Chapter Eleven
“Sir?” Mona turns round.
“What do you people think you’re doing? I haven’t received a single phone call.” He walks briskly to me. “Dahlia, what happened?”
The nurse crosses her arms. “Sir, we just recently got her stable, and to the best of my knowledge her family was notified.”
“And where the hell did you get that information?”
“From the young man who brought her in.”
Dad looks from her to me and back again, unimpressed. “A young man? Emery told me it was one of your friends,” he huffs. “This is exactly why Emery needs the truck. She should have driven you.”
Emery could have driven me here in Mom’s car, I think. But she let Cash do it.
“Sir, it’s important Dahlia stays calm right now,” says Mona. “If her adrenalin…”
“Don’t tell me what my daughter needs. What she needs is to get out of this place.”
My eyes meet the nurse’s.
“We’ll send her home as soon as it’s safe.” Mona’s arms are still crossed, and her feet are planted firmly on the linoleum. I admire her calm in the storm that is my dad. I wish I could say I’m the same when faced with his wrath.
A doctor with a pixie cut and teal scrubs walks into the room with her hands in her front pockets. She smiles confidently and steps up beside Dad. Her small hand comes out of the pocket, and she introduces herself to Dad.
“I’m the doctor in charge of your daughter’s care.” She turns to me. “I’ll be right back, Dahlia. Your dad and I are just going to step outside for a minute.” She raises an eyebrow at Dad and turns. Her commanding demeanour isn’t taking no for an answer, and Dad’s forced to follow.
Mona checks the drip on my IV and pats my arm. “You OK?”
“Yeah. Sorry he talked to you like that.”
“Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault.”
I shrug just as we hear Dad’s voice boom in the hall. Cash and the doctor are both talking to him. I listen carefully as Cash explains my symptoms and the doctor tells him about my recovery. It’s difficult to make out all their words until Dad says gruffly, “Why are you still here?”
I close my eyes and sigh. Mona’s shoulders fall.
Cash peeks in a moment later. “Hey. I’m gonna head out.” He points in the opposite direction of Dad. “You good?”
“Yeah. Thanks for everything, Cash.” I try to smile, but disappointment must be written all over my face because his gentle eyes soften.
“Any time, but I better go for now.”
“I completely understand,” I sigh, studying the way his jeans fit his thigh pressed against the door. My cheeks turn scarlet when he notices where my gaze lingers. I’m woozy, but not so much that I don’t know when I’ve been caught in the act. I find his eyes, but they do nothing to cool me down.
“I’ll see you.” He taps the doorframe and gives me and Mona a wave before heading in the opposite direction of Dad.
Mona blushes and looks at the monitor. Her fingers fumble to find the buttons on the screen, but then she starts pushing them firmly.
“Time to rest,” Mona says. “I’m not letting you leave until we’re sure those seizures are good and gone.”
“Thanks, Mona.” I close my eyes as she steps out. The beeping machines and humming lights fill my ears.
“Can you rest at home now?” Dad interrupts.
Can I pretend to be asleep and ignore him? Maybe. But I know I won’t.
I open my eyes. “The nurse said she wants me to stay in case I have more seizures.”
He squints callously from across the room. His arms are crossed, and his perfectly starched shirt strains across his puffed-out chest. He’s probably pissed he had to leave work for this.
“Dahlia, what the hell was this about?” he says. “It just cost me my four-thousand-dollar deductible.”
“I’m sorry, Dad,” I say. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am, really. I didn’t mean to get stung.”
“Really?” he asks sarcastically and sits down in the chair. The rubber squeaks in protest. “I’m glad you’re OK, but I’m expecting you to pay for half of this for being so careless. And don’t you dare think you’re getting close to those bees ever again without a suit on.”
My vision warps in and out. I may pass out lying down if that’s possible. Two thousand dollars. Dad’s so happy to throw money at problems, but only on his own terms. All the debts are going to bury me.
I frown at the IV that anchors me here, at the Valium insisting I be agreeable. But I went to the hives without my suit, so technically I was being careless.
“OK,” I say, gritting my teeth. “I’ll figure it out.”
I look away from Dad and fire prickles at my eyes. The sun outside hangs lower, casting a pink glow on the mountainside. It fills the room with warm light – the alpine glow. Now I know what time it is.
“You don’t get it, Dahlia.” He’s calm, but I know him well enough to sense his blood boiling under the surface.
“What don’t I get?”
“That life is expensive, that being an adult is a big responsibility.” He throws his hands in the air. “And who was the guy who brought you here?”
My heart rate spikes on the monitor.
“Just … an acquaintance,” I say, more honestly than I should.
Dad’s eyes bulge. “You trusted your life to someone you hardly know? Again, not an adult decision. I’m going to get some ibuprofen,” he huffs, and he leaves without another word.
I close my eyes, and Cash’s face permeates my mind again, but this time he’s with me in a dimly lit room, drinking wine with me and several others. We’re laughing about something and I lean against his shoulder, relaxed and happy.
My wooziness distorts Cash’s face. One second he looks like himself and the next he transforms into someone else, a guy whose name is on the tip of my tongue. I dig for it in the back of my mind, but before it comes I surrender to a deeper sleep.
“Time to go.” Dad orders me awake.
The fluorescent lights of the room agitate me as I open my eyes. Outside, the sky is as black as coal and a single star is visible beyond the darkness.
Mona gently rubs alcohol on my hand to loosen the tape on my IV. The chill of the evaporating liquid wakes me completely. She looks down and pushes hair out of my eyes.
“Are you feeling good enough to go?” she asks. “The doctor thought you might want to stay overnight.”
“I’m good. Thank you for taking care of me.”
“You’re welcome,” she says. “Don’t let that friend of yours slip away. Seems like a keeper to me.” She hides her face from Dad and winks.
I smile. “He’s full of surprises.”
After Mona makes sure I can walk on my own, the doctor comes in.
“So, Dahlia, here are your marching orders: always have your bee suit on if you’re near a hive – or, better yet, let someone else do the bee work,” she says, handing me papers on anaphylactic shock.
“Also, you need to keep an EpiPen with you at all times. I’ve called in the prescription. ”
“The first isn’t possible. We live on a ranch and I’m the only one doing the work right now, but the pen I can do.” I avoid looking at Dad.
“OK, then.” She sighs in defeat. “Well, any questions for me?”
“What happens if I get stung again?” I ask.
She shows me and Dad the list of major bodily systems that could shut down. Basically, it could be worse next time. Because we live so far from the hospital and the allergy is strong, if I don’t use my EpiPen, it’s possible I could die.
Dad grunts in disbelief.
I’ve disappointed him yet again.
As we walk to the parking lot, Dad is silent.
The half-moon reflects brightly on his glossy white BMW.
We get in, and he drives me home in silence.
I dig for my phone in the bag of things the hospital gave me to take home – all stuff I had on me when I got stung: my necklace stack, the bronze horse in my pocket and the hairband that had been round my wrist. I text Lani.
Well, that was fun…
Oh yeah? What’s that? she replies.
Oh, you know, an average day … Got stung by a bee. Apparently, I’m allergic. Cash took me to the hospital.
Oh no!! Are you OK??
All good now. Will have to be super careful around the bees though.
Damn. That sucks. I know how much you love them! ?
She sends a quick follow-up: How come Cash took you? Where does this guy just keeping popping out of?
Ha ha. He came by the ranch again, but I’m not complaining. I like when he’s around. I feel like I can be myself. My cheeks flush slightly as I admit this.
Sure, but if he looks anything like he does online, I imagine you have more than friendship on your mind…? And small caveat – he has a girlfriend. Still, I’m super glad he took you to the hospital.
I skate over her point. Yeah, it was lucky.
When Dad pulls up to the gate at the bottom of the steep road leading up to the ranch, Emery is there to meet us on the four-wheeler. She tells him she’ll catch a ride with a friend and be at his house in the morning, and I say goodbye. His tyres spit out rocks as he speeds off.
“Mom is not doing well,” Emery says as I hop on the seat behind and clasp my hands round her.
“Is she OK?” I ask, immediately worried about her health.
“She’s fine – just upset.” Emery yanks at the handles, turning the four-wheeler round. “I told her we needed to hang tight at home and let Dad take care of you. You know how she reacts to stress.”
We bump over rocks and the headlights catch a deer up ahead.
It bounds up the sage-covered hillside and stops, looking back, and for a second I’m struck by the preciousness of it.
When I woke up this morning, I never imagined I might never see a deer again, or hold on to my sister on the back of a four-wheeler, or have the chance to get to know Cash.
“What was happening to me when we left?” I ask.
“Well, Cash – handsome, hunky Cash,” she says with a springy voice, “was carrying you because you were limp. Dahlia, you should have seen how his muscles bulged when you were in his arms.”
“Really, Emery?” I almost laugh. I cannot believe that’s what she’s focusing on when I was practically unconscious.
“What? It was impossible to ignore. Anyway, you had hives all over your arms and face. Kind of gross, actually. I didn’t want to leave Mom alone, so Cash offered to take you.
” Her voice is still bouncy and cavalier, like the whole thing was no big deal, or, if anything, exciting.
“So … why was Cash here anyway?” She slows down but still has to yell over the engine.
“He went for a ride.”
“And just happened to come see you? And save your life? Oooh, Dahlia.” She pokes me in the leg.
He did save my life. He was there exactly when I needed him, and I will probably never know if it was fate or the greatest coincidence of my life. What’s even harder to understand is why I feel so drawn to him. Somehow, when he’s around, I feel like everything’s going to be OK.
“I don’t think he was coming to see me,” I argue. “He has a girlfriend.”
“Oh yeah,” she says. “The blonde at the rodeo. She’s really pretty.” Emery turns her head to look back at me, and the four-wheeler jerks to the side of the road. “Shit, sorry.”
“Watch the damn road! I’ve already almost died once today,” I grumble. I don’t say it to make her feel guilty, but something changes. Her whole body softens.
“Do you think you’re going to be OK now?” she asks, more gently.
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
As we get close to the house, I spot Mom on the porch, standing under the light with her arms crossed tightly. I jump off the four-wheeler before Emery even puts it in park. Mom leaps down the stairs and I run to her.
“Mom!” I say.
“Oh, baby girl,” she says, pulling me into a hug that floods me with gratitude and relief. “I’m so glad you’re OK.”
“I’m OK, Mom,” I say, my eyes welling up.
“You’re not allowed to leave this world before me. You understand?”
“I understand.”