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. I m concerned that you feel likecrap, she said,  but I know I d feel ifanything was really wrong, and I don t.Whatever this is, it isn t life or death.Don't be scared.The relief I felt at her assertion was huge.I've been scared shitless because I'venever felt so wretched.Dominique and Ihave a connection that defies explanation,and I really do believe that if somethingwas seriously wrong with me, she wouldknow.We ve always been able to feeleach other s pain.Brooke came back a few minutes afterthat, and she gestured behind her. Lookwho I found in your driveway. I smiledwhen I saw that it was Aunt Sandra.She s the only mother I ve ever known,and I adore her.After crossing the room, she gently sat onthe couch behind me.Leaning forward,she put her lips on my forehead, somethingshe s always done to check mytemperature. Brooke s right sweetie, youdon t have a fever.I did a quick searchon my iPad while I was in the car, and I mthinking maybe you have mono.Did youreally make a doctor s appointment forMonday? I don t want you to wait anylonger.I couldn t help but to be touched by herconcern.Sandra gave up everything forus, and she never complained. I promisethat I made the appointment Mama San.I m going Monday morning to see Dr.Reynolds, first thing. That s what I want to hear honey.I lltake the morning off and go with you.I was shaking my head before she evenfinished. No, no.It s okay.I m not ababy, and you can t always dropeverything for me.I ll go and as soon asI m finished, I ll come to work and let youknow what she said.I'm sorry I let it gofor this long.I didn't mean to worryeveryone. Stop that! I know you re not a baby, butyou ll always be my little girl.Wheneveryou need me, I m always going to bethere.It never gets old, hearing her say thatshe ll be there, and she always is.I didn trealize how badly I wanted a mother untilSandra moved in.She s everything achild could ask for.She stepped up andtook care of us in a huge way.When Iwas younger, I used to lie in bed at nightacross from Dominique, and the two of uswould talk and try to make sense out ofhow Sandra could possibly be related toour mother.Sandra is almost a mirrorimage of her, save for the fact that Sandradyes her hair red.While the physicalsimilarities are impossible to miss, that swhere they end.Mama San showed morecare about our well-being the firstafternoon she met us than our parents didin all of the years we were with them. I know you re always going to be thereMama San, and it means more than I cansay.But I also know that you, Dante,Damien and Sabrina all have a nineo clock meeting on Monday to be deposedabout the charges that got filed against thatcontractor that stole from us.You have tobe there, and there s no way around it.I dhave Dominique go with me, but she andSpence have that meeting with the peoplewho bought the penthouse that got allscrewed up.Don t worry, I ve got this.Ipromise.She wasn t having it, not by a long shot. They can schedule me in for anothertime.You re more important to me thananything else.I don t want you goingalone.From across the room Tally called out, I ll take her.Only the fact that I was still curled up withmy sister kept me from running across theroom and kissing Tally in thanks.I feelbad enough as it is without Sandra havingto take time away from something thatactually IS important.I grabbed on to Tally s offer like thelifeline that it was. See? Perfect.Tallywill go with me.She s the only otherperson besides me that can take themorning off without screwing somethingup entirely. Looking over my shoulder ather I said,  Thanks Tally! You re alifesaver!Sandra put up more of a fight, but once sheknew that I d have someone with me, sheeventually backed down. I want to hear from you the minute youknow what s happening.I don t care ifI m in the deposition.You call meanyway.Our conversation came to a close whenBrooke called out from the kitchen that mychicken noodle soup was ready.I sat atthe table and choked down what I could,eating more of the saltines than anythingelse.I probably wouldn t have eatenanything if the four of them hadn t beensitting at the table staring at me.I was just about finished when Sabrinashowed up.After giving me a hug and aserious visual assessment she said,  Yourbrother is about fifteen minutes away fromcalling hospice care.I told him to calmdown, but he s beside himself.That man!Brooke filled me in, so I know you regoing to the doctor on Monday.You llcome and stay with us until then, and we lltake care of you.I tried to talk my way out of that, pointingout that if Sandra was correct in thinkingthat there is a possibility that I ve gotmono, Dante and Sabrina really don tneed to be exposed to that before thewedding.Sabrina just shook her head at me. Seriously Delilah& you're a nut.Ifyou re sick we would postpone thewedding.And you re coming to stay, noifs, ands, or buts.Dante s already getting aroom ready, and then he s heading out tobuy chicken soup, ginger ale, and saltines.I told him that always makes me andBrooke feel better, and I swear to god thatlunatic will probably buy pallets of allthree.He s beside himself.If you won'tcome for yourself, please come so thatyour brother climbs down off the ledge.Once again, I started getting choked up.I ve got the best family on earth.I knewthat arguing about staying over wasn tgoing to get me anywhere."I don't knowwhy he's always been like this, but if itwill make Dante feel better, I'll go."Sabrina looked at me in surprise for amoment before speaking."Oh honey, youwere too young to remember so you don'trealize.Delilah, when you were a baby,you got pneumonia and almost died.Yourparents refused to get you medical care,and Dante thought he was going to loseyou.He went against their orders andcalled for help.You were in the hospitalfor two weeks, and your father beat Dantesenseless for intervening, and while hebeat him your mother screamed at him andtold him that if he'd been a better boy andhad taken better care of you, you neverwould have gotten sick.That experiencechanged his whole life.He was alwaysterrified something would happen to oneof you, something that he could haveprevented.That's why he's like this,honey.This family literally means theworld to him."That explained a lot about my brother,both of my brothers really, and it broke myheart.Thinking about it, I realized thatSpencer's parents were just as bad.Nowonder he doesn't want to have kids.Ihugged Sabrina to me tightly as I thankedher for telling me all of that."I'll never be able to thank you enough forloving my brother.I've never seen him sohappy, and even though I already lovedyou, I love you more for giving him thelife he always deserved."She hugged me back tight, wiping the hintof a tear away from her cheek as I pulledback [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]