5. Mia
The strong antiseptic smell invaded my nose as I stepped onto the ward. A different nurse took residence at the desk that Missy had occupied last night—thank God.
The older woman looked up as I reached her. I put my warmest smile on, the one I used for my nicer patients, and hoped that this woman didn’t cause me issues the way the last one did.
I didn’t have to worry though, the minute she heard my accent, she knew I was here to see Millie and escorted me to where my sister was laid up.
“I’ve always wanted to go to Australia,” the woman said, rambling on about spiders and lizards being the reason she hadn’t been but it was on her bucket list. I nodded my head at appropriate times, and smiled on cue, but my brain was focused on the reunion with Millie that was imminent, and it could go one of two ways.
Firstly, she could moan and whine about why I was there and she didn’t need me here because she was an adult. This was very likely, it’d been her M.O for the past couple of years. Or, she could be completely contrite and miserable and glad to see me.
I was hoping for the latter.
The nurse knocked on the door to announce us, before walking in. “Well, you’ve got a visitor,” she said warmly.
I stopped dead in the doorway, my gaze taking in my baby sister laying in that hospital bed. If not for her deep blue eyes that matched our dads—and mine—I don’t think I would have recognized her. Her cheeks were sunken, as if she had been starved, dark bruising ringed her eyes that spread to yellowish bruises around the edges, blood crusted around her nostrils and her left arm was in a sling over the crisp white hospital blanket. Her free hand clutched the material in her fist, holding it to her chest and hiding her body from me. But her collarbone jutted out, sunk in just like her cheeks, emphasizing her malnourished state.
My gasp had her eyes meeting mine; her tears welled and tipped over, falling down her gaunt cheeks. Her sniffle of sadness had my feet moving toward her and resting carefully on the edge of the bed.
“Sshhh, it’s ok sis, I’m here,” I whispered into her matted hair, gently wrapping my arms around her. I softly stroked her back, feeling her rib cage beneath the gown she’d been put in, and my heart filled with a black rage that I’d never before experienced.
Millie buried her head in the crook of my neck, her loud sobs echoing in the private room. Her tears soaked my skin, and there was no sign of her stopping any time soon. I just sat there, cradling my baby sister in my arms and whispered words of love hoping they’d ease her pain.
It felt like hours that she cried in my arms, my back ached from the uncomfortable position, but I held still, giving Millie the safe space she needed to vent her emotions.
Her sobs turned to sniffles before she lifted her head, her red-rimmed eyes were swollen and bloodshot. “You’re really here?” Her voice came out in hushed tones, as if she was scared to speak her words aloud and I’d vanish like an apparition of her own making.
“I’m really here.” A box of tissues sat on the nightstand beside the bed, and I grabbed one before gently dabbing at Millie’s tear stained cheeks. “You look like shit.”
Her laugh was halted by a groan before she flopped back against the pillow, a grimace of pain etched on her bruised face. “Don’t make me laugh, please.”
“What the hell happened, Mills?” Her eyes closed at my question. “Don’t ignore me, Millie. I rushed over here as soon as Dad got the call, he?—”
At the mention of our dad, her eyes shot open in panic. “Dad knows?” she rushed out, her fingers clenching even tighter on the blanket.
“Of course he knows. He’s down as your emergency contact in your phone, they called him as soon as you were brought in unconscious and he called me.” I couldn’t sit still and watch her cower at the thought that Dad knew about her accident. Something was wrong, it wasn’t just a car accident, she looked too skinny and pale for it to be about this. I paced the small confines of the room, up and down, up and down, trying to make sense of my sister”s choices. “Where’s Mickey?” Her boyfriend that she ditched us all for should have been here, but I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of him since I got here, neither was there any evidence of him in the room.
She cringed at his name, again avoiding eye contact like she knew something I didn’t. But she was always shit at keeping secrets.
“Millie,” I said, sterner this time. “Where is Mickey?”
Her tears were silent this time, trails of glistening sadness leaked from the corner of her eyes.
“He… he left.” She hiccupped between sobs, lines of grief spread across her face, making her appear older than her mere 22 years. “That night, that it happened, I couldn’t get out… couldn’t move…”
Her whole body shook as she remembered the crash, her gaze turning inwards.
“I was trapped, and… I was so scared, Mia. I thought I was gonna die.”
I edged closer, my steps careful as if I walked toward a wounded animal that may run at the slightest movement. “But you didn’t die, Mills. You’re here and you’re safe,” I whispered to her from across the room, praying she heard the love and gratitude in my voice.
“I called to him, to Mickey,” she continued with tears silently tracking down her pale cheeks. “But he didn’t stop, didn’t try and help me… he just… ran. Didn’t even look back as I screamed his name.”
Pain racked her body. She hugged herself tighter, wrapping her good arm around her body, hunching forward and groaning. “You need to try and relax, all this crying isn’t doing your body any good.” I wanted to throw question after question at her. Why was she so skinny? Why didn’t she answer our calls or texts? But seeing my little sister so banged up and mired in her grief, I figured giving her a reprieve from the bossy older sister was probably the wisest choice. She wasn’t going anywhere just yet, she had time—not much though—to get over what that dickhead did to her, before she was barraged with all of my thoughts and anger at her.
Her crying jag tapered off, her tears all dried up. She had nothing left to cry, and hopefully, nothing left to give to Mickey Piers… not even a thought.
Her body settled back into the pillows, exhaustion weighing her down. She could barely keep her eyes open, her deep blue eyes heavy lidded and struggling to stay fixed on me. “You’ll be here when I wake up?” she murmured with a thread of desperation.
I pressed my lips softly against her forehead. “Of course. Get some sleep.” By the time I’d raised my head, her eyes were closed in slumber, her dark eyelashes creating crescent moons against her pallid face. Her lashes flickered, and I hoped that if she did dream, they weren’t visions of her shitty ex-boyfriend.
The insurance papers burned a hole in my bag. Leaving Millie’s room, I shut the door softly behind me, determined to get this business done and back to my sister before she woke up, I would not be letting her down. I’d promised I’d be there when she woke up, and if there’s one thing that I definitely wasn’t, it was a liar!