Episode 143
EPISODE 143
PAST AND PRESENT
Sienna
I hate hospitals.
But I’m here. I’m here to see Lavonne Robinson, the woman who—until Leroy cheated on me—was like a second mother to me.
Leroy sits in the waiting area of the ICU, and despite myself, I gasp in a breath at the sight of him. He’s formidable, as always, with his dark eyes and perfect body.
But something’s different. His eyes are sunken and sad, and his lips are trembling.
“See.” He stands and embraces me in an awkward hug. “Thank you for coming.”
“How is she?”
“She’s hanging in there. She really wants to see you.”
“I would have come last night, but my plane got delayed, and I...”
He taps my lips with his fingers. “It’s okay. You’re here now.”
I nod, swallowing the lump that’s formed in my throat, his touch still lingering on my lips. The echoes of our past, the sweet memories of our togetherness—it all comes rushing back with an intensity that makes me feel surprisingly weak.
“I should warn you,” he says. “The accident took its toll. Her face is lacerated, and she still may lose her left eye. Multiple rib fractures with a punctured lung. There was damage to her liver and spleen, which they had to remove. But she made it through the night, so things are looking up.”
I pull back, steadying my legs. “Where’s your dad?”
“He’s in there with her. He won’t leave her side.”
Tears well up in my eyes as I imagine Bob Robinson, Leroy’s father and Lavonne’s husband of nearly forty years, keeping vigil by her bedside.
“Can I see her?” I ask, my voice hardly a whisper.
Leroy nods and takes my hand as we check in at the nurse’s station where Leroy fibs, saying I’m his fiancée. Once they buzz us back, he leads me through a maze of white corridors. Different rooms blend into one another, merging into a single picture of pain and sadness.
Finally, we stop outside room 204. Leroy hesitates for a moment.
“Sienna...” he begins.
“Yes?”
“I love you. I just want to say that before... I just want to say that.”
His words hang in the air, charged with a weight that makes my heart flutter. I stare at him. Memories of our shared past flood into the present, unbidden and overwhelming. But I push them back. I’m here for Lavonne. Nothing more.
He kisses my cheek before gently pushing open the door.
Inside, the room is harshly lit and smells of disinfectant. The only sound is the steady beep-beep-beep of the heart monitor. Bob sits by Lavonne’s bed, his hand clutching hers as though letting go would mean losing her altogether. His eyes are welled up with tears, but he’s not crying. He’s strong for her, just the way he’s always been.
Lavonne’s face is barely recognizable. Her skin, once supple and radiant, is covered in a patchwork of bandages and bruises. Her left eye is concealed under a thick bandage, while her right one is closed and swollen.
“Sienna.” Bob releases Lavonne’s hand and gives me a weak smile. “She’s been asking for you. She’s asleep now, though.”
I take a seat next to Bob and touch Lavonne’s hand gently. It feels cold and fragile, like a bird with a broken wing. I swallow another lump in my throat and force a smile onto my face.
“Hi, Lavonne,” I say softly, willing my voice to stay steady as I lightly squeeze her hand. “Leroy tells me you’ve been quite the trouper.”
Her eyelid flutters, but she doesn’t wake up.
“Dad,” Leroy says, “you need to eat something. Let me take you downstairs.”
Bob shakes his head. “I’m not leaving her.”
“I’ll stay with her.” I smile at him. “Please. You have to take care of yourself.”
“She’s right, Dad.” Leroy clamps his large hand on his father’s shoulder. “It’s like they say on the airplane. Secure your own mask before helping someone else with theirs.”
Bob finally rises. “All right. But you call if anything happens.”
I nod. “Absolutely. I will. ”
Once Leroy and Bob are gone, I stare at Lavonne—the woman I once thought would be my mother-in-law.
“I’m here,” I say, squeezing her hand again. “Maybe on some level you can hear me. I hope so. I love you, and I want you to fight. Bob and Leroy need you. I need you too.” I draw in a breath, emotion overtaking me. “I wish things had worked out with Leroy and me. I wish he hadn’t—” I gasp when she squeezes my hand ever so slightly. “Lavonne? Are you awake?”
Her one eyelid flutters open, her right eye focusing on my face. A weak smile tugs at the corner of her mouth as she tries to speak. I lean in closer, trying to decipher her words, but all that comes out is a feeble rasp.
“Don’t strain yourself.” I stroke her cheek. Her skin is cold and clammy beneath my fingertips.
She draws in a shallow breath, her hand attempting to grip mine tighter. “Sienna...”
“Yes, Lavonne?”
“You... I need you...to...”
I bring my ear closer to her mouth as she struggles to get the words out. A long pause stretches between us like an ocean before she finally speaks again. “Take care...of...”
The machines go haywire as alarms blare.
“Lavonne!” Panic squeezes my throat as I quickly press the emergency button by her bed.
Nurses and doctors rush into the room, their shoes squeaking against the linoleum floor. They encircle Lavonne, obscuring her from my view.
“Ma’am,” a tall nurse says to me, “you need to leave. Now.”
I gulp as I walk swiftly out of the room, the door closing behind me. My heart drums as I lean against the wall in the hallway, sliding down onto the cold floor.
I should call Leroy. I fumble with my phone and it slips out of my grasp.
I pick it up just as it starts buzzing with a call. I don’t recognize the number. It could be Leroy calling from a hospital phone.
“Hello?” I say, breathless. “Leroy?”
“No, Sienna,” a deep voice says. “This is Brett. From the island. I miss you, dancing queen.”