CHAPTER X – NEW YEAR DAWN
They reached the hospital so tired that they filled almost indifferent. Lily was worried because of that, but she had no strength to stand up and feel 'up'. She looked for support at her aunt and saw she was disturbed in just the same way. Professor Suthern went off the car and opened the doors for them, gave them a hand and walked them to the entrance.
"I will not come inside. I'll be waiting here." said he.
"Yes, maybe it will be better." said aunt Leonora and pressed his hand with a long look. She let go, then turned towards the hospital entrance and suddenly stopped. "Sentenelus, I..." she paused.
"Don't worry, Leonora. I understand. You don't have to speak. I'll be here."
Lily and Leonora entered the hospital hand in hand and went straight to the reception desk. Of course, no one was there, so they had to go to the office of the doctor on duty. It was too hot inside and Lily was getting dizzy. A nurse popped out from the office, after their insistent knocks.
"Yeah, what's wrong?" she asked, somewhat irritated. Seeing the woman and the girl, she straightened up and cleared her throat, "How can I help you, Mam?"
"We are here to enquire as to the condition of my niece and my husband. They were brought here earlier this evening. Orange Lemonpie and Elijah Hollis." said Leonora very politely, although Lily was sure her aunt was angry with the sloppy nurse.
"Yeah, sure. Just a sec." said the nurse and got lost inside the office once again.
Lily looked around and whispered, "Nightmare! Maybe we could get around by ourselves. Who can stop us? If we had not asked here, they wouldn't have known we've even arrived."
Leonora was becoming more and more annoyed. Her face was red when the nurse came out of the office accompanied by a doctor, with the same sloppy appearance. Obviously, the nurse had woken him up. Mrs. Hollis stepped up to the doctor and before he had a chance to say something, she began, "I will file an official complaint with you. There is nobody at the reception, you come out of your office still sleeping and the staff welcomes me in an untidy manner. I require your names, please." and Leonora actually took out a notebook and a pen. The doctor's expression changed completely. He became polite at once and he started with an apologetic tone, "Dear Madam, I assure you that will be unnecessary. Please, let us not deter you longer. Tell me again the names of your relatives and I will inform you of their condition."
"Here?" Aunt Leonora looked around. "Do you mean here, in the corridor? Aren't you going to look into files or folders?"
The doctor grew red, "Of course, Madam, let's go to the reception desk. The files are over there."
Lily murmured, "So, we could have looked for ourselves." The nurse threw Lily a sharp look, but the doctor did not say anything. He just led the group to the reception desk and started fumbling through the documentation there. Aunt Leonora leaned towards Lily and whispered in her ear, "Fetch Sentenelus."
Lily nodded and went out. Professor Suthern was standing by the car, doing nothing. When he saw Lily he walked towards her and asked, "Is anything the matter?" Lily explained in a few sentences. He pressed his lips in discontent. "We'll see about that. Professor Jennings was very particular about this hospital exactly. I myself preferred a private one. Unfortunately, the management here is too loose. What with the staff's low salaries and the government not giving enough for its maintenance."
"Then why did the Headmaster choose this hospital?" asked Lily.
"Obviously, state-owned hospitals still hold the better doctors." was Suthern's reply.
"Judging by what I saw, this doctor is not among the better ones. And the nurse was downright mean."
When the doctor saw Professor Suthern, his face changed again. This time he lost all colour and said, "Oh, you come from Professor Jennings. But of course."
Meanwhile, he had succeeded in finding the necessary files and he read aloud that Elijah's leg was attended to and he was asleep after some tranquilizers; while Orange was in a state of major hypothermia and was still in total anesthesia. She was in the intensive ward, her life was out of danger, only her fingers had frozen and doctors still did not know whether she will leave the hospital with all ten. Orange had no physical hurts, but her face had suffered from the cold.
"Oh my God," whispered Lily, and then again, "Oh, my God! Oh, my God!"
Leonora was numb. Professor Suthern asked if they could visit her. The doctor said sure, no problem and they went to the intensive ward. Lily was afraid Orange will not come back to herself as she was, and felt helpless. She tried to think whether she was able to do something to help her sister. Professor Suthern was walking by her side and he patted her on the shoulder.
"It was not your fault. You did your best. We all saw Orange leave without even her coat. If it wasn't for you, it could have been far worse."
They reached the intensive ward undisturbed. Orange was alone in a room. When she saw her, Lily gave out a brief shriek. Orange was fast asleep and her arm was connected to tubes and devices which flowed medicine into her veins and controlled her state. Her face looked terrible – it was red and blue, so stiff and deformed that Lily was not sure it was her sister. She stepped close to the bed to look at Orange better and felt sick. Noticing her swaying movement, Professor Suthern offered her a chair to sit on. Her aunt came and hug her, they both sobbed. In a second, both were weeping. Suthern stood there not knowing what to do and how to help. He watched the two helplessly for a while, and then went out of the room. Leonora was the first to come back to her senses. She drew herself apart from Lily and said through her tears, "Lily, don't worry. Her face will heal. That is because of the frost. I hope they will help her back to her old self and appearance. I know it looks shocking, but the hurt is still too fresh."
"How long will she be here?" asked Lily sobbing.
At this moment, Professor Suthern came in and said, "I just called the Headmaster. A doctor will come promptly to enlighten you on all you wish to ask." And sure enough, while he was still speaking, a doctor came accompanied by a nurse, and the two looked fresh and businesslike, quite the opposite of the other doctor-nurse pair they had met at first.
The doctor came up to Lily and said, "Young miss, my name is Doctor Grant. I understand the other young miss over there is your little sister and the only family you have now."
"I am her family as well," said Leonora.
"I understand, Madam, yet I was speaking of what we call 'core' family. You know – parents, children, siblings."
"Oh, I see." said Leonora with a softer tone and stepped back to let the doctor pass.
"So, young Miss Lemonpie," the doctor began again, looking at Orange's file. "We have every reason to believe that Miss Orange Lemonpie will recover fully. At first the condition of her fingers was esteemed as too grave. Now, however, we notice that they thrive just fine and we hope she will keep them all even without any signs of what has been. I see you are shocked by her appearance now, yet I must assure you that will pass, too. She needs care and rest now. And I'm afraid, we'll have to keep her here under surveillance and professional care."
"What professional care?" Lily exclaimed. "Excuse me Doctor Grant, but when we came no one noticed us. The nurse and the doctor downstairs barely knew who we were talking about. There was no one to stop us from coming here, and no real surveillance, in fact."
Doctor Grant said, "I understand your worry. Please, accept my apologies. That will not happen again. You will be allowed to come to visit anytime convenient for you and you will receive updated information on your sister's status twice a day."
Leonora came closer to the doctor. He turned and said, "Mrs. Hollis, now your may go and see your husband. Mr. Hollis is much better than the young lady here. He has only his left leg broken, but is doing very well. I'm afraid he is asleep, because we gave him some medicine. Yet, tomorrow afternoon we plan to check him out. The nurse will take you to his room."
The nurse finished attending to Orange and smiling to Leonora, she led her out of the roo
m. Lily lingered behind. She sat on the chair Suthern had put next to the bed and gazed at Orange. Her face was still awful, in spite of the doctor's words of consolation, and Lily felt discomfort just by looking at that blue mess. She wanted to take Orange's hand in hers, but both hands were tightly bandaged. Lily was afraid she might displace some of the tubes and needles on her sister's arm. The doctor's words still rang in her, Orange WILL recover fully. Or else? Lily tried to stop thinking. Of course, it was easier said, than done. She wanted to empty her mind of everything. She was lost. Lost in her sadness, lost in her solitude, lost in her naked feelings of love and care. Whom did she love? Whom did she care for? Buster's face was so far already, as if he never existed and what happened between them had never been. Still, Lily wanted Buster by her side then, because he was the person she felt closest to her heart.
All of a sudden, Lily realized that she had no contact with Buster. She had not taken his telephone number, or his address. That hurt even more. Looking at the fast drugged sleep of her injured sister, Orange realized one more thing – she was alone. She was alone, but for that tiny creature whose life trembled on the verge and whose wholeness was still under too much doubt. For when she awoke, even if still in one piece, Orange would remember a lot. What would she do, where would that memory lead her? Those were tough questions, and Lily was afraid to think of the possibilities.
Yet, four funerals were enough for that Christmas, Lily thought and stood up.
"Bye, Orange, I will come to see you again tomorrow. Is there anything special which you like me to bring along?" No answer followed, yet Lily went on, "Oh, I know. I will bring you the Christmas gifts you received. Don't worry, we haven't opened any yet." Leaning towards Orange's deformed face, Lily kissed her on the brow.
She left the room without looking back.
Then, she saw Professor Suthern at the end of the corridor. He was waiting for her to take her to her uncle's room. The professor was very serious. "Lily," he said, "your aunt and the doctor are right. You shouldn't worry too much. At least not for Orange. I guarantee she will come out of this hospital the way she was before her accident. You know that I have some talents. I have gels and creams that will heal her face and fingers."
Lily looked at him with gratitude. He continued, "Anyway, this time is very hard for you. They say that time heals, but I'm not so positive about it. It surely heals some things. Other things remain a wound forever. Those wounds time only sores. This is a very grim lesson to learn." Suthern was speaking as if to himself. "And a very fragile age to learn them at. I am so sorry for that, Lily. I don't know if it's any consolation for you, but with age this kind of wounds get easier to endure."
Lily frowned, "How do you mean? Easier? In what way?"
"I don't mean that they get less hard, or less grave, only that a person gets stiffer and tougher. Otherwise, we would not survive to walk through life." Lily seemed to understand.
"Is that how you felt about my aunt? Is that why you manage your pain now?" she asked softly.
"That is how I manage a lot of things in my life." Suthern answered indefinitely. "Lily, you will never forget your parents, or the pain you feel now. And you will never be the same to your sister."
"I am sure of that." Lily said rather energetically. "There is something I wanted to discuss with someone, with an adult person. It concerns my sister and me." She looked at Professor Suthern, not sure if he was the right person to discuss it with, or whether he would agree to listen.
He said, "If it is your mixed attitude and the guilt you feel because sometimes you have not appreciated Orange the way she deserved, don't worry. That is normal. And now you know better."
They were silent for a while. Then Professor Suthern said, "We'd better be going now."
They met Leonora in front of Elijah's room. She was weeping, as it turned out, for joy. Seeing Lily, she hugged her and said, "Oh, he is OK. He is fine. We are taking him home tomorrow. One less to worry about." And she pushed Lily slightly towards the door.
What Lily saw inside, was quite different from the sight in the intensive ward. Elijah Hollis was fast asleep but he radiated calmness, as if his sleep was the sleep of a very tired or sick person towards recharge and recovery. Elijah's sleep had nothing to do with Orange's blue and deformed stupor, neither was he tied to so much equipment as Orange. Here, Lily could take her uncle's hand and gaze at his handsome face for a while. She did so. And his warm hand in hers encouraged her a lot.
"Uncle," she whispered, "I love you. And I can't wait to see you home again." She stayed like that for a while and standing to go, she whispered, "And, thank you for saving Orange."
That night Lily slept without interruption although she thought she could not lid an eye. She even asked Suthern to give her "something" to sleep, but he refused saying that she was so tired and shattered, that he expected her to fall asleep right there talking to him. He left and aunt Leonora saw him off. He took her car and promised to be back in the morning for the hospital visit after breakfast. Lily heard him say that on the outside and shouted to him, "No, professor, come before breakfast. Let's have it together." She listened for an answer, and when there was none, she shouted, "Sorry, and bye."
In the morning Lily woke up refreshed and happy. She seemed not to remember anything from the previous day and she even whistled to herself while she was coming down the stairs. Orange and her had a special tune that followed the rhythm of stepping down stair by stair. That usually irritated their mother, especially when she was yelling them to hurry.
Professor Suthern was already in. Lily could hear him and her aunt talk in the kitchen and she stopped humming her tune to listen. She approached the kitchen door very lightly to have a better hear, but just then they stopped talking. Lily stood like that for several moments, hoping to satisfy her curiosity, but nothing followed, so she looked the other direction. There was the Christmas tree. It looked magnificent that morning. And below it glittered the inviting boxes of presents. "Oh, presents," smiled Lily. She took a step towards the tree. She noticed it did not have its top attached yet. "The top!" she sighed. It was her father's duty to do it, and he usually did at Christmas Eve. "Which was last night," thought Lily.
"Auntie," she yelled towards the kitchen. Out of it, came Professor Suthern with a tray laden with plates and cutlery.
"Oh, good morning, Professor! I'm glad you accepted my invitation." she smiled cunningly.
"How could I not?" said the professor good-humoredly. He came to the coffee table and let the tray on it. "Do you prefer yogurt or milk, Lily?" he asked.
"I'm sure aunt knows we never have milk at home." said Lily.
"Oh, sure she does. Anyway, I let her rest and made the breakfast myself."
"But isn't aunt Leonora there? I thought I heard you two speak." frowned Lily.
"You heard us speak, yes. But we spoke over the intercom. I suppose she is in the guest bedroom. I'm sure she'll be downstairs in a while."
Lily felt a bit uncomfortable with her teacher who had made HER breakfast, while she was never able to do HIS homework assignments well enough.
"I'll go up and check on her." she said suddenly, not sure what to do in the living room.
"OK," said Suthern, "but don't take long, for the toast will get cold."
Walking up the stairs, Lily hummed her tune and put words to it, "It's-so-cree-py-that-I-wo-rry-aun-tie-oh-please-come-down-sta-irs."
She almost run to Leonora's room and rushed inside out of breath for fear. Leonora had just gone out of the bathroom. Her bed looked disturbingly disheveled. Seeing her stressed look towards her bed, aunt Leonora smoothed the bed cover hurriedly over the sheets and asked, "What is it, dear? You look worried."
Lily did not know where to start, so she blurted out, "What's going on here? Why is he downstairs making breakfast as if he is at home? Why is your bed like that? Why are you taking a happy bath now?" She was looking hard at her aunt. Leonora looked at Lily and said, "What are you implyin
g, young lady?"
"You know very well what I am implying, Mrs. Hollis. Do I have to remind you that your husband is in hospital, and this is my parents' house where you are only a guest, and my parents' funeral and your parents' funeral was only yesterday?"
Leonora came up to Lily and held her hand, "Lily, you are greatly mistaken. The bed is in this condition, for I wasn't able to sleep well last night. As for Sentenelus, he came about half an hour ago and went straight to the kitchen." Seeing the disbelief in Lily's eyes, Leonora continued, "I assure you, Lily, I am fully aware where I am, where my husband is and where my brother and parents are. And since when. Don't see ghosts where there aren't any."
Lily calmed down. Her aunt's look was sincere. Maybe it was like that. She was under too much stress.
"OK, I came to tell you that breakfast is ready. And I wanted to ask you about the top."
"What top?" asked Leonora not understanding.
"The top to the Christmas tree. Dad used to attach it at Christmas Eve, which was yesterday. So, may I put it now?"
Leonora smiled, "Lily, you are an exceptional young lady. Just a minute ago you told me it was your parents' house where I was merely a visitor. And now you're asking me if you may put the top on the tree. Of course, you may. I'm here only as long as you need me. I won't force you my company."
"OK," said Lily very embarrassed. In fact, Lily did hear the coming of the professor in the morning and she knew her aunt was not lying to her, yet that vain fury of losing the grip had seized her throat and made her fly at Leonora like that. "I'm sorry. Do you hear, auntie? Please, excuse me."
And they hugged again, and then they cried for a while. After some time they heard Professor Suthern call from downstairs, "Ladies, are you going to honour me with your presence. I'm afraid the breakfast is getting spoiled."
Lily rushed down, wiping her tears off on the way, "Oh, I'm sorry, professor. It's all my fault."
Lily put the top of the Christmas tree and all sat down to breakfast. Professor Suthern had made coffee and Lily thought it would be curious to try it.
"Auntie, is it OK if I have a cup of coffee?" she smiled ingratiatingly.
"But, of course. It's not so strong." answered Leonora.
"Professor, did you put something in it?" asked Lily, taking a sip from a beautiful small white red-spotted cup.
"No, not this time. What you are drinking is real coffee." smiled the professor.
After breakfast they hurried to the hospital and Suthern remained in the house. "To take care of something", as he said. Lily thought the professor simply did not wish to get in the way of uncle Elijah. She was wondering if Suthern would still be there when they returned.
Aunt Leonora did not stop talking all the way to the hospital. She talked mainly about Elijah and their home. At first, Lily was busy thinking about her own worries, so she did not listen very carefully. Soon, though, she could not help it and started paying attention. It was obvious that her aunt was disturbed and anxious. Maybe she realized she might lose Elijah one day, the way she lost her family, and she was afraid of the next day she would have to live without him. Lily asked, "Aunt, is there anything between you and my teacher?" Leonora only looked at her in the rearview mirror and said nothing. Lily said, "I know you still think of me as a child, but I am not a child, and certainly not stupid. Let me put my question another way? Do you want me to keep a secret about anything?"
"No." said Leonora. "There is nothing improper going on. You may tell your uncle anything you saw and heard. He is not stupid either."
"Auntie, I love uncle Elijah. I know YOU are my family, and not him. But still, I love him very much. I can't take it if something goes wrong between you two."
"Lily, let me ask you something. Now that you say you are not a child anymore, if you didn't know Sentenelus and I were friends at school, would you have seen what you think you saw?"
Lily considered it for a while. Her aunt was right. She decorated her relations with Suthern, only because she had heard the rumour. Still, uncle Elijah had got annoyed with Suthern, so there must have been something.
"Well, would you?" insisted aunt Leonora.
"Probably not. But uncle's reaction to Professor Suthern was rather furious by uncle's standards. Why did he overdo it this way?"
"Maybe it was all the recent stress and tension that reacted then. If it wasn't Sentenelus, but Professor Jennings, would you still feel the same?"
"No, I wouldn't." said Lily.
Her aunt was right. Human relationships were so subtle. You never know.
After that, they spent the journey in silence.
Elijah was almost fully recovered. He smiled broadly and hugged his wife and niece warmly. The doctors had provided him with crutches and until noon, when Lily and Leonora arrived, he had mastered them very well. In fact, he told them he had just come back from the intensive ward where he had visited Orange. Lily asked if they were going home directly and he nodded, "My stuff is ready. I only need to sign the papers." Leonora looked around the empty room, "What stuff?" Elijah laughed and poked her in the ribs, "Honey, where is your sense of humour? Of course, I have nothing, don't you remember how you sent me here?" Lily smiled and said, "So, when are we going to see Orange?"
"You go, Lily. We'll join you in a minute." So she left them and they went to the reception desk.
"Orange," whispered Lily entering the room where her sister was still asleep. Her face looked just the same, her hands were still bandaged and all the equipment was still on. There was no change since last night. Lily went cold with fear. The change in her uncle was so striking, while Orange was in the same bleak condition. Looking around, Lily saw a button by which she could call a nurse. She pressed it, for she wanted to enquire about Orange's state. Immediately after she had done that, Lily thought that the grumpy nurse from last night may appear and she regretted it. Another nurse came, though, and Lily sighed in relief. Seeing Lily, the nurse smiled and said, "Do you want me to call the doctor?"
The doctor came in a couple of minutes. Uncle Elijah and aunt Leonora were already there, too. The doctor did not say anything new and Lily's face grew gloomy. On seeing them off, the doctor said, "Young miss, make sure you come to your sister every day, so that she may recover faster." Already at the door, looking after the Hollises, the doctor added, "Oh, and, Mrs. Hollis," to which aunt Leonora turned in surprise. The doctor said, "Mrs. Hollis, will you please remind Professor Jennings and Professor Suthern to visit us, too?"
Lily threw a tense look towards her uncle careful of his reaction. He smiled broadly, "Why is old Sentenelus so needed here, baby?"
"Well, for the medicine, of course." said Leonora. "By the way, Elijah, Sentenelus is waiting at home."
Lily was following the conversation intensely. Yet, it was as if her uncle was a different man. He was different from the man he had been the day before, that was. In fact, her uncle behaved in his usual smooth and easy-going manner. Had it not been for the day before and his weird outbreak, Lily would not have even taken any notice of that. She shook her head briskly, as though trying to shake off the bugs from inside. Elijah was walking close to Lily, holding Leonora by the hand. He pinched Lily's ear and asked, "Little princess, what are you hiding in your beautiful head?"
Lily pressed her eyes tightly shut and laughed, "Oh, I'm afraid I can't tell you, uncle. It has to do with love." She winked and pinched him back.
"Love?!" Elijah exclaimed. "Oh, how I love the sound of that word! So, has that time come already for you, too?" he asked in astonishment.
Lily gaped. That was unexpected. Elijah interpreted that in his own curious way, "Oh, I seem to have found a gold mine for chats. So, tell us everything. Is he from the school? He must be, of course." he started. "Where else may you find a boy? Or?" Elijah waited for Lily's answer.
"Or what? Leave me alone!" protested Lily. "It's not about me."
"Who then?" Elijah looked at his wife. "Do you know what she is talking about?"
>
"Uhm, I suppose. Not sure, though." said Leonora.
"Well," Elijah continued, "Come on! Somebody enlighten me!" He looked from Leonora to Lily and back. "What are you two hiding? Who is in love? And with whom?"
Leonora raised her eyebrows, "Honestly, I don't know. You lost me here."
Lily giggled, "Oh, to be honest, I got lost, too. Uncle, how do you do this? You confused me totally and I can't even remember what I was thinking about."
They all laughed and Elijah said, "Well, then let's try a new topic. Lily, tell us about yourself. We didn't have time to speak of you. What's going on at school? How's your football career?"
On the way back Elijah sat back with Lily and she told them all that happened at school, with certain modifications or reductions. When she was telling the story of Padrina's spell, her aunt said, "Oh, Padrina, the Perkins' girl! I'm curious to see her. I haven't seen her parents for a while now. Her mother used to be impressive. Always top of the class. Perkins was a loser, though. I think she met him on a holiday in Egypt. He was an archeologist then."
Lily was listening with eyes wide open. "You know Padrina's parents?"
"Oh, yes. Her mother used to study at our school. She is a year older than me. I used to date her brother for a year. That's how I met her."
"Your aunt and her love affairs from school," winked Elijah good-humoredly.
"Uncle, you don't seem worried because of those affairs." suggested Lily carefully.
"You are a little devil, you know that, Lily? All the while you have been dying to ask me something and didn't know how to go about it. OK. Ask me now!" said Elijah smiling warmly to her.
"Who? Me? Ask something? No, uncle, I assure you." Lily put on her most innocent look.
Elijah sighed and said, "OK. Go on then. You were telling us the story. How did you know it was a spell?"
Lily told them in details about Veronica and how she advised them to stay away from one another and from Padrina and Buster. For a moment, Lily wondered how to alter the story so as to skip Buster's detailed description or involvement, but obviously she took too long. She noticed how her uncle looked at her and smiled. As Elijah did not say anything, she tried to continue in a natural voice. Yet, her voice faltered a bit and she hesitated in her story. She paused wondering how to proceed.
"Why don't you tell us of this Buster? He seems like a controversial boy?" asked Elijah. Lily said, "Well, he is big and strong, a great footballer. He is friends with Padrina mostly."
"And what happened then? He doesn't sound like someone who will get involved in a spell-casting. Have you made friends eventually?" Elijah led the conversation masterfully.
"We have." was Lily's somber response.
Before Elijah could say something, Leonora announced, "OK, lover-chats, here we are. Save it for inside. Let's go and have lunch, I'm starving."
"Oh, I hope Sentenelus has put together something eatable," said uncle Elijah. Seeing Lily's uneasiness, he urged, "Ask! Now!"
"And you don't hate him?" said Lily hurriedly, thinking it a good idea to speak briefly, as if in some kind of a coded language, although her question was pretty clear to all within a hearing.
"No, of course not. We are almost best friends. I can even say 'best', yeah, I have no other friends." said uncle Elijah and aunt Leonora looked on smiling.
"But he lost her to you," insisted Lily.
"Oh, you are wrong in that. He and I lost her to her first husband. So, we were both in the same boat, as they say. I figure that was about the time we made good friends." Elijah smiled to Lily and said, "Now, can we go to have lunch or your appetite for gossip is not satisfied yet."
Lily had forgotten all about her aunt's first husband. She was not sure she knew the entire story very well, in fact. You know how sometimes adults consider children unworthy to hear all the cool details of some family affairs and that leads to huge misunderstanding in future. Lily had never met her aunt's first husband, but she had heard there was such a man. She knew nothing of that period of Leonora's life.
They went inside where Professor Suthern, wearing a kitchen apron, was serving the kitchen table and attending something in the oven. Seeing Elijah, he smiled apprehensively. Elijah's lips spread in a broad smile and Suthern smiled back. The two walked towards each other with their arms open and hugged like best friends.
"But yesterday," Lily persisted.
"Yesterday, I was nervous. That's all." said Elijah curtly.
The new year was approaching nearly unnoticed. They all went to see Orange at the hospital every morning and stayed well till after lunch. A week later, on New Year's Day, the dawn broke and Orange was brought out of her slumber so she could already see them. Lily had brought all Christmas presents to Orange's hospital room in spite of the nurses' protests. Professor Suthern had somehow influenced them to grant all Lily's wishes.
No one was in the room when Orange opened her eyes for the first time. The first thing she noticed was a large red balloon, in the shape of a heart that was floating near the ceiling. Then Orange smelt cinnamon and apple. Next thing, she heard Lily's voice and to Orange, after her seemingly age-long sleep of oblivion, it sounded like the jingle of silver bells.
"You are awake!" shrieked the silver-bells-voiced Lily and broke into violent sobs. She started pressing the button to summon some nurse frantically, growing more and more irritated because the thing did not seem to work properly. It somehow sank below Lily's finger and then did not come up correctly. Blind with tears and hysteria and choking with sobs, shrieks and struggling with breath trying to pass in either direction available, while incapable of doing so, Lily stood there fully incapacitated and useless, until the moment uncle Elijah entered the room to see that weird picture. During Lily's outlandish fit, Orange had come to nearly all her senses and was fully able to take in the scope of the situation. Elijah smiled when he saw Orange laugh voicelessly, and her eyes sparkling with happiness. He put what he was carrying in his hands on the... Well, he looked around to see where he may put the cups of tea and coffee he had retrieved from the vending machine at the reception desk, and saw that the bedside table was totally occupied, and the... Looking to the other side, there was nothing there. Elijah was beginning to lose the grip of the moment and his face got red with irritation that it was slipping through his fingers. As, by the way, was about to happen to the sugar packs he was holding exactly between his index and middle fingers. At that moment, Leonora appeared at the door. She was shocked by what she saw. Lily still punching the button, not able to breathe, Elijah looking in total confusion at the sugar packs falling down, and Orange looking from the first to the latter, laughing with a crisp sound and shaking in the bed. A second after that, someone bumped into Leonora and pushed her in the room. The bowl she had borrowed from the hospital canteen to put the biscuits she bought there was filled to the brim and all four people in the room watched it fall to the beige tiles with a shattering sound, as cinnamon and honey biscuits scattered across the entire floor.
The nurse who had pushed aunt Leonora unconsciously in her hurry to enter and answer the hysteric rings of the bell, just said, "Oh, my God. Shall I call the doctor?" Aunt Leonora looked at her without understanding. She answered, a bit offended, "I simply dropped a bowl of biscuits. It's not a big deal."
The nurse was taken back, "I mean, for the patient? I see she is conscious now."
"Oh," muttered aunt Leonora very embarrassed. "Yes, I think you'd better. Thank you."
Lily in the Moonlight Page 9
