Читать книгу Intertwined - Myrna G. Raines - Страница 7

Mylia parked the car in the garage, and as fast as she dared because of the thin glaze of snow that covered the steps, she hurried to her mother. She knew that her mom hadn’t been feeling well when she left to go to Dari’s but May Li would not hear of Mylia staying home and missing the party. They’d argued about it, but May Li had told her she was going to go to bed and she had everything she needed close by. Mylia could forget about her for the time she would be away and she wanted to hear all about the party when Lia returned.

“You have good time, Mylia. I go to bed. I just tired. Give Dari big kiss. Yum, yum. Love you, my Mylia.” Those were the last words her mother had said to her.

Lia couldn’t wait to tell her mom what a great time she’d had at the party, about all the good food, and especially how nice Dari’s parents and younger sister were.

“I’m home, Mom. How’re you doing?” Her mother was evidently asleep because the customary ‘Mylia, that you?’ was not forthcoming.

The woman lay on the bed, not answering, and did not have the quilt pulled up as she usually did. Mylia rushed to her. She’d surely get cold lying on top of the quilt like that. But when she got to her, she felt cold and clammy to the touch. Alarmed, Lia quickly became more terrified than she’d ever been in her life. It felt like someone had punched her in the stomach and rammed their fist all the way to her spine.

“Mom? Are you okay? Mom!” May Li did not answer her and Lia anxiously put her head to her chest. A heartbeat. Yes, there was a faint heartbeat. She had to get some help!

Not even thinking, she ran back down the steps, sliding, but determined to get to the back door of her uncle’s house. She knocked, rapidly and loudly on the glass. Terrified, she knocked again, hoping to be heard over the music and laughter evident inside the large place. She never thought of the doorbell, which was at every door in the mansion.

Finally, a maid answered. “Yes. May I help you?” She didn’t even recognize the girl.

“I’m Mylia and my mother is very sick. Please! I need to speak to Uncle Warren. Tell him to come. She’s very sick.” And she ran back to the rooms over the garage.

She waited, rubbing a warm wet cloth over her mother’s face, holding her mother’s hand, talking to her, trying anything to get her out of the stupor. May Li looked so helpless and it seemed she’d lost her color, and even though Lia had covered her well, she was still cold to the touch. Her breath was shallow, but she was breathing.

Evidently she had gotten weak and just fell across the bed. If only she hadn’t left her tonight, knowing she was not well! But she had wanted to go to the party so badly, to be with Dari, and her mother had talked her into going, assuring her that she would be all right.

Her Uncle Warren finally made his way up the steps. After assessing the situation he spoke to Mylia. “She looks pretty bad, Lia. The only thing I know to do is get her to a hospital. You have the car. Take her to the Baptist Hospital over on North High Street. They take charity cases. I’m sorry, but I must get back to my guests. It will be midnight soon and my wife will never forgive me if I’m not there. Call me, Lia, and let me know how she’s doing.”

Even though her uncle had acted concerned, she was on her own, with her mother deathly ill, and the first person she thought of was Dari. He would help her.

No! She couldn’t do that! She would lose him if she called and asked for his help to get May Li to the hospital. He’d take one look at this place, be disgusted, and never speak to her again. She couldn’t lose him! She just couldn’t! She had to do this herself.

Getting May Li’s coat on her was a feat in itself, and wrapping her mother as best she could, she practically carried her down the stairs to the warm car. At least she was glad it was still warm and she turned up the heater full blast. So nervous she could hardly drive, she made it down the hill and over to Baptist Hospital. Her uncle had told her they took charity cases and they’d better take her mom because she didn’t have a cent.

Arriving at the Emergency Room, Lia ran inside to get someone to help her get May Li from the car. When she got them to understand that May Li had had rheumatic fever and she was in a catatonic state, they went running with a stretcher. They slowed some, though, when they saw the small woman. There was supposed to be no difference according to race or creed, but she could see these orderlies didn’t follow that regulation. Her mother was nothing to them because she was a foreigner. Would Dari look at May Li the same way? She’d honestly never thought of it as she’d told him her mother was Chalayan, and had to show him where it was located on a map. The poverty they suffered was the only thing that had ever bothered her in connection with Dari.

Fortunately, the doctor was not the same sort as the orderlies. He was a kind, friendly middle-aged man and he rushed to get her mother into a room and started an IV drip, giving her much needed fluids. After his initial examination, he called Mylia aside, close to the window, and spoke with her in low tones.

“I’m Doctor Murray. Do you have an adult with you, young lady? Someone I can speak with? Are they perhaps out in the waiting room?”

“No. I brought my mom here because I’m all she has. My father is dead. She didn’t feel well earlier, but made me go to a New Year’s Eve party. I didn’t want to leave her, but…” and Lia’s tears came. She could no longer be brave, hold them back.

“Oh, child. Don’t feel guilty. This would have happened had you been standing over her. You see, her heart is just not strong enough, and I hate to have to tell you this bad news, but I doubt if she will last out the night. If there’s anyone you can call to come be with you, I’ll stay with her if you want to go use the payphone to call them.”

Lia knew, although her uncle had told her to call him that he would not leave his guests. And Dari? Would his parents let him come sit with her because her mother was so sick? Did she even want him there after she had lied to him so many times about May Li? There would be so much she’d have to explain to him, and she didn’t think she’d be able to face him right now. No, she’d go it alone, as she’d done since her father had been killed.

“There’s no one to call. We live on the charity of my uncle, but he wouldn’t come here just because my mother is sick.” Careful not to disclose her uncle’s name, this kind doctor would never tie them to the wealthy Trenton’s that owned practically all of Speesburg. “I’ll sit here with her. I’ve taken care of her since she was in the hospital with the rheumatic fever. I’ll be here when she wakes up.”

Denial, Doctor Murray was thinking. In her young mind, she could not imagine her mother dying, so therefore she would deny it. Everything would be fine. To her. But he knew better. The woman was dying. She wouldn’t wake again. But he wondered at this young girl saying the woman was her mother. Perhaps by adoption, but he would bet a fortune that she was not May Li Trenton’s natural child. There was no way she could be.

And Mylia sat, watching the doctor and the nurses coming and going. The only time she left her mother’s side was to go to the bathroom. Dr. Murray arranged to have a tray brought to her at breakfast. He’d been surprised when he’d arrived at the hospital that morning and the small woman was still holding onto life. But only by a thread.

Sunday went by and May Li didn’t open her eyes. Monday morning found Mylia eating the food that Doctor Murray was paying for himself. She didn’t know that, as he knew she wouldn’t eat a bite if she did know that he had arranged for her to have a tray. As far as she knew, the food she was eating was being furnished by the hospital. But he had a soft spot for the child whose father had died and left her with a very ill mother. He had a daughter nearly her age and wondered how Penny would react if she were in this girl’s situation.

Mylia heard her mother release a long breath and ran to her. She didn’t take another, and Mylia was on her, shaking her, yelling, “Breathe, Mom! Breathe! Wake up!” When she got no response she ran to the hallway shouting for the doctor, a nurse, anybody. Finally a nurse came into the room and quickly put a stethoscope to May Li’s chest. She listened for a second then told Lia to wait in the hallway.

The nurse went running past her, and Lia didn’t know what to do. She stood there, shaking, scared to death, wondering if she should go back in the room where her mother lay. All color had left her face, and the terror Lia felt at that moment could not be described. Evidently the nurse went to get the doctor because he came running down the hall, glanced at Lia and charged into the room.

In a few moments he was back and led her a short distance away to a private room that was furnished only with two small sofas and three chairs with tables between them. Wonder why the chairs don’t match the sofas, she thought, her mind in a daze.

He sat her down, and she knew what was coming, had prepared herself for this day, but it didn’t hurt any less. Tears ran silently down her face.

Doctor Murray gently took her hand in his. “I’m sorry, Mylia. There was nothing we could do. All we can do in cases like this is to keep the patient comfortable until their time comes. You evidently did a good job taking care of her. As badly as her heart was damaged, I’m surprised she lived this long.”

“She… She lived for me, Doctor Murray. She often said I was the only thing she lived for. And I believe that. You would have liked her, I think. She was wonderful!”

Lia fairly shouted those last words, threw her arms around his neck and sobbed. The doctor held her as she cried and wondered what would happen to her now that both her parents were gone. Evidently she was all alone in the world as the small Oriental woman had had no visitors in the two days she’d been there. But someone was going to have to take responsibility for this girl. She was too young to account for herself.

“Mylia? Who can I call? There has to be somebody. I’m worried about you.” And the genuine concern on his face touched Lia.

“I’ll call my uncle, Doctor Murray. Don’t worry. My uncle will take care of me.” And she cringed at the lie she was telling this man who had done his utmost to save her mother. She had no intentions of calling her Uncle Warren. What would he care?

*********

“She’s not in school, Butch. I’ve looked all over for her and asked everybody if they’ve seen her. This isn’t like her. You know she’s here every day.” Although Dari was upset with Lia, and he meant to come down on her pretty hard for lying to him, he couldn’t let her go. She was too much a part of his life. If anyone let go, it would have to be her, and he was scared to death that she’d do just that. But what would he do without her?

“The one day I have something really important to tell her, she’s not here, and you know she wouldn’t give me her number. Said her mom wouldn’t let her. Well, at least now we know why.” Dari was at his wit’s end, needing desperately to find out why she hadn’t told him she was Warren Trenton’s daughter, and wondering why she wasn’t in class.

“Hell, they probably pulled her out. Gonna send her back to one of them big fancy private schools.” Butch was adamant about what more than likely had happened. “Maybe she saw us pass her house and knows the cat’s out of the bag. Who knows with rich people? We sure wouldn’t.” And he took another drag on the cigarette he and Dari were sharing after lunch.

“Well, I’m going to her house this evening, Butch. If you want to come, you can, but maybe I should do this by myself. I’m goin’ right after school.”

“Okay, but I think you’re nuts. What’re you gonna do? Walk in and sit on their five thousand dollar couch? They probably won’t even let you see her. That is, if she’s still there. She might have already gone. Dari, you may as well hang it up.”

“I can’t. I really care about her, Butch. Rich or not. If she wants me out of her life, she’s going to have to tell me to go.”

“I was afraid you were gonna say that. I sure can’t blame you, though. I’m crazy about Jenny. If it was her, I’d do the same thing.”

After school, Dari went to the garage and his dad let him take the Chevy after he explained that his girl wasn’t in school that day and she might be sick. He didn’t tell his dad what he’d found out about Lia, that she was one of the Trenton’s that everyone in town knew, at least by reputation.

Arriving at the Trenton mansion, Darian brazenly walked up and rang the door bell. A maid finally answered, as he was looking around at the perfectly kept grounds and the driveway that didn’t even have the smallest crack in the pavement. Everything was immaculate, a place he would never be invited and Lia had proved that.

“Is Lia home?” he asked in all innocence. “I missed her at school today.”

“Who is it, Annie?” And a woman who looked as if she‘d just returned home from a beauty shop, dressed in an outfit his mom might wear to church if she could ever afford anything like it, showed herself behind the maid.

“This boy wants to see Mylia, Mrs. Trenton.” And Patience stepped in front of the maid who hurried back through the foyer.

“Who are you, and what do you want with Mylia?” The woman asked suspiciously.

“I’m Darian Wilks, Lia’s boyfriend. She wasn’t in school today and I thought I’d better check on her. Thought she might be sick or something.” Very few people intimidated Dari, but this woman, with her haughty attitude, did so now.

“I’m sorry,” the woman stated facetiously, “but Mylia doesn’t live here. I would have never allowed those Chinks to live in my house. Her mother passed away this morning.” At Darian’s surprised look, she went on. “Did you honestly think she lived here?” And the woman laughed. “Oh, I see. She probably told you she lived here. Chinks will say anything. Lia lived around back with her mother, but as I said, her mother died, and right now I don’t know where she is. My husband called and said he was going to go check on her at the hospital. They’re his relations, not mine. She might still be there.” The nerve of the girl, telling this boy that she lived in this house! She would fix her.

Darian stood there and stared at the woman. How could anyone be so cruel? Especially to someone like Lia. And who was she calling a Chink? All of a sudden, his intimidation turned to anger.

“You’re welcome to go to the apartment over the garage and wait for her if you want. Warren only called me a little while ago and said that May Li had died. It’s about time. She’s been a burden for years.”

Burden? What was this woman talking about? Lia had never said anything about her mom even being sick. Darian’s heart was beating so fast he couldn’t even think. This high falutin’ woman had said that Lia’s mother had died. Oh, my God! What would she be feeling right now? Somehow he had to get to her. “Which hospital?” And she told him Baptist Hospital and he knew exactly where it was and that it was a charity hospital. Dazed, he thanked the woman and she shut the door, practically in his face.

Before he went to the hospital, though, he meant to see this apartment where Lia lived. He was honestly relieved that she didn’t live in that big house. Why did that rich bitch call her a Chink? That didn’t make a whole heck of a lot of sense. Lia’s mother was foreign, but she wasn’t Chinese, and what difference would it make if she were? Was that woman stupid?

Dari took the stairs two at a time to the apartment above the garage where the woman had told him Lia lived. The door was open. Someone hadn’t even taken the time to close it, although it was cold. And the apartment was freezing. Two rooms. Two lousy rooms, and looking into the bathroom, he thought he’d die. Searching for it, he realized there wasn’t even a phone in the place. He looked around, recognized some of her outfits hanging neatly on hangers on nails over a small bed. Lia hadn’t wanted him to know where she lived not because she was rich, but because she was so poor. She would think he wouldn’t want her if he knew. What would make her think he was like that? Oh my God, Lia! And he sat down on her bed to wait for her, his head in his hands.