“Want anything to eat, Tanya?” Gerald asked.
“My stomach’s too upset.”
“Join the crowd,” Donna replied. “But I could go for a large soda. Anyone else, follow me to the food court.”
“I’ll pass,” Jordan said. “I’m going back to see Aurora.”
“But Señor Castillo...” Roberto protested.
“The judge said he was finished with me. I’m falling asleep, and someone should be with her. Let me know how it turns out, Neil,” Jordan said.
“Tell her I said hi,” Tanya said. “Tell her I’m sorry, too. I probably won’t get a chance to see her again.”
Gerald hugged his daughter’s shoulders as Jordan said, “I’ll tell her you’re thinking of her.” On sudden impulse, Jordan bent down and kissed Tanya’s cheek.
Tanya threw herself at Jordan and hugged him tightly around the waist. “Thanks for helping us,” she said. “I’ll never forget you.”
Jordan gently backed away, taking in the face of an adult, not a rebellious child. “Be hard to forget me. You’ll see me around. Good luck, Tanya. I’m rooting for you.”
Tanya gave him a small smile. “Really?”
“Sure. We’re almost related, you know. I intend to marry your aunt.”
Gerald put his arm around his daughter’s shoulders again. “I hope so. Someone needs to help me look out for these Collins women.”
Donna tossed Jordan her cell phone. “Hang on to this for me. If there’s any change, call Neil’s number and leave us a voice mail. He’s programmed into my speed dial.”
“I am?” Neil asked.
“Just for convenience’s sake.” Donna sniffed, but her smile took the sting from her words.
The two paired off as they headed for the food court. Bone-weary, Jordan entered the elevators—and made his way to Aurora.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Dorian’s room, Mission Bay Hospital
Two days later, noon
FOR THE FIRST TIME since her dive, Aurora awoke with full consciousness. The first thing that registered was the total absence of pain—well, almost total absence. Her ankle in its cast was throbbing, but not unbearably. Her head—or was it her ears?—throbbed, too, but less than her leg. The steel cocoon of the decompression chamber no longer surrounded her. Instead, she rested on the starched, white crispness of a hospital bed, covered by a warm blanket. Brilliant sunshine streamed through the third-floor hospital window.
I’m alive. Aurora’s chapped lips curved in a smile, and she sighed her contentment.
Immediately the patient in the other bed turned toward her and rose on one elbow. “Rory? You awake?”
“Dorian.” Aurora’s voice came out hoarse but strong, though it sounded muffled. She realized she had cotton wadding in her ears.
“In the flesh. They transferred you here yesterday from the military hospital—do you remember?”
Not really, but that’s okay. Aurora’s smile grew. Rory and Dori together again. Then her smile faded. “What about Tanya and Gerald? Where’s Jordan?”
Dorian actually sat up, grabbed her IV pole on wheels and walked across the short distance to sit on Aurora’s bed, her hand grasping Aurora’s.
“Everyone’s alive and well. Including you now,” Dorian said. Tears flooded her eyes. “You’ve missed all the excitement, Sissy.”
Aurora choked. Dorian hadn’t called her Sissy since before she’d run away from home. “Like what?”
She smiled as Dorian patted her hand. “Well, for starters, Mom and Dad are here.”
“Mom and Dad?” They haven’t bothered with me since—well, since Dorian stopped calling me Sissy.
“Yep. They flew in from Arizona yesterday. Isn’t it just like you to finally wake up five minutes after they left?”
My parents and I never did travel the same roads, Aurora thought, still smiling. “So the gang’s all here?”
“They’ll be back after they eat, Mom said. Hard to believe, huh, Rory?”
Aurora began to nod in agreement, but frowned at the pain.
“Don’t do that! You’re supposed to keep your head still. Maybe I should call the nurse.”
“No, not yet,” Aurora said, carefully settling her head back onto the pillows.
“I— The doctors are still treating you, Rory.” A strange expression flittered over her sister’s face. “Let me call them.”
“Later,” Aurora insisted, holding tight to her sister’s hand. “Tell me about Tanya...and Gerald...and everything. And talk loudly.”
“Okay.” Dorian continued to clutch Aurora’s hand.
“Are you okay?” Aurora asked at the anxious look on her sister’s face. “What did the doctors say?”
“I had that new strain of Asian flu. It’s taken a lot of people down.”
“Thankfully, you weren’t one of them.” Aurora studied her sister. “You look good, Dori. A little too thin, but good.” Much better than you looked in Tijuana.
“I needed to lose a few pounds anyway.”
“You’ll be able to wear Tanya’s jeans at this rate,” Aurora joked. “I’m jealous.”
Dorian’s face grew serious again. “No, I’m the one who’s jealous. I’ve always been jealous of you, right from the very start.”
“All these years?”
“I’m not proud of it.”
“But, Dori, why?”
“Because I hated you for always getting the attention. For leaving me behind when you went on your grand adventure. For providing what I thought was a bad example for Tanya. I’ll be happy if she grows up to be half the woman you are!”
Aurora listened in shock as her sister continued.
“I blamed you for Tanya’s behavior. I did nothing to repair the breach between us, yet you did all this—all this for us.... My husband and daughter are safe now. Even our business survived.” Dorian covered her face with her hands. “I owe you so very much. Can you ever forgive me?”
“You owe me nothing.” Despite her aching head, Aurora sat up to tenderly place her arms around Dorian’s shoulders. “I’m the one who should be apologizing. When I left home, I left you holding the bag. Donna told me how much Mom and Dad overcompensated with you.”
“That has nothing to do with it,” Dorian insisted. She dropped her hands. “You won’t be so quick to forgive when I tell you the rest.”
“Dori, I said it’s okay.”
“No. There’s more. The doctors wanted to give you the news—but you should hear this from family. From me. It’s bad, sis.”
Aurora’s breath caught. “You’re not going back to jail, are you? Or Gerald?”
“This isn’t about us. It’s about you.” Dorian took in a deep breath. “You got bent pretty bad,” she said, using the common slang of divers. “The doctors were worried you might have brain damage.”
“Brain damage? But I—”
“Obviously that’s not the case. You’ve suffered no stroke symptoms, no paralysis, and although I’m not a doctor, your memory seems intact to me.”
“It’d be kind of hard to forget the past few weeks. I—” Aurora glanced at her casted leg. “Don’t tell me I’ll never walk again?”
“Your leg will heal fine. The orthopod said it was a clean break.”
“Then what—”
“Sweetheart, you didn’t decompress properly.” Dorian took both of Aurora’s hands in hers. “You hurt your eardrums. Both of them.”
Aurora’s lips parted, but no words came out. She slipped one hand free to touch an ear. No wonder they hurt so much. No wonder they were ringing and Dorian’s voice sounded muffled. I thought it was the cotton in them.
“They’re ruptured badly. One of them is in shreds—completely blown out. It’ll take months to heal—hopefully without holes, but...we don’t know. The doctors think only one of your eardrums will heal intact.”
“I need both. I can’t swim if my ears leak. The last thing I need is saltwater infection.” All divers knew that ruptured eardr
ums could lead to serious ear and sinus infections, even brain infections and death.
“You’ve probably suffered some mild hearing loss in the good ear, and more in the other. We won’t know how much until later. So far, they’re been able to keep them free of infection, but the prognosis isn’t good.”
The blinding truth suddenly hit her. Aurora finally found her voice. “I had it wrong. It’s not ‘I’ll never walk again.’ It’s ‘I’ll never dive again.’ Isn’t it?”
“Yes. I’m sorry.”
Her head reeling, Aurora leaned back on the pillow and took in a few deep breaths.
“This is my fault—mine and Tanya’s. I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you.”
Aurora deliberately gathered her thoughts before responding. She’d hurt her sister once before when she’d abandoned the family. She wouldn’t do it again.
“It’s not your fault, Dori. I chose to exchange myself for Gerald. I made the decision of my own free will—just like I’ve made all my decisions since I left home. Considering we’re alive...I wouldn’t change a thing. Not a single thing.”
Tears filled Dorian’s eyes and spilled over. “Aren’t you listening? Rory, you’ll never be able to dive again. Your eardrums are too damaged. If they heal—and that’s a big if—they’ll rupture every time you go more than a few inches underwater. You may be deaf. I’ve ruined your life—now you’ll leave us again. I don’t want that.”
“Dori, please listen to me. I left home because of me. Me. I didn’t leave because of Mom or Dad or you. I would’ve loved to bring you along. So many times I missed you all, wanted you, wondered about you. But my ship had come in. I couldn’t pass it by, Dorian.” Aurora stroked her sister’s tear-dampened face. “I just couldn’t. Not even for the best sister in the world.”
Dorian stared with awe. “You don’t hate me?”
“Not then. Not now. I only hate all the years we’ve wasted—years without you and Mom and Dad to share my happiness and good times.”
“Good times you’ll never have again,” Dorian sobbed.
“Silly. Of course I will.” Aurora thought of all the good times in the past, thought of her beloved ocean, whose depths she’d never experience again, and still managed to smile. “Dad always said I’d have to pay the piper sometime. Well, a broken ankle and bad ears are a small price to pay for keeping my family alive. I’m a lucky woman. I’ve beaten the odds...” With Jordan’s help.
The next few moments were spent in a healing embrace. Dorian finally drew away, tears streaming down her face. “I should get back in bed before Mom and Dad get here and I catch it good. I should ring for your doctor, too.” Dorian pressed her call bell. “I hope all my blubbering didn’t hurt your ears,” she said as she tenderly covered Aurora.
Aurora settled herself among her pillows and tried to ignore the pain in her ears—and her heart. “I’ll be fine,” she said. Fine, that is, if Jordan still wants me.
Where could he be?
San Diego Juvenile Facility, Female Section
Parking lot
JORDAN UNLOCKED the back of Aurora’s truck, then moved aside as Gerald removed Tanya’s backpack. Tanya sat in the cab, her gaze on the rearview mirror as she slowly removed her earrings, took the silver unicorn charm and chain from around her neck, then unfastened her wristwatch.
“Don’t forget the anklet,” Gerald reminded her, walking back to the passenger side and the open door.
“Oh, yeah.” Tanya’s lips pursed ruefully. “You’d think I’d be used to the jail routine by now. And I just got used to wearing my stuff again.” Tanya bent over to slip off the anklet. She left the whole pile of jewelry in the truck’s unused ashtray. “Maybe Rory can borrow them. Or Mom, if she wants to change her look.”
Jordan watched Tanya closely. Her cynicism didn’t seem bone-deep. Her expression matched the sad outside of Juvenile Hall.
“What about the navel ring?” her father asked.
“That hole closed up in Mexico. I’ll have to redo it when I get out.”
“Then...you’re ready, honey?”
“Not really.”
“The sooner you check in, the sooner you get out,” Gerald said.
“It’s only for nine months,” Jordan reminded her. Tanya had been extremely lucky, considering everything she’d done. Drug use, international smuggling, breaking out of jail and becoming an international fugitive... “Minus the time you’ve already served in Mexico.”
“Getting pregnant is only for nine months, too, but I don’t want to do that, either, Dad.”
“I should hope not. At least, not until you’re married and at least ten years older. Wait for the right man.”
“No chance of meeting him in this prison.”
“Juvenile Hall. Remember, there’s always time off for good behavior and good grades. You can make this a positive experience, sweetheart. But only if you want to.”
For once, Tanya had no witty comeback. Jordan watched father and daughter hug.
“You want me to come with you?” Jordan asked Gerald.
“Thanks, but no. I don’t know how long this will take,” Gerald said.
“I can wait out here,” Jordan offered.
“Take the truck and go. I’ll get a cab to the hospital. I’ll probably need some downtime after this,” Gerald said, his voice gruff. “Then I should probably head north to the company. Someone’s got to do payroll and set things straight with Rory’s finances. I’ll pick up a car there.”
Jordan reached for his pocket. “You need money?”
“No, I’m okay.”
The men shook hands. Father and daughter started toward the main entrance. “Good luck, Tanya,” Jordan called out.
Tanya turned and waved in acknowledgment. Jordan started to climb into the truck when Tanya suddenly broke away from her father to run back and fling herself into Jordan’s arms. Her hug wasn’t accompanied by words, but the fierceness of her embrace spoke of her gratitude.
“Take care of yourself,” Jordan whispered. Her hair, so like her aunt’s, rustled against his shirt as she pulled away. “You’ve got courage, Tanya. Direct it wisely, and the world could be yours.”
Tanya’s eyes sparkled with some of her old defiance. “Take good care of Rory for me, okay? And you’d better not marry her until I get out. I want to be a bridesmaid. Come on, Dad. Let’s go.”
Jordan watched them walk away. The parents were finally free, the guilty party brought to justice of her own accord. Jordan and the authorities had been impressed, but not as much as Tanya’s family.
Maybe she’ll make something of herself after all, Jordan thought. I hope so.
He waited until the two had entered the imposing gray structure before getting back into Aurora’s truck. He had one more stop before he could return to her side.
Juvenile Facility, Female Section
Two hours later
TANYA REFUSED TO cry when the guard escorted her father from the public check-in area. She refused to react during the mandatory strip search by the two female guards. She filled out her paperwork in silence and cooperated without being either snide or overly civil. That attitude continued through her fingerprinting, physical, dental check and review of her school records. As she was assigned three uniforms, toothbrush, hairbrush, bar of soap and finally a cell with two other girls, one of the female guards finally commented.
“You a model citizen, or you planning on causing trouble later when you get your bearings?”
“I’m planning on doing whatever it takes to get home...ma’am,” she belatedly added.
The guard seemed skeptical. “This from the gal who smuggled drugs and then broke herself out of a Mexican prison?”
Tanya’s two roommates exchanged a quick look.
“Yes, ma’am. I want good grades and I want—” At the guard’s frown, Tanya forced herself to rephrase. “And I’d like the privilege of working in the clinic. Ma’am.”
The guard actually laughed. “No
one volunteers to work turd brigade, newbie. Because that’s what you’ll end up doing.”
“In the Mexican prison, I was considered a good clinic worker. I emptied bedpans full of—excrement and washed and disinfected them. The pans, I mean. I also changed soiled sheets for sick patients. Plus, in Tijuana they didn’t issue rubber gloves. I used my bare hands, ma’am.”
“Hey,” said one of the two roommates, a short, stocky girl with a mean expression. “We don’t want her turd hands in here.”
“We don’t want her bunking with us, period,” the other girl seconded. She had a knife-scarred cheek and an equally sinister air. The two gave each other high fives.
Tanya ignored them. “If you would please put me down for clinic duty, ma’am, I’d appreciate it.”
“I read your file, newbie. You broke out of jail from the clinic laundry room. It won’t happen here.”
“Hey, she volunteered,” the stocky girl said with a nasty voice, then quoted, “‘Follow-through is essential to juvenile rehabilitation,’ right?” Another high five passed between the two girls.
The old Tanya would have smashed their faces in. The new Tanya continued to focus on the guard. “I don’t mind being around sick people.”
“You won’t get any special privileges,” the guard warned. “And what if we don’t issue gloves, newbie?”
Tanya shrugged. “Well, the smell does linger on the skin, but I got used to it. I imagine my new roommates will, too.”
The two other girls alternately groaned. The guard allowed them to taunt Tanya and waited to see what she’d do.
I’m not an idiot. I don’t care what these two losers think. I do care what this guard thinks. And this is the good old U.S. of A. We’re AIDS conscious. I’ll get latex gloves. It’s the law.
For the first time in her life, Tanya felt pride in her country, in her nation’s medical advancements that had allowed both her mother and her aunt to recover, to go on living. She felt sorrow for poor countries like Mexico, where guards had to accept bribes to save their sick children.
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