the door opened and to my surprise, Miles appeared from behind it.

  ‘How is she?’ he said.

  ‘Sleeping,’ I whispered, putting a finger to my lips.

  ‘Can you come outside for a second so we can talk?’

  I shook my head. ‘No. I said I’d stay right here until she woke up.’

  ‘Okay.’ Miles tiptoed into the room, took a chair and carried it across to put it next to me.

  ‘How did you get here?’

  ‘When I got your message from reception, I got in my rental car, but because I had no note from the “authorities” to say I could leave, the darned guard wouldn’t open the gates! So then I had to scale the fence, call a cab and wait for it to arrive outside.’

  We both stifled a giggle.

  ‘Does this constitute a mass breakout of Ranch inmates?’

  ‘It sure might, yes,’ he agreed. ‘How are you?’

  ‘Oh, okay, apart from a sore arm.’ I indicated the one that was still stroking Vanessa’s hair. ‘She said her mom used to do this. She told me she was dead.’

  ‘Yeah, she is.’

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Miles said. ‘Vanessa is HIV positive, so it might have been AIDS.’

  Vanessa stirred and I hushed Miles. ‘You’d better go. We’ll talk later.’

  ‘Hey, I can do quiet. I’ll just sit right here and keep you company.’

  And so he did, and I had the oddest sensation that we were parents watching over our kid. Despite the circumstances, it felt comforting. As the clock on the wall ticked by the hours until dawn, my head became heavy and I began to doze. I felt an arm come around my shoulders and pull me closer so I could rest my head against his warm ch
est.

  ‘I’m thirsty,’ said a voice somewhere in the distance.

  I jolted awake as my pillow was taken from behind my head and I opened my eyes. Miles was pouring some water into a cup and pressing the button that made the bed rise so that Vanessa could take a drink.

  ‘Just sips now, honey, take it slowly,’ he said, holding the straw for her.

  When Vanessa had finished, he sat back down in the chair and she turned to look at us.

  ‘What are you two doin’ here? You my mom and dad or something?’

  I smiled as Vanessa voiced just how I’d felt last night.

  ‘I can see you’re feeling better, missy,’ Miles smiled. ‘You scared us.’

  Vanessa shrugged. ‘I was hopin’ I’d never have to wake to see another morning, but hey, here I am.’

  Maybe it was me, but I thought Vanessa seemed perkier.

  ‘Electra here has refused to leave you all night in case you woke up,’ said Miles, who then turned to me. ‘How about you go freshen up and find someone who can bring us some coffee?’

  As it happened, I was bursting to go to the bathroom, so I agreed.

  ‘Black or white?’ I asked.

  ‘You talking about the coffee, ma’am?’ he said, smirking at me.

  ‘Ha! You’ll get what you’re given.’

  ‘Hey, you two got a thing going on or what?’ Vanessa chirped from the bed as I left the room. Heat rose up my neck as I went to the washroom and looked at myself in the mirror. My hair had untied itself from its plait and hung greasily in curtains on either side of my face, and my eyes had great pouches beneath them. I did my best to tidy myself up, but with no equipment to hand, it was impossible, so I walked down the corridor in search of coffee.

  ‘Room service will be here shortly,’ I said as I re-entered the room.

  Vanessa eyed me. ‘You sure have some strange accent going on there, don’t she, Miles?’

  ‘I was brought up in Switzerland, that’s why. My mother tongue is French,’ I added as I went to sit down and Miles stood up.