Slumber (7 page)

She felt herself go a little boneless in his arms. God, it felt amazing to be held. It had been a long time since she'd even let anyone under her guard, let alone danced with a guy. But Tam…he was getting under her skin. “Actually, I am. A lot of fun.”

“You sound surprised.”

“It's just that didn't know what to expect. I didn't really care for your other parties.”

“You're a good girl, aren't you?”

“I know you think being good is sort of an insult, but yeah. I'm a good girl.”

“Ruby,” he murmured, nuzzling her ear. “I know about the necklace.”

She wanted to die.

“No, don't pull away,” Tam said when she jerked in his arms.

“What are you going to do?” she asked in a stifled voice. How long had he known? Ever since they ran into each other at the megamart? The entire time he was at her house, being nice to her family? “Are you going to call the cops?”

She'd won a little space between them, but Tam's arms kept her from going far. “Call the cops?” he echoed in bewilderment. “Why would I do that?”

Oh, thank God.
She found herself babbling in relief. “My mom, she's so sick. And we're so, so broke. You saw how we live, Tam. We're barely making it. Taking the necklace…it was like it was happening in a dream. I was on my hands and knees cleaning up Violet's mess for a couple of bucks so we could survive, you know? Suddenly, a necklace with a big ruby pendant was in my hands. I put it on, I admit it. And then Violet came in, and we fought—she was being so hateful to me, and I couldn't do a thing about it except take her shit. I got so mad at her!”

“So you took the necklace to spite her?”

“I don't know. Maybe. It's a valuable piece of jewelry—it could solve all my family's money problems. But in the end, why I took it doesn't change the fact that I stole it.”

Her voice broke on the last word. She'd never felt so ashamed in her life.

But Tam held her steady. “Ruby, look at me. Don't you get it? I don't care about the necklace. I only care about you. You stole it under duress or whatever. So what? Violet is so spoiled and selfish, she won't even miss it.”

“I want to give it back, Tam. I really do. I'm not a thief. It was…temporary insanity, or PTSD from living such a shitty life, I don't know. But now I can't get it off! You have to believe me!”

She slipped a hand beneath the fabric of her dress and tugged on the chain. Tam quickly took her hands in his.

“Hey, shhh. Don't do that, you'll make it worse. Don't touch it, don't even think about it. You understand what I'm saying? It's really important, Ruby.”

She blinked back tears, but now that they'd started flowing they wouldn't stop.

“Sometimes I forget I'm even wearing it,” she gulped. “Then I remember, and getting rid of it is all I can think about.”

He cupped her face with his hand. Brushing a tear away with his thumb, he looked at the moisture wonderingly. “Don't cry, Ruby,” he said, and his voice was also upset. “Please.”

Of course, that made it even harder to control the tears. “Why are you being so nice to me?” she gulped. “I don't deserve it.”

“Yes, you do. You're one of the most amazing girls I've ever met.”

“You haven't met many girls, then.”

“Trust me, I have. Ruby —”

He wiped her streaming tears with a gentle finger before brushing his lips against her damp cheek.

“Tam…”

He lowered his mouth to hers.

Ruby melted into the kiss. It was every bit as good as the one in her dream. No, it was even better, Tam holding her like she was precious, the scent of his cologne filling her senses while the darkness behind her closed lids changed to warm red.

A peppy jangle from the cell phone in her evening bag gradually broke into her awareness—her mom's ringtone. Reluctantly, she pulled her lips away from Tam's. “I've got to get that,” she murmured.

Tam's forehead was against hers, and he was breathing hard. “Don't.”

“I have to. It's from home.”

She fumbled for her phone.

“Ruby?” Shelley's voice quavered in the earpiece.

The dreaminess from Tam's kiss disappeared in a flash. “What is it? What's wrong?”

“Mom fell down. I can't wake her up.”

Ruby froze while she absorbed Shelley's words.
No. Please God, no
—

“I'm really, really scared, Ruby.” Shelley gave a little sob while Ruby grabbed hold of the panic beating at her. “I don't know what to do.”

“It's gonna be alright,” Ruby told her automatically.
Calm. Stay calm. If you freak out, she'll freak out.
“I'm going to hang up and call 911. When the ambulance gets there, let the EMTs in, okay? Do you think you can do that?”

“Yes. Can you come home now?” Shelley's voice was thin and wobbly.

“I'll meet you at the hospital, Shells. Hold tight and be brave.”

“What's going on?” Tam asked when she ended the call.

Ruby barely heard him, just jabbed at her phone's keypad with shaking fingers.
911
. “Hello, yes, it's an emergency—” Quickly Ruby blurted out the situation. “Hurry, please. My little sister is there all alone with her, and she's scared.”

“Ambulance is on the way,” the operator replied in a professional monotone.

“Hey,” said Tam, as she hung up. “I said, what's going on?” His hands gripped the balcony's high railing behind him, the panorama of the city spread out beyond. In the light thrown by the nearby Chinese lantern, he was frowning, his whole body tense.

“I have to call Shelley back. Then I've got to go to the hospital. It's my Mom—she's collapsed.”

“Fucking Violet,” muttered Tam.

Ruby looked up at him sharply. “What did you say?”

“Nothing. Look, I'm so sorry. I was afraid something like this might happen. But I need you to understand something.” He stepped forward, put his hands on her shoulders. “You can't leave, okay? There's nothing you can do for her.”

Ruby recoiled. Was he serious? Her mom had collapsed and her little sister was on her own with her, and he wanted her to… What? Do nothing?

“You have to be kidding. And what the hell does this have to do with Violet?”

Tam bit his lip, as though he was trying to figure something out. At last he said, “It's kind of complicated. But trust me on this. The best thing you can do is stay with me. You'll be safe here. We'll sort this out, but you mustn't —”

“If you think I'm going to stay at this party with you while my mother could be dying, you are delusional.”

Anger flashed across his face for just a moment. “I'm trying to help you, Ruby.”

“No, you're not. You'd rather keep me here partying with your friends than let me go to my sick Mom. You know, I thought you actually
cared
about me. And my family.”

“You're not listening, Ruby.”

“Yeah, well, I'm getting the message loud and clear. You don't give a damn about us. You don't give a damn about
me
. You just wanted to get laid.” She yanked the silk rose from the collar of her dress so hard that some of the petals tore. “Go to hell.”

She flung the rose at his feet. Immediately, the balmy air turned colder, and the city's sirens could be heard wailing from below. The twinkling lights now seemed garish, the paper lanterns tacky and cheap.

“Ruby,” cried Tam. He sounded wounded, as if the rose had actually been a part of him. He fell to his knees, snatching up the silk flower. For a moment the sight twisted Ruby's heart. But no. She'd been right to be suspicious of him. He was just another of those rich Cottingley assholes, who only cared about themselves.

She was done with him.

She stormed back to the party, leaving him there on the balcony with barely a glance back. As she pushed her way through the guests, she realized that while she was out on the balcony with Tam, the party's atmosphere had totally changed. The music, which had been sophisticated and classical, now throbbed with a jungle beat. The smell of sweat hung in the humid air while the whole place seemed to have turned into a rave, dancers grinding up against each other, dresses hiked, collars torn open, bodies pressed so close she couldn't tell if they were dancing or…

She averted her eyes from a couple clearly getting it on right in the middle of the throng, and her gaze landed on Kentaro sitting by the indoor fire-pit, surrounded by a posse of half-dressed women. Gone was his suave, wise demeanor. Now he was sweaty and manic, snorting a line of coke on a mirror held by a laughing girl whose breasts were spilling out of her torn cocktail dress. He passed the straw to the next girl, who stuck it in her nose.

Ruby turned away in disgust, intent on getting out of there as quickly as possible, but her escape was blocked by a guy with his dress shirt unbuttoned to his navel, his breath rancid with beer. “Hey, mama, come dance with me, I'll show you a good time.”

“Get off.” She shoved at the guy, who laughed and fell back easily.

She hurried past the trashed buffet table, once so elegant, downstairs into the crammed gallery, full of partiers weaving clumsily to the pounding music like they were drunk or high. Someone had thrown a glass of red wine onto Kentaro's beautiful masterpiece, the geisha with Marilyn Monroe's face. Red streaks tracked down the canvas like tears, utterly ruining it. Ruby shook her head in anger and turned away only to catch a glimpse of someone in a gallery mirror, staring back at her with haunted eyes burning in a gaunt face. It took her a second to realize she was staring at herself.

She backed away from the reflection, stomach churning. Was she in some sort of nightmare? Wildly she looked around. Over the packed bodies and smoky haze she spotted a red exit sign. Uncaring now, she shoved past anyone in her way until she made it to the door and stumbled through. It snapped closed behind her, sealing in the din from the party.

On the sidewalk, Ruby heaved in big gulps of air and savored the ordinary noises of the city at night: traffic, horns, people. She cast a look behind her at the gallery. The façade looked tasteful and refined, just as it had when she arrived earlier with Tam. Anybody walking past would have no idea of the bacchanalia raging inside.

Her stomach knotted. Now she was stranded in the city with no ride home and only $20 in her purse.

And Tam? She gave a mirthless half-laugh. That little fantasy was over.

She dug her phone out of her evening bag as she started out for the nearest subway station. “Shelley? The ambulance is there? Good. I'll be there as soon as I can. I have to catch the train first…”

Luckily, the ticket counter was still open by the time she reached Penn Station, and she was able to buy a ticket for the last train of the evening. Three service changes would get her all the way through the boroughs of Long Island to the Hamptons—and take three hours. By the time she'd caught a cab from the train station to the hospital, it was one in the morning, her purse was empty, and she felt like worry had burned a hole in her stomach. She'd kept in touch with Shelley by cell phone until the battery wore down to one bar, but then she had to stop calling or her phone would be completely dead. The nurses were keeping an eye on Shelley until she arrived, thank God.

As soon as Ruby walked through the sliding glass doors of the emergency room, Shelley launched herself into her midsection. “What took you so long? Where's Tam?”

Ruby smoothed her hand over Shelley's head. Thankfully her sister didn't look any worse for wear. “Long story. Where's the nurses' station?”

Shelley pointed to the desk under the ‘Welcome' sign. “They've been really nice, Ruby. One of them got me a hot chocolate from the vending machine.”

“That's sweet,” Ruby replied distractedly. “I'll find out what's going on with Mom. Hang tight for a little longer, okay? I'll be right back.”

Keeping one eye on Shelley, she headed to the nurses' station. The two nurses on duty exchanged looks when Ruby asked about Margie Benson. “Are you the other daughter, the one the little girl keeps telling us about?”

“Yes, I'm Ruby Benson. I was in the city when my mom—” Ruby's throat closed up. She cleared it, tried again. “I got here as soon as I could.”

“Of course. I'll get Dr. Bhalla. He's been assigned to your mother's case. Wait here.”

Ruby waited until a man in a lab coat with a stethoscope around his neck emerged from behind the nurses' station. “It's not good,” the doctor told her shortly.

Ruby felt the floor drop out from under her.

“The mass on your mother's thyroid gland is growing at an extremely accelerated rate,” he continued. “I've never seen such rapid growth before. The synthesis phase of the diseased cells is almost ten percent.”

“What does that mean?”

“It's as if a switch has been turned on in your mother's body, feeding the tumor.”

A switch has been turned on
. Ruby stared blankly at the doctor's tired yet kind face. All those expensive medicines, the time off work, all for nothing… “But she'd been improving,” Ruby said blankly. “The last few days. She'd been getting so much better —”

“Sometimes there's a temporary improvement before the patient takes a turn for the worse.”

“Oh.”

“Do you understand what I'm saying?” Dr. Bhalla said gently. “If we leave the mass untreated, it could be lethal.”

Ruby felt all the oxygen leave her lungs.

“We recommend intensive chemo-radiation. Whether you opt for treatment or not, your mother will require a long stay in the hospital. In the last hour or so, her condition has degraded rapidly, so we'd need to start chemo immediately.”

Ruby stole a glance at her sister sitting in the waiting room. Shelley had curled up onto one of the chairs, her head limp on her forearms as she dozed, as small and frail as a rag doll. “How long will Mom be in the hospital?”

She listened to the doctor tell her that they needed to get her mother stabilized, run more tests, observe how she responded to the treatment. In other words, a long, long time. The bills would be crushing. Ruby tried to push the thought to the back of her mind, but it kept floating back to the surface. How were they going to cope?

“Can we see her?”

“Not now, we've given her a sedative. You should go home, get some rest. Do you have a relative you can call to come stay with you? How old are you?”