Kyle introduced Lucy as a friend to most of the guests, but she barely remembered anyone’s name. They’d only been there for about thirty minutes, but the alcohol-pills-alcohol schedule she was executing caused her head to spin, fast! She spied a seat at the end of the sofa and went straight for it without letting Kyle know. She didn’t want to interrupt his conversation with a beautifully dressed woman who appeared to be the hostess. From the sofa, she watched as Kyle smiled and touched the woman’s arm during their conversation. Instinctively it made her smile for a moment. All around her she listened to bits of broken chitchat on various topics, until Kyle finally turned and noticed her on the couch.
“I’ll be right back,” he said softly in her ear after walking over to her. “Do you need to go?” He gestured toward the hallway, and she assumed that meant the restroom.
“I’m fine,” Lucy replied, taking note of the gentle way about him. It was like he was speaking to a timid child. She assumed he was that way with everyone based on her earlier observation; otherwise, she may have been offended. Or maybe he was treating her with kid gloves. She wasn’t sure of anything at that point except that her head was starting to feel inflated.
Lucy watched Kyle as he walked off and disappeared down a hallway. How the hell did I get myself into this one? she thought. She figured that her best bet was to apologize and ask him to take her home. On the other hand, she absolutely hated asking people for help or being an imposition. Before she knew it, she was off the couch and headed for the door. Walking past a sea of blurry faces, the door seemed to be getting further and further away. An arm that didn’t appear to be attached to anyone reached out to her.
“Are you okay?” a voice murmured in slow motion.
Lucy picked up the pace and started running. She finally reached the door and bolted outside. There was no way she could make it home like this. She wanted to puke it out of her, but she was well aware it was too late for that. Her head was blowing up, spinning, but if she could get to a bus stop she was home free. About a year ago, Lucy was without her own transportation and completely mastered the bus system. She slowed from her run to a speed walk until she got to a main road, and miraculously she tracked down a bus stop. After a few minutes of standing under the dimly lit bus sign, next to a thin Hispanic man, the bus finally arrived. She thought about jumping in front of it instead of getting on. How she made it back from there to the Sunset Vista Apartments was a complete blackout.
When Benny’s set was over, Anne was there waiting for him with a giant grin. “You were so great,” she cheered while doing little mini claps with her hands. She had explained that Lucy left, but saw most of his time. She also told him that Lucy had apologized and said that Benny did a great job. He knew better. That didn’t sound like Lucy, and Anne was always trying to smooth things over.
“Thanks, Anne,” he said modestly. “But I blew that bit about bosses.”
Benny had insisted on them following each other home to be safe. He enjoyed taking on that big brother role since he didn’t have any sisters of his own, just brothers. Normally he would be going out to continue the laughs with his buddies, but he had to admit he was tired from all the apprehension of the night.
Returning from the parking lot, Benny and Anne walked back to the apartment building. They talked and laughed about the show and hadn’t even noticed that they were about to step right on top of Lucy. There she was, lying on the ground a few feet away from the stairs.
“Oh my God, Lucy!” Anne screeched as she ran and knelt down next to Lucy.
Benny was right behind her and took a swift glance around to survey the situation. “Lucy!” He grasped her shoulders and shook them slightly to see if she would jar awake. The night air was cool and thick, and the full moon seemed to be providing the spotlight they needed.
“Do you think she was attacked or mugged or something?” Anne looked desperately at Benny. She was not used to this type of situation. “Should we call 911?”
“Hold on a second.” Benny checked her pulse and breathing. He was composed and acted as if he had experienced this many times before. “She’s breathing. Let’s see if we can get her conscious first.” He shook her again, only a bit harder this time. “Lucy, can you hear me? C’mon, Lucita, wake up!”
“Benny! We’re wasting time.” Anne grabbed her purse and began searching hysterically for her cell phone. “I’m calling 911.”
“Don’t make me kick your ass,” a slurred and quiet voice came from below. Lucy stirred slightly and groaned.
Benny and Anne shook their heads and smiled at each other.
“Lucy, you scared us,” Anne said. “Thank God you’re okay. I mean, are you okay?”
“God…kill me now,” she moaned and rolled over to her side.
“C’mon, girl, let’s get you inside.” Benny picked Lucy up like a new bride and carried her up the stairs to her apartment. “Anne, grab her purse.”
“Got it,” she said, trying to sound helpful. She gathered up both purses and followed them up the stairs. Before reaching the top, Anne was able to find Lucy’s apartments keys to open the door.
In Benny’s arms Lucy’s eyes were closed, but she spoke quietly. “I don’t need you, Benny. I don’t need anyone.” A tear rolled down her cheek and landed on Benny’s arm.
“I know,” he whispered.
CHAPTER 7
Six-year-old Carly Moore walked along the tiled hallway, carefully placing a foot in each one of the outlined squares as she went along. Her hair was brown and wavy, parted on the side. The longer side was pushed back with a bejeweled pink bobby pin. Her big, beautiful brown eyes appeared even larger with her stylish pink prescription glasses.
Proudly following at a safe distance behind, her father Rick was not displaying the same carefree expression as his only daughter. He knew she felt somewhat at ease here as she had been to that hospital a half a dozen times over the last year. The nurses were always very friendly and made everything seem so normal. Rick knew better, though. Each trip to St. Vincent’s seemed to signify a progressively worse situation.
“Wait, Carly,” her dad called out just before she was about to enter an open door on the left.
Carly stopped and looked back at her dad. “We’re going back to Mommy’s room, right?” She pointed up ahead toward the open door. “It’s that one!”
“That’s right, honey, but Daddy needs to speak to Dr. Brady for a minute.” He knelt down and motioned for her to come over to him. “Come give me a hug, and then you’re going to wait here with Nurse Penny.”
A woman dressed in light blue scrubs came from the side nurses’ station as Carly ran to her dad. She flung her long, grayish white hair back behind her shoulder.
Carly wrapped her arms around her father’s neck and asked, “Do I get to play with the gloves again?”
Rick gave the nurse a questioning look and a shrug. “It’s up to Nurse Penny.”
“Of course, sweetie.” Nurse Penny flashed a comforting smile and reached out her hand to Carly. “C’mon.”
Rick stood and watched as the two walked over to the nurses’ station, both of their manes swaying in unison across their backs. He then turned and looked at the open door, pausing a few seconds before taking stride. Before he reached her door, he prepared his game face. He laughed in spite of himself, knowing that it was pointless. He could never fool her, and besides, he knew she was doing the same thing herself.
The first thing that Rick noticed when he entered the room was what he always noticed when he entered a room Katie was in: her smile. It always seemed to make everyone around her feel at ease. It was almost as though Katie was trying to put Dr. Brady at ease instead of the other way around. Katie was sitting straight up in the bed with her long, brown hair up in a ponytail. Her blue eyes were sparkling as she listened to the doctor speak. By the look on her face, those eyes would not give away to anyone that she was ill.
“Rick, Dr. Brady says it’s about that time.” She spoke as if
she were talking about a business proposal. “Dialysis is not cutting it anymore. It’s time to step up our game.” Katie loved to throw in sports references for Rick’s benefit. A completely guy’s guy, Rick loved to watch, and play, sports. And he adored how Katie would memorize some obscure quote and then try to use it at entirely the wrong time. One time, Rick was watching a football game with his buddies and Katie walked by while they were arguing stats. She touted a player that she remembered Rick talking about, trying to be cool. Unfortunately for her, that player had retired eight years earlier.
“I know, babe. He told me this morning.” Rick, tall and lanky, walked over to the other side of the bed. He reached out and put his hand on Katie’s leg. He had short, black hair buzzed like he was ready to be deployed.
“These days, there is a really good chance of finding a live donor,” she said with a reassuring look.
“I know,” he repeated. “And we will.”
Like most men, Rick stated his feelings in as few words as possible. Katie didn’t mind this because, unlike most women, she didn’t spend a lot of time talking about her feelings either.
“So what’s the next step?” he said to Dr. Brady.
“First we need to have all your friends and family tested, even the ones out of town.” He nudged his glasses up a bit higher on his nose. In his late fifties, Dr. Brady had been with Katie since the beginning of her diagnosis. “Kits can be mailed out, and they can bring them to their local physicians.”
“Sounds easy enough,” Katie said. “But…you know I don’t have much family.”
“I remember when you spoke about your family, Katie,” he said. “These days we have a lot of options. And Rick can even have his coworkers get tested. Were you able to locate your mother?”
“No.” Her smiled faded for the first time. “And I haven’t spoken to my sister in years.”
“I’m sure she’ll want to help. Why don’t you speak with Lucy, and then we’ll get a kit out to her right away.”
“Dr. Brady,” Rick began as he was looking at Katie for confirmation. “Lucy’s probably not the best—”
“Don’t worry, Rick,” Dr. Brady reassured. “Luckily we’ve made this decision at a good time. We’re not waiting until the last minute, so if your sister-in-law is a match, then she’ll have plenty of time to make a decision and get things in order.”
“Thanks, Doc.” Rick reached out to shake Dr. Brady’s hand. “We appreciate everything.”
“No problem,” he said. “I’ll give you two some time to talk things over.” Dr. Brady headed for the door and gave a smile and a nod as he exited. “Take care.”
Rick looked down at Katie and smiled. He picked up one of her hands and squeezed it in both of his. “That’s my girl.” He bent down and delivered a kiss to her lips. “You are so strong, it’s amazing.”
“I couldn’t do this without you,” she said softer than she had been speaking with the doctor.
Rick was the only person with whom Katie could let her defenses down. Now both twenty-four years old, they had basically grown up together. They’d met at a football game when they were sixteen, but were on rival sides. Katie was sitting in the stands when Rick and a friend had walked by. They had gone over to talk to some kids that they had previously gone to school with. He saw her talking with her friends and convinced his buddy to stay on that side of the stadium. By the end of the game, and after several smile and nod exchanges, he finally got up the nerve to ask for her phone number.
Their relationship advanced quickly, and for the first time, Katie confided in someone about her problems at home. Rick was understanding and comforting. It was the kind of comfort that her sister Lucy could no longer give to Katie.
Just before graduation, Katie became pregnant. Both were able to finish out the year and graduate before it became totally obvious to everyone. Although Rick’s family was understandably distraught, Rick’s dad, George, wanted to help. He offered Rick a job and the two of them a place stay in Fort Worth, where he’d moved after separating from Rick’s mother. Even now George was a huge help and took care of Carly whenever they needed him.
“I’m going to take care of everything—all the calls, anything that needs to get done.”
“I just don’t know if I can ask Lucy though. It was so awful in the end. I was awful!”
“It’s not like you want to borrow money. This is your life we’re talking about, and you are still family no matter what.”
“I know, babe. And I know we’ll find a match…somehow.”
“You know, if this doesn’t work out, we can always get one off eBay.” Rick smiled, and Katie giggled.
In the doorway, a man appeared holding Carly’s hand. “How y’all doin’?” he said with a concerned smile. Carly ran over and climbed on the edge of the bed.
“Look, Mommy, it’s Papa!”
“I see that!” Katie said as she and Carly hugged. “Hi, George, thanks for coming.”
“You know I gotta be where my two favorite girls are,” he said as he walked over to the bed and patted Rick on the shoulder.
“Gee thanks, Dad.”
Carly sang out, “Are you all better now, Mommy?”
“Almost, my little punkin pie.”
“The doctors are taking good care of her,” Rick said as he rubbed Carly’s back.
“When are you coming home, Mommy?”
“Actually, I’m going home with all of you in just a little bit.”
“Yay,” Carly squealed. She ran over to George and grabbed his hand.
George was a handsome man of almost sixty. His voice was scratchy and made him sound like Clint Eastwood. He owned a successful real estate company and lived only about fifteen miles from Rick and Katie. The house they lived in was one of the first great finds George bought fifteen years ago. In this market, he was proud to say it was paid off and has kept most of its value.
Rick first started with his dad as an office manager until he was able to obtain his Realtor’s license. Now Rick and George were partners, father and son, and George couldn’t be more proud of his son. Things were rocky when he first found out about the pregnancy, but he had only to meet Katie to see that she was the right one for Rick. With his help, he knew they would make it.
“Papa, can you come with us?”
Rick looked at Katie, and she smiled and nodded.
“Yeah, Dad, why don’t you come over and stay for dinner.”
“We’d love to have you, George,” Katie added. “And we can fill you in on the hunt for a new kidney.”
“Alright,” replied George. “But I get to do the cooking.”
“Sounds great.” Katie smiled.
CHAPTER 8
A hideously bright light shone through the small gap between Lucy’s drapes and stretched right across her left eye. Turning her head from side to side, she attempted to escape the torturous beam. She rolled over on her stomach and put her face straight down into the pillow. She hadn’t even realized yet that it was Saturday morning and she was already late for work. Voices started to drift in and out of her head. It sounded like two people talking, vaguely familiar. Was this some aftershock of last night’s catastrophe? The voices started to become clearer, and she could make out some fragments: “…getting out of hand, needs to get some help…she won’t talk to me.” Lucy shook her head and then formed a taco against her head with the pillow.
“Don’t worry, I already called your work,” a quiet, sympathetic voice said.
Startled, Lucy flipped over on her back, put a hand across her face to shade the light, and saw Anne standing there.
“Anne? What are you doing here?”
“I stayed here last night.”
“What—? Why?”
“Don’t you remember what happened after Benny’s show?”
Lucy ran her hands across her face and back through her hair. “What…Benny’s show?” She searched her mind for an explanation. Images were flashing back into her brain as she attempted
to put them together like a jigsaw puzzle. The show, yeah, a Toyota, pills, a party, drinks. It was coming faster now. That guy…Kyle. Oh my God.
“We found you lying on the ground outside.”
Lucy turned her head away and closed her eyes. Just talking was painful. She whispered, “You shoulda just left me there.”
“What?”
Lucy looked back at Anne and decided not to make this a pity fest. “I said…who found me there? You said we.”
“Me and Benny. After we got back from the show.” Her voice was calm and reassuring. “Remember, you left early? What happened to you?”
“I…don’t remember,” Lucy lied. “I think I had another drink in the back bar before I left. Maybe I just passed out or something. Maybe hit my head.”
“Well, don’t worry about anything right now.” She reached for a glass of water on the side table. “Here, drink some water and rest. I called Amy’s and told them you were really sick and in bed.”
A knock at her bedroom door startled and surprised Lucy, and she looked up to see Benny in her doorway. Lucy sat up a bit, took a drink of the water, and set the glass back down.
“Hey, girl,” he said. “How ya doing?” Benny walked over and sat on the corner of the bed.
“Well I’m doing just great!” she said sarcastically.
“You talk to her yet?” he said, looking back at Anne.
“She doesn’t remember anything.”
“So you guys were gonna give me a lecture, huh?” Lucy said defiantly. “I don’t even know what happened. Maybe I got mugged or something. I’m lucky to be alive.”
In Search of Lucy: A Novel Page 4