Illumine Her (8 page)

“Is Manu giving you a hard time?” Sera asked. “He’s not bossing you around, is he? I will kick his butt if he is.”

Alana gave her a small smile. “No, he’s not. I don’t get to see him much since he’s in the ER. We had lunch together last week though.”

“Did you make some love-struck nurse jealous? I bet he has them swooning over him.”

Alana laughed. “Yes, in fact. We pretended to be a couple so we could get this one girl off his trail. Not sure the plan worked though because he still gets texts from her claiming that he could do better with her.” Alana smiled at the little game they played over lunch, pretending to have a fling, but when Manu suggested they hold hands and kiss to make it look authentic, she promptly swatted him across the arm and brought an end to their little charade.

Sera laughed out loud.

“Anyway, enough about work. What were you saying before?” Alana asked.

Sera shook her head. “You mean before you spaced out on me?” she asked in mock annoyance. Alana shot her a grin.

“I was
saying
that I’m planning to come visit you soon,” Sera answered.

Alana’s eyes widened. “Are you serious? When?”

Sera beamed in return. “I just need to finalize a few things with the boss, but first semester break is coming up, and I want to come to Samoa for it. I miss you, girlie!”

Alana remembered that prior to leaving Fiji, Sera secured a part-time job at the university’s sister branch in the Solomon Islands working in the psychology department. She was no doubt giving those students a run for their money.

“My sister’s getting married over the school holidays. Do you want to come to a big, fat Samoan wedding?” Alana asked.

“Oooh, how’s bridezilla?”

Alana smiled. “She’s assigned a ton of things for me to take care of, so if you come we can work on it together.”

“Dresses, shoes, and flowers, oh my. How can I resist?”

“Well, so far all I’m seeing is stress, stress, and more stress. But with you here, it’ll be a big relief.”

“Wait up...” Sera held up her palm. “Doesn’t she have a strict guest list?”

“Sera, it’s a Samoan wedding. That means wedding invitations are only meant to set the theme colors. It doesn’t matter that there will only be two names on that invite because ten more will show up. That’s why we’re having it at a large hall.”

Sera grinned. “Okay, count me in then. I’ll be there.”

Alana smiled at her best friend and then wished her a good night.

After she clicked off Skype, Alana padded down the hall to grab a drink from the kitchen. It was close to eleven and soft light filtered through from her mother’s bedroom.

“Mama? You’re still up?” she asked, poking her head in the door.

Perlita was propped up against the headboard of the bed, picture albums spread around her. Alana recognized them immediately and took a deep breath. She went in and lay beside her, stretching her legs under the covers. Pulling her into her side, her mother sighed. She pointed to a picture of David, Malia, and Alana taken at a country fair in the States.

“I remember David kept stepping in that goat poop,” Alana mused. “We came back from that trip with more cavities from all that cotton candy.”

Perlita flipped the page. “Look at this one,” she said, tapping a picture of them as kids riding on their father’s back.

Alana smiled sadly. Another had them building a sand castle fort at the beach. “I miss him so much,” she whispered.

“We have some beautiful memories of him now though,” her mother spoke softly.

Alana suddenly noticed a picture of David when he was seventeen. For his birthday, he received a new hair razor and decided to give himself a buzz cut. Unfortunately, when the razor got stuck and stopped working, he only succeeded to shave off the top half making him look ultimately like a bald clown. Perlita glanced at the photo and began chuckling quietly. Alana smiled and then joined her mother in suppressed laughter.

“What are you two laughing about?” David asked, peering through the doorway.

“At you,” Alana forced out, unable to contain her giggles.

David joined them on the bed and snatched the picture away from her. “Oh man, how did you get this?” he groaned.

“You were frantically trying to fix the situation, running around so stressed that you didn’t even notice,” Alana said.

“And you had that school speech competition to go to the next night,” Perlita added with a smile.

“Well, I’m glad to see you both find it so funny. I’m going to go take this and burn it somewhere,” David got up and walked to the door. “I’ll leave you two
sosos
to reminisce.” He left the room with the laughter following him out.

***

Alana rose at dawn the next day and headed out for her jog. Shuffling through her iPod, she let her mind go and set her breathing and steps in an even gait. She thought of her sister’s upcoming wedding and the list of tasks Malia emailed her about. Having her on a different island did not mean she was any less controlling.

1. Can you remind Mom to make an appointment with her tailor for the bridesmaids’ dresses? I don’t want the assistant. I want Moira.

2. Have you called the hotel to make the bookings for Kane’s family? That reminds me, I have to book a place for the wedding night. I do NOT want to be in the same place as everyone else.

3. Sign us up for a hot hula fitness class. Oh, and we’re going hiking up Mt. Vaea the next time I visit.

Alana was looking forward to seeing Sera again. She couldn’t wait to be reunited with her best friend in a few months. She made a mental note of the beaches, waterfalls, and fresh water pools they could visit.

Alana thought about her day ahead at work and frowned. Her thoughts immediately shifted to Chase and that eventful afternoon. Mr. Filipo had made a full recovery and hadn’t been healthier since his forties. He was discharged and was immediately making plans to travel to New Zealand to visit his sons. The doctors were baffled, calling it a medical marvel, but Alana knew the real reason. She decided she would track Chase down and demand answers to her questions. He was not leaving her on this island with the knowledge of that day without an explanation. But how would he explain something like that? And was she even ready to hear his response? She shook her head. Reaching her home, she couldn’t help but get the feeling that everything she had come to believe in this world would be rocked to its core.

Chapter 7

“H
ow’s my favorite netball player?” Alana asked as she neared Tiana’s bed. She picked up her chart and examined it before clipping it back at the end of the bed, noticing the doodles and names on her cast. “I see you’ve had some visitors.” She smiled looking at the swirls, flowers, and the scribbled “Get Better Soon” and “JT WAS HERE.”

“Friends from school stopped by yesterday and brought me this.” Tiana pointed to a plastic bag filled with DVDs and books.

“That’s very considerate of them,” Alana said. “How would you feel if you could watch them at home?”

“I can go home?” Tiana asked, surprise etched on her face.

“Yes,” Alana answered. “I spoke to the doctor and she’s happy to let you go. There’s no reason for you to be here any longer. Granted, you’ll be walking with crutches for a while and will be back to get that cast off, but you’re being discharged today. There’s just a bit of paperwork that needs to be done, but your mom is on her way and will handle all that.”

“Sweet! When can I start playing netball?” Tiana asked eagerly.

“Not for a while. But you’re young and healthy, and I’m sure you’ll be back out there before you know it.”

“Will you come watch one of my games?”

“I would love to.” Alana smiled.

As she walked down the hallway, Alana checked her watch and noted she had a twenty minute break before her next engagement. She set out in a brisk pace determined to find Chase and demand some answers. She shivered in anticipation. Was she prepared to confront him? Should she be afraid of him? He wouldn’t hurt her, she concluded. After all he did bring someone back to life and was obviously devoted to helping the wider public by donating all that money to the hospital. She knew he had been touring various departments in the hospital over the past week and was leaving soon. She hoped she hadn’t missed him.

She heard footsteps approach from behind. “Hey, Lana, wait up,” Manu called out.

She stopped and turned to face him. “Hello there, Dr. Vai. It’s good to see you’re out and about.” Dressed in his doctor’s scrubs, stethoscope hanging loosely around his neck, he looked very much like the cliché doctor.

“Hey yourself. How are you doing?” he asked, brows lowered and his voice laced with concern. “You’ve seemed distracted these past few days. Everything okay at home?”

Alana half shrugged. “Home is great. Everyone’s just busy with the wedding, you know.”

“That’s right. Sera told me she’s planning to come over for it,” he said.

Alana glanced down at her watch. “Hey, I was wondering…do you know where I can find Mr. Malek?” she asked distractedly.

He took a step back and narrowed his eyes. “Chase Malek? Why do you want to know where he is?”

Alana bit her lip. “Um…no particular reason. I just heard he was leaving today. So, do you know?”

“He had a meeting in the pediatric ward this morning. You can check there.…” he trailed off as Alana started to hurry off in that direction.

“Thanks, Manu! I’ll see you around,” she called back.

“Hey, we should hang out soon!” he announced, his posture rigid.

“Sounds good, will text you!” she called back.

Alana rushed to the pediatric ward. The walls were painted with colorful images of animals, balloons, and happy, smiling children, a sharp contrast to everything that was enclosed within. The smell of disinfectant and sickness flooded her nostrils as she heard a child cough and another cry in the distance. Shuffling to the front desk, she was met by a nurse with graying hair and thin, stern lips. She sat behind a computer rapidly typing away at the keyboard with two thick fingers. She looked up when Alana approached.

“I’m Nurse Alana Vilo. I was wondering if you can tell me where I can find Mr. Chase Malek?” she asked nervously, her voice getting higher and squeakier.

“Mr. Malek? He left already. You missed him by ten minutes. He’s heading to the airport now.” The nurse returned her gaze to the computer and continued typing.

“Thank you.” Disappointed, Alana turned away and walked out the front doors.

When she hit the breezeway, she began to walk briskly, hoping that by some miracle she would catch him in the car park. Reaching it, she scanned the area and spotted the familiar dark SUV. It was stationery and Chase was standing beside it talking to a couple doctors. Alana sighed in relief and noticed he was dressed impeccably in a blue button down, sleeves rolled up to expose his forearms. Shaking their hands in farewell, Chase climbed into the back seat and the door was closed firmly behind him.

Her heart beat faster as the vehicle started to roll towards the exit. Hoping to catch it before it made its way to the main road, she rushed across the lot. Alana’s mind raced and battled against her legs as she ran to intercept it. Was she crazy?
It’s too late, let it go!
Advancing quickly, she picked up her pace and threw herself in front of the car before it came to a screeching halt a few inches in front of her. Her arms were splayed out in front of the hood while her heart beat thunderously in her chest. The back door flew open, and Chase stepped out angrily.