~ ~ ~ ~
My eyes fluttered open. The smell of alcohol was burning my nose.
“There you go. Wake up for me, Grace.” A soft female voice spoke into my left ear. I looked over to see Nurse Nancy sitting next to me waving something around my nose. I didn’t want to be rude, but the smell was about to make me gag. I gently pushed her arm away and she got the hint.
“How are you feeling, dear?” Nurse Nancy was a stout woman. She was older and had a quality about her. Like she was once very beautiful, but it seemed the years had not been kind to her. She knew her work well and seemed to have been doing it for a long time. She knew when a student was faking an illness and would kick them out of her office in a heartbeat. But if they really were ill, she was kind and sweet and very nurturing.
I stared up at the ceiling for a moment before attempting to sit up. I had to pull myself together. There was a slight pain in my stomach, but not quite as bad as before. My hands shot up to my head, feeling around to make sure my hair was all still there. To my relief, it was.
“Wh…what happened?” I could barely speak. The sterile paper I was lying on crunched as I sat up.
“You fainted,” Nurse Nancy said as she jotted something down on her documents in front of her. “Do you faint often? Did you recently fall injuring your head? Do you feel nauseous at all?”
I shook my head no to all of her questions, trying hard not to move too much. It was still throbbing, but not too bad.
“Did you eat breakfast this morning?”
“Yes,” I mumbled.
“Well, sometimes if we are really hungry and don’t eat, or if we don’t eat enough, we can began to feel bad or queasy or even faint. I don’t see any other signs that point to this being something serious. Maybe you just didn’t eat enough this morning. I had an IV hooked up to you for a little bit while you were out, just to get some fluids in you.”
“Did you call my…mom?” I asked. I knew she would freak if she didn’t know something like this happened.
“We did call your mother. She is actually in the front office getting you checked out for the day. You should go home and rest a little. Get a good meal or two in. But take it easy for the rest of the day. I don’t think you have a concussion, but just in case. I’m going to update your mom in a minute and recommend making a doctor’s appointment, just to make sure your fainting spell today isn’t anything more serious.”
She closed what I was assuming to be my file and walked over to me. She took my vitals before heading towards the door.
“I am going to let your mom know you are awake.”
I nodded and she left the room.
Well this was wonderful, I didn’t finish my test. This would be the first time in the history of my schooling that I was not able to finish a test or possibly flunk it. I had never made a mark lower than a B in my life! And in math! Out of all—
Oh.My.God. I passed out…in class…in front of Tristen.
I dropped my head into my hands and fought the urge to cry. I couldn’t decide what was worse…falling and showing my holey granny panties to the entire school a few years ago…or fainting in front of Tristen. I pictured myself passing out, probably hitting the ground hard, arms and legs completely sprawled out with my mouth wide open, tongue hanging out, and drool oozing onto the floor.
Yeah…I guess both instances were just as mortifying as the other.
There was a knock on the door of the small, hospital-like room. Great, I had to deal with my mother. For some reason, I knew she would blame me for what happened. I was sure she was thinking that I didn’t eat enough breakfast. The truth was, I ate it all…and then some. I actually didn’t feel full after my bacon, sausage, pancakes, hash browns, eggs, and pigs in a blanket, so I ate a dish of leftover pasta.
Before I got out of the cot to open the door, it swung open.
“Grace?”
I paused, not quiet believing who was standing in the doorway.
“Sonny?”
She smiled and walked in, shutting the door behind her. I wasn’t sure if I was frightened or nervous. This couldn’t be good.
“Hi, Grace,” she said in a soft, almost too kind voice. I pulled my eyebrows together, trying to understand why she was in here.
She sashayed over to the chair next to the cot. I watched her intently, expecting her to pull out a shank to attack me with. I braced myself.
“How are you feeling?” Her question almost sounded genuine, which confused me even more. I was silent, hesitant to answer her. Finally I said, “Better.”
“Good. You had us all worried.”
Us? Who was she talking about? I glanced over at the door, planning a quick escape in my head. There was no way she was being serious. She had to have a shank hidden somewhere.
“It’s okay, silly.” She smiled, sensing my hesitation. “I just came to see if you were feeling well.”
I was considering a thank you, but couldn’t let the words come out of my mouth. She sat back in the chair and began looking around on Nurse Nancy’s desk. She found a nail file and proceeded to file her nails. Was this some kind of joke?
“When I heard that you passed out in class, I was really concerned…for several reasons. The first reason was that I was worried you might have hurt your head.” She giggled and shook her head. I knew that wasn’t true.
“The second reason was that I thought I might have missed the free show you were giving everyone.” Her eyes lowered down to my legs. “But then I saw that you were wearing jeans, not a skirt. So…I didn’t miss much.”
I knew this was going to get ugly. I grabbed onto the cot tightly, resisting the urge to swing.
She continued filing. “The third reason was that I would miss my chance to ask you how last night went.” She looked up from her nails and stared straight into my eyes. I let go of the cot, feeling defeated. Crap. Of course she knew about last night. I was so caught up in the sweet moments Tristen and I shared that I didn’t even think twice about seeing Sonny the next day in school.
“So, how did it go?” She leaned over in the chair as if awaiting the juiciest gossip she had ever heard.
I took a deep breath, trying to somehow conjure up a lie. I could tell her that it didn’t happen. If I did that, and if Tristen had already told her that he came over last night, then he would look like a liar, which made no sense. It seemed like my only option here was to be honest.
“It went fine. We studied,” I said, shrugging my shoulders. It was the truth, anyway. We did study.
“Right.” She nodded slowly. “You helped him for his test today. I tried to call him, but he wouldn’t answer, which is weird ‘cause he always answers the phone for me. Why do you think he didn’t answer?”
I knew that she did try calling, and he silenced her call. I was asking myself the same question when I saw him do it. The impromptu meeting with Sonny was becoming annoying.
“Sonny, I…I honestly don’t know,” I said. I made sure to give her an irritated tone so she would get the hint.
She sat back in her chair and stared back at me. There was a moment of silence and I started to wonder when the hell she would get to her point.
She finally spoke. “Okay, Grace. Listen.” Her voice was low. “I’m only going to tell you this one time, and one time only. Tristen doesn’t need your help. He will never need your help. I know you have this…crush… on my boyfriend. If you think for one second that you have any chance in hell of somehow stealing him from me or trying to pry into our relationship, you are sadly mistaken. He is mine. He has always been mine.”
She stood up from her chair and took a step toward me. I sat up firm, gripping onto the cot again. She lifted her perfectly manicured finger and pointed it in my face.
“Playing the damsel in distress and passing out in front of him is not going to win him over. If you don’t back off, I promise you…I will make your life hell. Besides, he is way out of your league.”
She t
urned on her heel and whipped her strawberry blond hair around before sashaying back out of the door. I exhaled a deep breath and slumped into the cot. Why didn’t I just grab her hair when she turned around and pulled it out of her skull? She was threatening me. And I wasn’t sure if my feelings were of fright, defeat, or determination.
After Mom checked me out of school, we walked over to the car in silence. I wasn’t sure if she was upset, although she didn’t seem happy. As we secured our seatbelts and Mom started the car, I decided to find out.
“Mom, are you…upset with me?”
“No, Grace. I’m not,” she said without expression. “I just have a lot on my mind. How are you feeling?”
“Better. I just wanna go home and lay down.” I was truly feeling drained.
“Not before you get some food in you.”
I decided this was the moment to bring up what happened last night.
“Mom, I wanted to ask you about last night. Why did you make all that food for Tristen and I?”
“What do you mean, Gracie?” She chuckled. “I was being a good mother and providing a meal for my daughter and her friend. Is that a bad thing?”
“No, it’s not. You just know how I have been feeling lately about…eating. And with what happened the night before… I just felt like you were trying to purposely humiliate me.”
“Humiliate you? Why would I want to do that?”
We pulled up to the house and made our way inside. Mom headed straight for the kitchen to begin cooking for me. I followed and sat at the kitchen table.
“Well, dear?” she asked as she grabbed ingredients out of the fridge.
“I don’t know. I was wondering the same thing. I mean, I know you said you didn’t agree with Tristen and me hanging out. I just thought that—”
“Grace, I was trying to give you advice about the situation.”
I felt annoyed. “Yeah, but you don’t agree with me hanging out with him.”
“You are right, I don’t.” She stopped prepping and looked over at me for a moment. “I am just trying to protect you, Gracie.”
I sighed. “Protect me from what, Mom? From someone that I like, who likes me back?”
“He likes you too? Are you sure?”
I looked away. “Well, I’m pretty sure…”
“Then let him come to you. Do not pursue him. If you get into the middle of his relationship, then it will not end well.”
This piece of information seemed pretty valuable. In some ways…well most ways… she was right. I should not come between him and Sonny. He could break up with her, bring her down gently, and then come to me. However, because of our lovely encounter and her incredibly bitchy I’m-better-than-you attitude, I was not bowing down so easily.
“So, about the night before last. What do you think that was about?” I asked casually.
“What about it?” she asked immediately.
Was she serious?
“Um…by the way I looked and felt, I’m assuming that something was wrong with me. Not to mention all of the food I devoured in like…thirteen seconds.”
“Oh, honey, I’m not worried. You are seventeen years old. Your body is evolving. You are going through hormonal changes right now. You will be fine.” She didn’t seem at all worried. This made me feel a bit better.
“Okay, I guess. I just haven’t been feeling…myself lately.”
She stopped and peered over at me. Now she seemed concerned. “Well, what have you been feeling?” she asked.
“I don’t know. Just tired, I guess. I have been really, really hungry all the time. When I eat, I feel much better. But when I’m hungry, my body feels…beaten up or something. I feel like I need to eat all the time. And I’m just so hungry.” I grabbed my stomach, suddenly feeling starved.
I could tell she was concerned, but there seemed to be an emotion in her eyes that I couldn’t quite figure out. Sadness?
She turned around to the stove and continued cooking. “Well, you’re fine, Gracie. I’m sure of it,” she said over her shoulder.
I watched her as she continued on with her chef-like duties. My mother was quite a woman. With a curvy, statuesque figure and wavy, dark shoulder-length hair, she was a looker. I have witnessed with my own two eyes older men checking her out when we had gone to the supermarket…even younger guys.
She carried herself with class, and she was very polite and proper. But something told me deep down that Mom had a crazy side to her. I was almost positive that in her younger years, she was wilder than I was. Maybe even Phoebe.
But besides her looks and personality, my mother was a very educated woman. She was top in her class through high school and medical school. She became a neurosurgeon and was awarded Doctor of the Year a few years before I was born. Apparently, a few years after I was born, she got into an accident and lost her index finger. Being that her job entailed having to operate on tiny nerves, it was important for her to be able to hold medical equipment properly. So, she had to resign. A couple of years later, a friend of a friend needed an assistant here in New Orleans, so my mom decided to take the job.
Working as an assistant to a forensic pathologist was a far cry from being one of the best neurosurgeons in the state of California. Not to mention, it was completely different working with deceased people than a person who was actually alive. But she was able to stay close to her medical roots and she seemed satisfied. She didn’t really like to talk about her time as a surgeon. She had told me little things here and there, and I could tell by her glow whenever she talked about it that she had really enjoyed it. I still felt like her calling was cooking, though. Maybe it was her attention to detail and her training as a neurosurgeon to be incredibly meticulous. Either way, cooking was certainly something she did well.
With all of her capabilities and her looks, I often wondered why she had never remarried. I was sure she could have any man she wanted.
And if she was claiming that I was okay, I believed her.