What She Left Us

by Stephanie Elliot

  Chapter 51

  First she called Darren and left a message explaining why she wouldn’t be on the plane.

  “I’m hoping to be there by Wednesday. She’s not doing well,” Jenna whimpered into the phone, wishing more than anything she was talking to Darren and not his voicemail. “I love you,” she ended the call.

  Next, she called Clay. “Can you come to the hospital?”

  When Clay showed up, he hugged Jenna tight and she buried her face into his shoulder. He smelled like clean aftershave and soap, and a little bit like sweat, like he had rushed to get to her.

  “How is she?” he asked.

  “They’ve got her in a room hooked up to some stuff – I don’t know what the hell went wrong? Why the treatment’s affecting her this way?”

  Clay rubbed her back, small reassuring circles, and then he pulled her closer. “It’s going to be okay, she’s in the right place, and they’re taking care of her. How long does she have to stay?”

  “They think overnight. She needs to get her iron back up to about ten. No one knows why her iron dropped so low, so fast. Mitch is in there with her now.”

  “Can we go in?”

  “Yeah.”

  They walked down the hall, Clay’s arm secured around Jenna’s shoulder, she tucked into him. He squeezed her. “I’m really sorry you’re going through all of this, Jen.”

  “Thanks. I feel so bad for her. She doesn’t deserve this. What I wouldn’t do for it to be me instead of her,” she admitted.

  They passed a nurse’s station, and one of them looked up from her desk.

  “I’m going to see my sister,” Jenna said, as if she needed permission.

  “No problem,” the nurse smiled slightly.

  Jenna pointed to the door and Clay pushed it open for her. Mitch sat in a chair near the bed, and made a move to stand, but Clay motioned for him to stay seated.

  “Hey Clay,” he waved half-heartedly.

  “Hey Mitch, how’s it going.”

  Courtney lay in the bed looking much better than she had two hours earlier. Some color had returned to her face.

  “It’s like a party in here,” she toyed with the bed sheets.

  Jenna moved to the bed and hugged her sister. “Can you stop doing shit like that, please? It’s getting really annoying.”

  “Believe me, I wish I could.”

  The doctor was just in,” Mitch said. “He said she can go home as early as tomorrow. They want to make sure her iron count keeps rising. And he’s ordered her to start eating more fish and spinach.”

  “Ugh, my favorites,” Courtney stuck out her tongue.

  “Hamburgers have iron,” Clay offered.

  “True,” Jenna said. “You can eat dinner every night at Klippy’s. So, that’s all he said you have to do? Really?”

  “Yeah, and also, he wants me to go back to see Dr. Rhetler.”

  “Okay, I’ll make us an appointment for this week,” Jenna reached for her cell.

  “I was afraid you’d say that,” Courtney glanced at Mitch.

  “What?” Jenna asked.

  “Mitch is going to take me, then we’ll head to his house for Thanksgiving. It’s no big deal. I can handle it. I want you to go see Darren.”

  Jenna felt Clay stiffen next to her at the mention of Darren’s name. She knew he didn’t like the idea of her going to Florida for the week. She knew he considered her a good friend, but he would like to be more than just a good friend. She would never want to hurt his feelings, but she needed to go see Darren. Wanted to go be with Darren. Jenna touched Clay’s hand lightly.

  “Well, I’m not going until you’re discharged from the hospital. I need to make absolutely sure that you’re okay,” Jenna said. “You have a place near Mitch’s home to get treated during Thanksgiving break? You’ll have to go on Friday.”

  “I’ll see what Dr. Rhetler has to say. I’m going to try to get an appointment for Wednesday. I’m guessing with my recent complications, she’ll want to see me right away.”

  “True,” Jenna said.

  Mitch and Clay looked to one another. “Sounds like these girls have everything figured out, huh?” Mitch said.

  “Yeah,” Clay agreed. “Is there a ball game on or something? Hand me that remote.”

  “No way,” Courtney said. “I am not watching sports while I’m in the hospital!”

  “Hey Missy,” Mitch said, “Shut your mouth. You’re only allowed to open it to eat your spinach.”

  They all laughed, the tension gone for the immediate moment, but Jenna was still worried. Worried about leaving her sister in her current condition and how she would be without her. She was also worried about how it would be when she got to Darren’s, worried about how she would feel when he would gather her up in his arms.

  She hoped she would feel the same as she used to, that she would feel complete, like she belonged with him, that she was where she needed to be the moment they saw one another and were together again.

  Because when Clay arrived at the hospital and hugged her, and when Jenna inhaled the scent of him, she felt secure and safe – she felt that Clay had stopped everything and rushed to her side to be with her.

  She wasn't sure if Darren was that type of man any longer, or if he was, would she have the same feelings for him as she did for Clay?

  Jenna hoped she would know when she stepped off that plane and into Darren's arms. She hoped she would have answers then.

  Chapter 52

  Mitch and Courtney sat in the office waiting for Dr. Rhetler, their hands clasped tightly together.

  “Thank you so much for coming,” Courtney said for about the thousandth time.

  “Court, you’re being ridiculous. Of course I’d be here with you,” he leaned into her and brushed her lips with his, and she shivered and smiled, kissed him back.

  She still couldn’t believe he was hers, that he loved her, that he was there with her, and that later he was taking her home to meet his family. Courtney was so nervous to meet his parents, and moreover, she was scared to death to meet his four sisters. Four sisters! What on earth was that like, she had wondered. He hadn’t told her much, and what he had shared hadn’t been very good, that it had been difficult growing up with that kind of family dynamic, and he wished he had been closer to everyone. Mostly he got along best with his youngest sister, Sammi, who was eight. Everyone else was too dramatic, too busy with their own lives, you’ll see, he had said.

  There was a quick knock on the door and in peeked a nurse. “Doctor will be with you shortly. We’re still trying to locate your file. We found your sister’s under Haddonfield but yours must have been misplaced. Would you like some water while you’re waiting?”

  “I’m fine,” Courtney said. Mitch shook his head.

  “It shouldn’t be too much longer,” the nurse smiled apologetically and closed the door.

  “Wanna play doctor?” Mitch grinned at Courtney, and reached for her. “I can check your vitals while we’re waiting.”

  “Stop that! Hand me that People mag. I want to see what kind of drama Brangelina is stirring up these days.”

  “You and your trashy gossip mags.”

  “But look at what she’s doing now! And doesn’t she look horrible? She needs to eat some pie!” Courtney was flipping through the magazine commenting on celebrities when the door opened again. Dr. Rhetler entered the room, all professional and business, as Courtney was busy checking in on the latest celebs. She felt like she had been caught misbehaving in kindergarten.

  “Hello there,” Dr. Rhetler greeted them.

  “Hi doc,” Courtney placed the magazine behind her.

  “Interesting articles?” Dr. Rhetler asked.

  Mitch laughed. “She was checking out the gowns from last week’s award show.”

  “Oh yes, didn’t Jennifer look glamorous in that Vera Wang?” Dr. Rhetler took a seat at the desk next to Mitch and Courtney.

  Courtney beamed. “So much!”

  Dr. Rhetl
er introduced herself to Mitch. “They’re still looking for your file, but I didn’t want to keep you waiting. I’ve got Jenna’s file, and they’ll bring yours in when they find it.” Then she said, “Since we’re all here though, let’s talk about what happened. I heard you were recently hospitalized?”

  “Yes, I passed out. Low iron count.” Courtney said.

  “Tell her how low,” Mitch added.

  “Seven-point-three.” Courtney looked down at her knees, like somehow she was to be blamed for this. “But it’s back up to eleven now, and I feel great.”

  “Seven-point-three? Why in God’s name were they drawing your blood when you were eleven even? That’s still a below-average iron count. That’s not even high enough for a healthy person to donate blood.”

  “It’s not?” Courtney was so confused. What did all of this mean?

  Thank God Mitch was with her because he started asking all of the right questions, like why were they taking her blood twice a week if her iron was already so low, and what exactly was hemochromatosis and could she please explain all the physical signs of the disease as well.

  Dr. Rhetler was explaining all of these things to Mitch when there was a quick knock on the door and it opened slightly. The same nurse who had stopped in earlier was back. “We found the other Haddonfield file.”

  “Do I even dare ask where it was,” Dr. Rhetler said.

  “Lissa’s desk.”

  "I suspected as much."

  Dr. Rhetler turned her attention to Mitch and Courtney. “Lissa was suspended from her duties.” Dr. Rhetler took the file from the nurse who delivered it, thanked her and flipped through it. A minute later, a look of grave concern crossed over her face, and Courtney felt the mood in the room change.

  “Courtney, it indicates here that you were called by Lissa right after you and your sister were tested. Here are her initials.”

  “No. I never got a call from any nurse or the office. Jenna came to school to tell me. All the information I ever got was from Jenna. Why? What’s the matter?”

  “You’re sure you never got a call?”

  “Of course I’m sure. I would remember.”

  Dr. Rhetler rolled her chair closer to Courtney to show her the file.

  “Look here.” Dr. Rhetler pointed at the file pages. "Is this your phone number?”

  “Well no. That number… ” Courtney pointed to the page… “that should be a seven, not a one.”

  Courtney looked at Mitch, fear in her eyes, then to Dr. Rhetler, and she asked, “Am I okay?”

  “Well, yes, I think. Give me a minute.”

  Courtney didn’t like how Dr. Rhetler sounded. Mitch moved closer to her and she grabbed onto his hand. The gesture was warm and reassuring. Dr. Rhetler reached into her lab coat pocket, took out her reading glasses, and put them on. She went through the pages in the file, turning them ever so slowly, moving back and forth between pages, and then flipping back to another, rereading a paragraph and then moving ahead to another part of the file.

  Then she opened Jenna’s file and read through hers, doing the same, flipping pages, going back and forth on certain parts. Her attention to the files was creating paranoia in Courtney that she had never experienced before. Her skin itched and her scalp tingled; she wanted to know what the hell Dr. Rhetler was doing, what she was trying to figure out, what could she be reading that was so important? And why was she comparing her chart with her sister's chart?

  Finally, Dr. Rhetler shut the files, took off her glasses, placed them back into her coat pocket and cleared her throat. All Courtney could focus on was the loud clicks of the standard clock in the room – the kind she remembered from high school – the minute hand would snap into place at each sixty-second pass, and when the shrill of the bell rang to signify the fifty-minute class was over, everyone would startle at the noise, and move to the next class.

  She waited.

  “Okay,” Dr. Rhetler sighed.

  “What is it?” Courtney asked.

  “You, my dear, do not have hemochromatosis.”

  “I don’t?” Courtney’s mouth gaped open.

  “No, you don’t. You never did. All of your tests came back completely fine. Negative. I don’t know how this slipped past us, and I’m completely sorry, so very sorry you’ve been put through this ordeal.”

  “Wow.” Courtney exhaled. This was wonderful news, incredible actually. She and her sister could start living their lives normally again. Jenna could maybe stay in Florida with Darren now, they could plan their wedding. They could get their mother’s home cleaned out and ready to put up for sale. Courtney could really focus on her classes, make more time for the art that she had been neglecting for so very long.

  “I can’t wait to call Jenna and tell her the great news,” Courtney hugged Mitch, who had a look of relief smattered across his own face.

  “Wait, Courtney, there’s more,” Dr. Rhetler said. “There’s something I still don’t get here.” Dr. Rhetler moved onto the rolling chair closer to Courtney now, and looked her eye to eye. “This is very important, and I need you to listen very carefully, okay?”

  Dr. Rhetler placed her hands onto Courtney’s knees as if to steady her. Mitch stared at the doctor, sensing he was about to hear shocking news, because what kind of doctor touches the knees of her patient?

  Courtney’s life flashed in front of her and she wondered if the doctor was going to tell her that instead of hemochromatosis she had cancer, because that had to be it. She had to have cancer. The doctor was too close and too concerned. Dr. Rhetler was in her personal space, and she had something very important to tell Courtney. What she was about to tell her had to be bad.

  “Your sister. Honey, your sister, she still has hemochromatosis.”

  Courtney sighed.

  “That’s all? That’s okay. We’ve been dealing with it already. Oh my God, I thought you were going to tell me I had cancer or something.” Courtney let out a nervous laugh. “Okay, sure she’s going to be freaked that I don’t have it anymore, never did, but we’ll get through this. Okay, deep breath, Court. God Mitch,” she looked up at Mitch and said, “Mitch, I thought she was going to say I had cancer.” And she laughed.

  “Courtney, you’re not following this,” Dr. Rhetler said gently, touching her knee for emphasis. “If one sibling has hemochromatosis, you know it’s automatic that the other has it, right?”

  “Yeah, so, I beat the odds?” Courtney said the words while her mind tried to follow along with what Dr. Rhetler was telling her. “Right? I could have beat the odds on this one. It could happen, right?”

  Dr. Rhetler shook her head slowly.

  “What? What are you saying… ?”

  “I’m sorry Courtney. This can only mean one thing.”

  Tears filled Courtney’s eyes and the weight of the realization began to expand like a thick mud, filling up her insides.

  “What? What? Say it.” Although in her mind, she already knew, she had to hear it from Dr. Rhetler.

  “Honey, this means that it would be impossible for you and Jenna to be biological sisters.”

  Chapter 53

  Jenna got off the plane and Darren was waiting. He was there with flowers, a huge bunch of them, Peruvian lilies and carnations, and Jenna had never seen him smile the way he was when his eyes landed on her. She ran into his arms and he swung her around and around and she lifted her leg and one of her shoes flung off. People in the airport smiled at them, and Jenna felt like she was probably the luckiest girl in the world. She wondered if all the other women were wishing they were her at that moment.

  Because what woman wouldn’t want to be swept off her feet at the airport by a handsome man with a huge bouquet of fragrant beautiful flowers?

  He kissed her, without reservation, and all her worries were gone. Again, it was only when she was away from him that the skepticism crept in. She needed to be here with him. A quick thought of Clay snuck in but she pushed him aside. He was her friend, a good friend, and that wa
s all. She knew that. Darren was her soul mate. Forever.

  “I’m so glad you’re here. So glad! I've missed you so much!”

  “Me too,” she slung her purse over her shoulder and they took the escalator down to Baggage Claim to get her suitcase.

  “How’s Courtney doing?” he asked.

  “I haven’t checked in but she had a doctor appointment earlier today. She was great this morning when she and Mitch dropped me at the airport. She's got all her color back and her iron count was up like four points,” Jenna said.

  “Good to hear. Now you don’t have to worry about her at all when you’re here. We can concentrate on us the whole time,” Darren gave her a squeeze. “We’ve got a lot of concentrating to do. A lot of talking too.”

  “Talking about what?” Jenna asked.

  “About where we see our future headed,” Darren brushed a loose strand of hair away from her face, kissed her full on the lips. They had her bags now and were heading for his car. She was so glad to be out of the dismal cold weather, the sun hit her and the warmth brought an immediate smile to her face.

  “Can we discuss our future at the beach?”

  “It’s on our list,” Darren said.

  “Ooh, we have a ‘list’ do we?” Jenna said.

  “We have a list,” Darren replied.

  “Let’s get to it then,” Jenna smiled.

  They got into Darren’s car and headed to the apartment he was renting for the two months he was staying in Florida. Jenna rolled down the window, opened the sunroof and let the Vitamin D sink into her skin. As the car flew down the highway, she watched as they sped by palm trees and ocean, all green and blue, so much color. She hadn’t seen such colorful landscape in forever. She inhaled deeply. It felt different here, she thought, cleaner, fresher. She wanted to taste it.

  “Feels good doesn’t it?” Darren asked.

  “Wow. I haven’t been to Florida since we were little kids. I used to love the beach,” Jenna outstretched her arms. “Dad and Mom used to take us when we were really little. Like every summer.”

  “Maybe we can take our kids someday. Or maybe we’ll live here someday. Who knows?” Darren smiled.