1
Talda looked down, ‘Who’s wrinkled, and knobby hands are these?
They can’t be mine, they’ve got to be
someone else’s, I can’t possibly be that old, can I?’ It seemed like just
yesterday she was a blushing bride. Turning her hands over, she saw the familiar
markings just below her wrists; she remembered how they glowed vivid violet
when she was younger, but now were a dull green. Raising a hand to her
face she felt the shriveled skin there. Yes, she decided, she was that old. She
felt a sharp pain and pressed a hand to her abdomen. Talda could feel the
disease running rampant throughout her body.
Her daughter wanted her to stay
home; but she knew she had only one chance left. She would have to find the
person who fit all the criteria the old teacher gave her. Looking at
the women around her, she felt hopeful one of them would be able to carry on
where she left off; at least that’s what she hoped. She would then be able to
die peacefully knowing she had done everything to help her people. Talda
knew in her heart this was her last chance; she knew her time was drawing
to a close. She held her stomach as the coughing began. Taking her handkerchief
out, she held it to her mouth. She watched a young woman standing just outside the
closed doors.
Vannie
stepped into the car and sighed; it was crammed full of people. She looked
around and saw an open seat next to an elderly woman. She made her way towards
her and sat down. The old woman coughed; it was a deep-chested, bronchitis-like
cough. She felt sorry for the old woman; she had bronchitis before; she knew
how painful and annoying a cough like that could be.
“Are you okay?” the young woman
said, settling on the seat next to her.
In answer, Talda waved her handkerchief and
nodded.
“I have a bottle of water if
you need it? She dug deep in her big bag and pulled it out.
Talda stopped coughing and took the
cloth away, tucking it quickly in her pocket, before the woman could see the
blood that now stained it. She moved closer to the woman, “Thank you, I always
seem to forget to bring some and now with winter upon us, the air is so dry, it always
tickles my throat.” She took the offered bottle and tried to open it, but she just
didn’t have the strength. The young woman saw her struggling and
smiled.
“Here, let me get it for you.”
She took the bottle, opened it and handed it back to the old woman. She watched
her raise the bottle to her lips with trembling hands.
Talda took a small sip, careful not
to take too much, so it wouldn’t upset her ruined stomach and prevent her from
carrying out her task. She looked at the younger woman; she was taller than
Talda; maybe five feet five or six inches, slim build, olive skin; Talda
guessed she was of European descent; definitely human. A very lovely woman;
her most alluring feature was her eyes; amber, almost golden and almond-shaped;
she thought that someone could very easily get lost in those eyes if they
weren’t careful; the dark eyeliner the woman applied seemed to only
accentuate the unusual shape. Her eyes were set in a heart-shaped face, with
high cheek bones and full pink lips. Such curly hair; it looked as though each curl
had a mind of its own, but together the ringlets framed her face perfectly.
Yes, Talda thought; a very beautiful woman indeed. And she thought from the
woman’s kindness she was as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside.
This pleased her and decided she would find out more about her.
“That is so much better.” Talda said,
putting the cap back on the bottle “Thank you so much sweetie; may I ask what is
your name?”
“I'm Giovanna, but all
my friends call me Vannie” the woman said brightly.
“Giovanna is a lovely name.”
Talda hesitated, not sure how to proceed,
Are you married? Have a boyfriend?”
Vannie shook her head and Talda saw
the young girl’s eyes fill with tears; before she could put her head down to
hide them. Talda moved closer, “I’m sorry, sometimes I can be so nosy, you
don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
Vannie shook her head and wiped the
tears from her eyes, carefully as to not smear her eye make-up, “No, it’s fine.”
Vannie looked over and saw the old hands were gnarled with age and arthritis.
Her gaze traveled upward and met the other woman’s eyes. A bright sapphire blue,
sunken into her skull and deep, dark circles under them. Her face was thin
and gaunt; Vannie thought she looked just like her nonna did before cancer
took her. Vannie was deciding how much she wanted to tell this woman; afraid the woman might have a grandson she wanted to fix Vannie up with. She
looked into the blue eyes and saw only kindness and concern. She made up her
mind and began talking, “I was in a relationship for three years and we were to
be married come March, but when I went to surprise him (he was off on a
business trip in Arizona and I was going to surprise him on our anniversary), anyway, I went to the
address he said he was staying; he said he was staying with some college
friends. So I went there knocked on the door and he answered the door wrapped
around this bleach blonde with fake boobs hanging out of his shirt; the shirt I
gave him for Christmas.” She said indignantly, looking at Talda for her reaction, the
old woman nodded, “So to make a long story short, I threw his engagement ring
at him (it was a cheap one anyway) and took the next flight home. I haven't
seen him since and I say good riddance.”
“I’m so sorry sweetie.” Talda patted
the young woman’s hand.
Vannie shook her head again, “Don’t
be, I know somewhere out there’s someone for me, my soul mate, my one true
love. I just hope I can find him sometime before I die. If only I knew
where to look; I would go anywhere to find him.” Vannie bowed her head.
‘A
romantic too’ Talda thought; she smiled, she knew this girl might just
be the one she was looking for, but would she be able to help; was
the question.
The train stopped, “Well, this is
my stop. It was very nice talking with you…” Vannie realized the woman
didn’t give her name, “I’m sorry I didn’t get your name.”
Talda rose and began coughing
again. Vannie moved closer to her just as she had hoped. Reaching out she took hold
of the girl's forearms, pressing her wrists as hard as she could to Vannie’s. The
younger woman felt a sharp pain in both her wrists, but she attributed it to
the death grip that the old woman had on her; she was coughing so badly wracking
the old woman’s body. Then Talda released the woman and sat back down; winded.
Vannie saw the doors closing and knew the train would be leaving soon. She
didn’t want to be late to class.
“Are you okay? I really have to go”
Vannie said around the people rushing to get out the door; before it closed.
Talda looked at the girl and said
between coughs, “Yes, I’m fine. Go sweetie, go and find your true love. I hope
all your dreams come true.”
She saw Vannie wave as she went out
the door. When Talda could no longer see her and the train pulled out, she
slumped against her seat. She looked down at her naked wrists, hoping that
Vannie would be alright; would be strong enough. She felt herself
begin to shimmer and knew her life was over. She looked around; only a
handful of people in the train car with her. The last thing she thought as she
felt her molecules begin to break from their structure was she hoped Vannie
would be okay.
If any of the humans were watching,
she knew they would see her there one minute and gone the next. She smiled and
accepted the dissolution.
Vannie had to run to be on time. She
hated being late. ‘Why am I doing this
again?’ ran through her mind, ‘To
better myself’ came the answer. ‘But
why? It wasn’t so bad being a receptionist, was it?’ she hated when she
argued with herself, but she couldn’t help it. ‘It wasn’t so bad’ came the delayed answer, ‘Except for my overbearing, stuck up, annoying, keep everybody down so
she looks smart, power-hungry wench of a boss constantly breathing down my
neck. Not to mention I’m sick of being in the little reception room day
in and day out, not even being able to have a decent lunch break because nobody
wanted to deal with answering the phones.’ She agreed with the reasoning
and slowed down as she reached her classroom. She still didn’t understand why
the company she worked for couldn’t just use an automated system like everyone
else. She figured the company wanted a “human touch”. But she also wondered
how long it would last; she lived in fear one day, her supervisor would tell
her she was being replaced. Vannie knew the woman would take pleasure in
letting her go, so Vannie was trying to find something she really liked to do,
she would love to write for a living, but she didn’t know if she was good
enough.
That’s why she was doing this. She
wanted someone to tell her one way or the other. She figured the professor of
this writing class, would tell her. Vannie hated first days of classes; they were
always stressful. She looked in and saw the room was filling up fast. She
was relieved they hadn’t started yet; she walked in slowly and took a seat
in the middle row. She brought her bag to her lap and was about to take her notebook
and pen out of her bag.
“Hi my name is Brooke, isn’t this
exciting? I’ve always loved reading romance novels; so I thought why not try to
write them. What’s your name? Are you a writer?”
Vannie looked over and tried not to
cringe. Her mind registered blonde, pretty, fake boobs and vacuous bimbo all at
once. ‘I am in the worst kind of hell’ ran
through her mind. She had to keep reminding herself although Brooke looked
the same; she was not the one Vannie had caught with Gaige. She put her
best fake smile on, “Hi, my name is Gio…uh…Vannie.” She didn’t think Brooke
could handle her full name.
“Hi Vannie. Are you a writer?”
Brooke hit her herself in the head with the heel of her hand, “Oh what am I saying;
of course you are a writer, or you wouldn’t be here…”
Vannie just stared at the woman.
She thought her head would explode if she had to listen to this for three
hours.
She looked around frantically for
an open seat. In the back of the room, she spied a girl who looked to be about
sixteen waving to her and moving her humongous bag off the seat next to her;
pointing to it. Vannie nodded, picked up her bag and made her way to the back,
trying not to disturb the professor who just walked into the room.
Vannie decided against saying
anything more to Brooke; she probably wouldn’t remember Vannie was sitting
next to her anyway.
She made her way to the back, sitting
down and looking at the woman next to her. Vannie saw the girl was not a girl
at all, but a woman trying her best to keep her youth. She guessed she was
a bit older than her; maybe late twenties or even early thirties in an ankle length black dress; an old, worn jean jacket on top. The woman had a lot of foundation on her face;
Vannie guessed to conceal a bout of adult acne, her eyes were a combination of
thick, black eyeliner and gray/black eye shadow extending from her eyelids
to the bottom of her eyebrows; which were painted on with the same thick eye
lining pencil outlining her eyes. Taken separately, the look was
overpowering, but as a whole, Vannie thought it almost worked.
“Yeah, so I made the mistake of
getting here early and sitting next to Brooke”; She pronounced the ‘e’ at the
end of Brooke, as if the name was spelled Brookie. “Since I didn’t want to kill
her or myself, I decided to move. By the way, my name is Wind.” She held up a
hand, before Vannie could comment, “Yeah, I know, my parents were 60’s throwbacks.
What’s your name?”
“My name is Giovanna, but please
call me Vannie.”
“You’re just a little Italian,
aren’t you?
Vannie laughed and put a hand up to
brush a curl from her face.
“Cool tatt, what does it mean?”
Wind pointed to Vannie’s arm.
“What? Oh no, I don’t have any…”
Vannie looked where Wind was pointing; she gasped; what looked like Chinese characters
were inked in light green on her right wrist. She quickly pulled up her left sleeve and saw
the same; not the exact same characters, but in the same style as the other. She
held out both wrists and just stared.
“They’re kanji, right?” Wind said,
but Vannie barely heard her, lost in her own thoughts; ‘What the hell?’ she had no idea where they came from. She thought
about where she and her friend went drinking last night; Lui didn’t mention a
tattoo parlor; but Vannie wouldn’t put it past her to think something like this
was funny. She thought back; she didn’t think she blacked out or anything, she
remembered the club they started at; the one near her parents’ house; then they
had gone…where?... ‘somewhere where a
cute guy tried to buy me a drink and then I found out all about his mother and
her bunions’ she shivered, thinking there were some things a son
should never know about his mother; or share with other people.
‘So where the hell did you come from?’
she was staring at them as if she thought they would answer.
The professor looked at Vannie,
“Excuse me, would you like to be alone with your arms?”
Some people snickered. Vannie
looked up, “What?”
The professor walked closer,
talking directly to Vannie, “I said would you like to be alone with your arms;
you are clearly fascinated by your tattoos. Are they new?”
“Uh…yes…I mean no…I mean I’m
sorry.” Vannie pulled down her sleeves and put her hands in her lap, under her
desk.
The professor looked back at her and smiled, “Okay
then, my name is Suzan Sharp and this is How
to Write a Good Romance Novel and Get It Published. I’m a published author,
and know some tricks to help you become one also. You may have read some of my
work; I write under the pen name of Sabrina Irons.” Most of the class gasped in
recognition. Suzan’s smile widened “Okay, let’s see what kind of talent we have
here.”
She walked to her desk and picked
up the class roster, “I’ll just pick a name at random, when I call your name I want you to narrate the steamiest love scene you can think of. I want it totally off the top of
your head” She looked over the roster, “Okay, for the first one, we’ll start
from the top and work randomly from there. And our first lucky winner is
Abrams, Benjamin Abrams.
A thin, tall, red-haired man stood
and faced the professor, “Whenever you are ready Ben.” Suzan said.
The man nodded and began, “Okay, so
the setting is a booth in a bar. This hot chick is saying how she wants this
dude to f….” He seemed to remember where he was, he decided to reword it, “Uh she wants to have sex with him.”
“Okay, kind of predictable; but go
on.” The professor sat on the nearest desk, with her feet on the chair, her
elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands.
The man smiled, “Okay, so they’re
sitting in a booth and they’re like making out two forty when she puts a hand
on his pants and says they should go outside…”
Vannie only half listened. She
looked at the professor who was dressed in faded jeans, a hole in one knee, a
sweatshirt, advertising some obscure college Vannie never heard of, with the
sleeves pulled up to her elbows. An overpowering wave of heat hit her and Vannie
took off her coat.
“So, after they did it a couple of
more times, she thanked him and walked home.”
“Okay, thank you Ben, quite
interesting. Our next victim…” she closed her eyes, twirled her finger around
and then pointed to a name; she looked where her finger pointed, “Santanaz,
Giovanna Santanaz.”
Vannie stood, feeling slightly
light-headed; thinking it was because she was nervous, she began, “Please call
me Vannie.” She wiped her brow, which she found was damp with sweat. She never did anything like this before; she didn’t really feel comfortable
talking to people about her writing; she only allowed a chosen few to read her
material. She took a deep breath, wishing the butterflies in her stomach would
stop, “The setting is the back seat of an SUV after a nice date.” She closed
her eyes, took a breath and began,
“He
pulled up next to her car and turned off the engine. She got out of her car,
opened his rear passenger door and jumped into the back seat.
“Now
what are you doing?” Todd asked
“You
said before you felt like a high school kid. Do you want to make out with
me?” she patted the seat next to hers.
He
looked at her doubtfully, “I don’t think I can fit back there.”
“Oh
come on, it'll be fun."
He
sighed, opened the door and climbed into the back seat. His
knees were a bit cramped, but not uncomfortably so.
“Now isn’t that better?” she asked as she
pushed him down. She lay on top of him, her
head on his chest. Raising her head, she hovered over him, put her face to
his and kissed him. He held her to him and returned her kiss. She broke off the
kiss and smiled wickedly.
A
stab of fear combined with excitement hit him, “I don’t think I’m going to like
what comes next”
“Oh,
I think you will.”
She
pulled up his shirt; kissed and teased his nipples with her teeth. He groaned and said her
name. She kissed his stomach and looked down at him, “You have great abs.” He
laughed and sat up to grab her. His kiss was rough; demanding. She pushed him
down and again kissed his chest. When he could take it no longer, he grabbed
her upper arms and again sat up.
“Is
it my turn now?”
She could see the desire burning in his eyes.
She nodded and allowed him to lay her down on his lap. He pulled up her shirt
and saw the lacy pink bra
“Very
nice” he said in almost a growl.
He
kissed her chest and stomach. He saw she was slim and tone; her abs flat.
She wriggled when the stubble of his face rubbed against her bare skin, “I’m
very ticklish” she tried to get away, but he had a firm hold of her.
“You
shouldn’t have told me” he ran his finger down her side and she wiggled on
his lap. She sat up and straddled his hips.
It
was his turn to smile wickedly, “Now, this is an interesting position.”
He
kissed her long and hard, until she thought she would melt off the seat.
“Lisa,
I think we have a decision to make.”
“What’s
that?” She started rubbing the inside of his thigh, while placing small kisses
from his chest to his ear. He lost his train of thought.
“Lisa,
oh God Lisa. Lisa, if you keep doing that, I don’t know how long I can be a
gentleman.”
She
accidentally rubbed a little too high and she felt the hard bulge.
He groaned, “I want to know what it feels like to be inside of you.” He kissed
under her chin, her neck and then her collarbone.
She
nodded, “Do you have protection? Ordinarily I wouldn’t mind, but I am close to
my period.”
Todd
lifted his head and panicked; he knew he didn’t have any condoms in the
truck. He didn’t usually carry them around. He wondered, did he even have any
at home? He didn’t think so. That fact sobered him. ‘Why hadn’t he brought any?’
He ran his fingers through his hair, “No, I don’t.”
Lisa
sat back on her haunches and looked at him; he looked as disappointed as she
felt, “You don’t?”
He
shook his head, “No, you’re not on the pill?”
Her
face fell, “No, I got off of them when Pino and I got engaged, then we broke up
and I didn’t think…” she trailed off; she knew he could figure out the rest.
He
sighed, turned to her and kissed her softly, “We’ll have to continue this some
other time.” He gave her a half-hearted smile.
“You’ll
get some…”
“Oh
yeah” he answered quickly, “You’ll go get some…”
“I’m
calling my doctor tomorrow.” she moved off him and sat on the seat next to him.
“Well,
I guess that’s it. I’ll see you on Monday?”
“I
guess so.”
“Have
a good weekend.” He said, unconvincingly.
“You
too.” She said as enthusiastically as he.
They
both opened their doors. Todd walked her to her car. Lisa saw the bulge still
visible in his pants. He saw where she was looking.
He
smiled and shrugged, “Wasted effort.”
She
opened her door, got in, closed the door and rolled down the window; he put his
head in the window and kissed her.
“Drive
safely”
“You
too.”
She
pulled out and he watched her drive away.
He
drove home, after making a stop at the drug store. ‘Fat lot of good it does you
now’ he thought. He entered his house;
ripped his clothes off and stepped into the shower. The water was so hot, his
skin turned red. He put his head under the stream, his mind wandered; he saw
her beautiful smile, the way her eyes sparkled in the moonlight, felt her
kiss on his lips, he remembered how she tasted, how it felt when she touched
him…. He groaned, turned the water off, thought again and turned the faucet to
the coldest setting. As the water cooled his senses, he felt himself calm. He
turned off the water, stepped out of the shower and walked to his bedroom.” Vannie
sat down.
“Very good Vannie, a very good
narrative; a thwarted love scene; I like it.” Suzan nodded and smiled.
Suzan called the next name.
Wind touched her arm; “Way to go.”
she gave her the thumbs up. Vannie returned the gesture. As she sat down, she found her stomach ache was becoming
worse. What she thought was nerves earlier, hadn’t subsided and now
she wasn’t feeling well at all. Her head ached and her stomach was starting to
do flips. She hoped she wouldn’t get sick in class. She held up her hand.
Suzan saw her, “Oh sweetie, this
isn’t grammar school; you don’t have to ask permission. If you need to go, then
go.”
Vannie nodded and walked quickly
out the door. She walked to the bathroom and entered the stall. She lifted the
lid and knelt in front of the toilet, waiting for her stomach to decide whether
or not it wanted to empty. She took a deep breath and decided it wasn’t
going to. She lowered the seat; stood and pulled down her jeans. She sat on the
toilet; she didn’t know why, she didn’t have to go, but she felt better just sitting
there. When an unproductive five minutes went by, she stood and felt the ground
shift under her. She steadied herself by placing her hands on either side of
the stall wall. When everything returned to normal, she took one hand away and
put it to her face; it felt cold and clammy. She stood up and opened the door. Staggering
to the sink she ran the cold water; carefully patting her face with it. She
walked back to the classroom and sat down.
“Are you okay? You don’t look so
good.” Wind whispered.
“I think I’m coming down with
something.” She said equally as quiet. Vannie felt a chill and pulled on her
coat. She tried to listen to the other stories, but she felt tired and out of
it.
Finally, the last person finished
telling their story. Suzan
stood, moved to the front of the room and leaned against her desk.
“Okay, I think some of you really
have the hang of it. For the rest of you, don’t worry, we’ll work on it. In this
virtual world we live in, this class will be made available online the day after class. I
will be e mailing you a schedule of assignments; which must be either emailed or handed to me by the time the clock strikes twelve a.m. on Friday. Know this, when I tell
you a due date, there is no negotiation. Unless you’ve been in the hospital for
the last week, unconscious, I don’t take late papers. Before you leave, please
make sure I have your correct e mail address. You’ll be hearing from me
sometime this week, with your first assignment and details on how to connect to
online lectures.”
“So, I guess I’ll be seeing you. I
hope you feel better.” Wind said as she picked up her massive bag.
“Thanks, nice meeting
you.” Vannie said, walking somewhat unsteadily up to the teacher’s desk. She
wrote her e-mail address on the paper and walked back to the desk.
Wind waved from the doorway; Vannie
waved back; sitting back down in her seat. She watched the other students
walk out. She put her head down on the desktop.
“Are you okay?” she heard Suzan
say.
She slowly lifted her head; her
headache had gotten unbearable and it was making her nauseous again. She looked
up at Suzan, who looked a bit fuzzy and out of focus, “Yes, I’m fine.” She
lied, “I just got my period and I have cramps, I’ll be okay.”
“Do you need some pain reliever; I
think I have some Ibuprofen?”
The thought of trying to choke down
pills when her stomach was so iffy was not appealing, “No thank you; I’ll be
fine.”
“Okay, if you’re sure?” Suzan
paused; Vannie tried to smile and slowly nodded her head. “You’ll be hearing
from me. You made a good start today.”
“Thank you.”
Suzan nodded and walked out the
door. Vannie reached in her bag and took out her phone. She closed her eyes and
took a deep breath to combat the rising nausea. She focused on the numbers, then put it to her ear.
“Hello?”
“Hi mom, is Dad there?”
“No, he called to say he would
be late tonight.”
“Is Matt there?”
“Yes, hold on I’ll go get him.” She
heard her mother put the phone down and yell up the stairs to her seventeen-year
old brother. She heard him pick up on the upstairs extension.
“Hey Vannie, what’s up?”
“Hey Matt, can you come pick me
up, I’m not feeling well.”
“How’d you get there?”
“The train” she swallowed and
tasted acid.
“Oh okay, I’ll be there in about an
hour.”
Her mother had been listening and
now cut in, “Vannie, are you okay?”
“Yeah mom, I think I’m coming down
with the flu.”
“You’re not going to barf in my
car, are you?” her brother asked worriedly.
“Don’t worry Matthew; I’ll give you
a zipper lock bag she can use if she feels sick. Don’t worry sweetie, he’s
leaving right now.”
“Keep your phone on you and I’ll call when I’m close so you can come out, okay?” she barely heard her brother
above the ringing that had begun in her ears.
“Okay” she ended the call. She
didn’t think she could stand, so she hoped there wasn’t a class scheduled
for the room. A wave of unbearable heat and nausea washed over her and she
threw off her coat and ran to the bathroom. After sitting on the floor, in
front of the toilet for what seemed like forever, she heard her phone ring. She
stood, fished it out of her pocket and sat on the seat.
“Hello”
“Hey, I’m pulling up right now. Do
you need help?”
“Yeah”
“Where are you?”
“Bathroom, first floor near room one twenty-five .”
“Did you…”
“No, but I wish I did.”
“Okay, I’m parking right now; I
should be there in a couple of minutes.”
“Okay, I’ll try to get to the
door.”
“Okay, bye.”
She put her phone down, put her
elbows on her knees and put her head in her hands. She didn’t know how long she
stayed there, but the next thing she knew, Matt was pounding on
the door, calling her name. Vannie stood and had to close her eyes; the vertigo
was so overpowering. When she opened her eyes, she experienced double vision and shook her head to clear it; which she did slowly to not make the nausea
worse. Opening the stall door with shaking hands she walked unsteadily; holding
on to the walls until she reached the door. She leaned against it.
“Matt?”
“Vannie, is that you?” she heard
his voice through the door.
“Yes. Can you open the door and
help me out?” she moved away from the door and wanted to cry when she saw the
form of her brother pushing through the doorway.
“Jesus Vannie, you look awful.”
“Thanks” she gave him a halfhearted
smile, “it’s better than I feel.”
“Here, let me help you.” He put her
arm around his neck and held her by the waist. It was awkward because of their height
difference. He started dragging her towards the outside door.
“Wait, I need to get my stuff.” The
double vision was back, as well as the vertigo and the nausea.
“Where is it?”
“In room one twenty-five.”
He steered her to a bench in the
hallway, “You stay here, and I’ll get it. Be right back.”
She nodded and lay down on the
bench. After only a few minutes; she felt him hoist her up.
“Come on, let’s go home.”
They somehow made it to the car;
they had to stop every few feet, because Vannie felt like she was going to
vomit; but never did. The last few times, Matt ignored her, wanting to get her
to the car as soon as possible. He noticed that her skin was burning hot. He
leaned her against the car and unlocked the door. He helped her into the back
seat and handed her the bag his mother had given him.
“Please Vannie; please don’t barf in
my car. If you love me you won’t.”
She wanted to laugh, but just
didn’t have the strength. She fell asleep and was jarred awake when the car hit
a pothole. She grabbed the bag and put it to her face. She thought for sure
she was going to lose it, but her stomach stayed where it was. She
breathed in and out with the bag on her face. Taking it away only when she
thought she would faint for lack of oxygen.
The car stopped and she heard Matt
open and then close his door. She heard him open the door and felt his cool
hands on her body. He lifted her from the car and threw her over his shoulder.
He opened the front door and put her gently on the couch.
“Mom, we’re here. I think you
better come.”
She heard her mother come down the
stairs, “How is she feeling?”
“Feel her forehead, she’s burning
up.” She heard Matt say.
She felt her mother’s hand on her
head, “Oh my gosh; Matt, help me take her up to her room.”
Vannie felt Matt pick her up again.
She tasted the acid and fought to keep it down. Matt laid her in
her bed when she bolted upright and ran for the bathroom. She slid on her knees
to the front of the toilet. She lifted the lid and put her head over the bowl.
She spit the acidic saliva into the bowl. She waited, but nothing further came
up. She sat up and closed the lid. She put her head down; the cold lid felt
good on her hot head.
“Vannie, are you okay?” she heard
her mother ask.
She lifted her head and put her
hand up to hold her head. She heard her mother gasp.
“What? For heaven’s sakes
Vannie, what did you do to yourself?”
She figured her mother saw the
tattoos; she didn’t want to get into it now; particularly because she had no
idea where they came from; so she stayed quiet.
“Here, let me help you up.” Her
mother lifted and Vannie tried to push herself up to help her. Vannie was
finally standing, but she was sweating from the effort and shaking violently.
She felt her mother’s hands on her waist, propelling her forward.
“Are those tattoos? I bet Lui talked
you into getting those. You probably have poisoning from the dirty needles they
used.”
They finally made it back to the
bed.
“Let’s get you out of those wet
things and into your pajamas.” She felt her mother pull her t-shirt off and
unhook her bra. She felt the warmth and softness of her pajamas. Her mother
laid her down in her bed; took off her jeans and slipped the cotton pajama
bottoms on. Vannie had to fight off another wave of nausea.
“There you go. Now just put your
arms under the blankets.” She felt her mother’s touch on her arm, “Oh for
goodness sakes Vannie, did you have to tatoo both your wrists? You’re starting
to look like that man on television; covered from head to toe in those
things. No more, do you hear me?” her mother walked away, but soon came back.
“Open your mouth.”
Vannie did and her mother stuck a
thermometer in.
“Lui should know better; I have a
mind to call her up right now and give her what for. I don’t understand; you’re
an intelligent woman. How in the world does she always get you to do these
things that you know are wrong?” The thermometer rang and her mother pulled it
out of Vannie’s mouth.
“Oh my goodness, one hundred three
point two; I think I’m going to call the doctor and see what he says.”
Vannie just wanted to be left
alone. Her stomach was still threatening, her head felt like someone was
playing a drum on it, she was freezing cold and the room was spinning. She
closed her eyes and hoped she would fall asleep. She could hear her mother
talking on the phone.
“…So I should make sure she
drinks plenty of fluids and if her temperature gets any higher, to bring her to
the hospital? Uh huh, I see. Yes, she is nauseous. No, I don’t think she
actually vomited. Should I give her any aspirin? Uh huh, I see. How about
ibuprofen? Only if she can tolerate it; I see. It just has to run its course;
yes, I agree with you there, doctor. So, you don’t think it was from dirty
tattoo needles? Okay, thank you very much doctor. Yes, I’ll call you tomorrow
and let you know how she’s doing. Uh huh; bye doctor.”
Her mother came back in and sat on
the bed, “Vannie, the doctor said that you should try to eat. I’m going to make
you a piece of toast with just un po’ butter. You try to rest.”
It felt as though her mother jumped
off the bed. Vannie thought that she would have to make another mad dash to the
bathroom. She held very still and squeezed her eyes shut tight. The nausea went
back to being just tolerable. She shivered and huddled deeper into the
blankets.
“Here. Vannie, Vannie, here take a
bite.” She was too weak to even open her eyes. She opened her mouth and a piece
of toasted bread was stuck in her mouth. She bit down, chewed slowly and swallowed; it
felt like a lump in her stomach. She refused another bite.
“Here, at least have a sip of
this.” A straw was pushed past her lips; she sucked slowly. Ginger ale filled
her mouth; cold, tangy and sweet. She swallowed begrudgingly and it joined the
lump of toast in her stomach, “You sleep now and I’ll be in a little later to
check on you.” She felt a light kiss on her forehead and then the room
darkened.
She awoke a short while later; on
fire. She kicked off the blankets and contemplated ripping her clothes off. She
had a sickening taste in her mouth was making it hard to fight her uprising
stomach. She couldn’t stand it any longer and bolted for the bathroom. She
stopped in front of the toilet and lifted the lid just as her stomach heaved.
Nothing came up, but a burp. Vannie thought death would be better than
this. She fell onto the floor and began to cry.
“Vannie, Vannie, are you okay?” she
heard Matt ask from a million miles away, “Mom, you better come quick.”
Vannie heard her mother rush up the
stairs. Another set of footsteps followed; she guessed her father came home and was now
joining the party. She felt her mother’s ice cold hand on her forehead and
cringed away from the touch.
“Oh maddona mia, she is even hotter
than she was before. Come here Angelo and feel.”
“Where’s the thermometer? Just take
her temperature so we can be sure.” Her father was always the practical one.
“I’ll go get it, it’s in her room.”
Her mother said.
“No, why don’t we just bring her
back there. Matt, please help me move her.” Her father said.
Vannie didn’t think his was
such a good idea. Her stomach still hadn’t decided what it wanted to do with
the earlier toast and ginger ale still sitting like a rock in her stomach. She
felt strong hands on her arms and felt herself being lifted from the floor.
They dragged and carried her back to her room. Again the thermometer was thrust
into her mouth. After what seemed like hours to Vannie, the thing finally
beeped and she opened her mouth. She heard the sharp intake of breath from her
family.
“Angelo, what should we do? Should
we call the doctor again?”
“No” Vannie felt cold hands behind
her neck and knees, “We’re done fooling around, we’re taking her to the
hospital. The next thing Vannie knew, her father carried her to the car. The
ride to the hospital was an agonizing one. Her mother rode in back with her and
kept touching her forehead, waking her over and over again.
“Okay, Matt and I will go in and
get someone to help us. You stay here with her.”
She heard car doors open and then
felt the car move when they were closed again. Soon, she felt more hands moving
her onto a cold cart. She opened her eyes slightly and wished she hadn’t; the
movement of the cart combined with the sight of things passing quickly by her
did nothing for her stomach. She closed her eyes and willed her stomach not to
empty.
“Vannie,
Vannie, can you open your eyes hun?” she heard an unfamiliar voice; she guessed
it was a nurse. She opened her eyes slightly and then closed them again.
“No hun;
you have to open your eyes wider and keep them open.”
She opened
them again and saw two nurses looking at her.
“Good job
Vannie. Now we know you don’t feel well, but we just have to get your clothes
off and put a gown on you. We’ll try not to move you too fast; we know you’re
feeling nauseous.”
She saw the women carefully remove her pajama
bottoms and then her shirt. She felt the cold, flimsy cotton of the gown
against her hot skin. She started feeling light-headed and the edges of her
vision were beginning to darken. She felt herself drift.
