Sasha: Book Two

by Tonya Plank

  Pepe gave her hand a soft squeeze, and whispered something in her ear. She smiled and squeezed back. Words of encouragement. Pepe was my man.

  The pulsing beat of the music blasted on and for a split second my Rory froze. As did I. But I knew it wouldn’t last. And it didn’t. First-time nerves. Rory was far above all that. Pepe started, right on the second beat, and she followed him perfectly. Yes, I knew she could follow. Maybe she just had to be nervous to her core in order to do so. They began a high-charged series of underarm turns, getting faster all the time, working up to practically the speed of light. Rory’s skirt flowed around her. Her spins were simply spectacular.

  Pepe whispered something in her ear again. The judges would never notice. It was just something I spotted because I was so focused on her. Then I saw it. Something was wrong. Rory was struggling. I could see it in her eyes. She was dizzy. Blinded, even, by the lights. But her spins remained spot-on, feet landing in perfect position, form immaculate. You’d never notice anything unless you were connected to her, either physically, like Pepe, or mentally, like me.

  Then, a series of super-fast spins in a line. Pepe whispered to her again.

  She opened her mouth in an O shape, and drew in substantial breath. She was feeling faint. But why? Her spotting was perfect. It wasn’t lack of skill. Dizziness simply didn’t happen to her during turns.

  Thankfully, the spins ended and they went into the tricks, beginning with the snake. She slithered down his leg, wrapping her legs around his ankles, a subtle look of relief in her eye. Momentarily seated, she caught her breath. But the music caught up with her. Pepe pushed her between his legs, and she ducked and slid through. Then he pulled her up to take her into the pot stir—where she’d hurt her knee before. But she couldn’t seem to pull herself up. She sat in the stir spin, now closing her eyes, not even trying to spot. Did her knee hurt? It didn’t seem so. It was a dizziness issue. I felt it.

  But Pepe didn’t. When he pulled her up again, this time all the way up into standing position, she lost it. Her face suddenly turned beet red. And her breaths intensified, like she was gasping for air. What the hell? I knew I’d embarrass the hell out of her but I didn’t care. I’d gotten up and was about to run toward her when she collapsed and fell into Pepe’s arms.

  “Rory, Rory,” I called out, running to her, yelling for someone to call 911. When I reached her, and took over from Pepe, cradling her in my arms, for some reason, I started babbling in Russian. It was her eating issues. I knew it. She’d fainted for lack of food, energy. I guess I didn’t want anyone else to know that, so I spoke in Russian, telling her how sorry I was that I hadn’t helped sooner, how I’d selfishly been too focused on our training and the practices we’d missed because of her boss, rather than her health. I knew what was happening. Her anorexia was out of control. And I’d done nothing.

  I promised her, still in Russian, that I’d make everything right, and how beautiful and brilliant she was and how she had to know that soon. Now. Pepe caught my vibe and spoke in Spanish. I couldn’t tell what he was saying but it was likely the same. She briefly opened her eyes, and looked right into mine.

  “Sweetheart,” I said. But then she began to squint. “What is it?”

  “The light behind you. That halo. It’s so bright,” she said.

  Halo?

  The lights were really distorting her vision. “I love you, my angel,” I said in English, then pressed my lips to her forehead.

  She cocked her head and looked at Pepe, and then sideways at Rajiv, who was now standing next to me. I kissed her forehead again.

  “Thank God, she’s awake,” Pepe said.

  Rajiv breathed a sigh of relief but the look in his eye said something different. He seemed deeply worried, actually, which scared the hell out of me. She’d told me he was a doctor.

  Then I heard another familiar voice I couldn’t place coming from behind me.

  “Can I please see her? Can I please see her?” It was a male voice.

  “Step back, sir, please. We need you all to clear away,” someone else said. When I forced myself to look away from Rory, I saw that this speaker was a paramedic. He pushed the man behind me away, then addressed me. “Sir, I need you to stand back so we can help her. Please.”

  I nodded and released her. “I’ll go with you wherever they’re taking you, Rory,” I said.

  “Excuse me, sir, I’m a lawyer, and her fiancé. I would like to accompany her to the hospital.”

  Now I knew exactly whom that first male voice I’d heard belonged to. Her fiancé? Please. They’d broken up months ago now. I turned to see the smug, ruddy face of that bastard boyfriend she’d somehow been unlucky enough to ever meet. He narrowed his eyes at me, but took a step back.

  “Uh, this man is actually her boyfriend,” Rajiv said, pointing to me. “The one who was holding her and kissing her and telling her he loved her?” Rajiv sounded just as pissed as I was.

  “Yes, I would like to accompany her to the hospital,” I said to the paramedic.

  “Doctor, please. I care greatly about her,” squeaked the asshole. I badly wanted to haul off and punch him in the gut but I knew that wouldn’t do a damn bit of good. Other than make me feel a lot better.

  “Ror—” I began. But no, it would be ridiculous to ask her to choose.

  “Okay, you can both get yourselves to the hospital on your own,” the paramedic said, squinting back and forth between us. “Please, just stand back while we load her.”

  “Rory, sweet, I’ll be there when you get there. I promise.” I gently let go of her hand, begrudgingly doing as the paramedic asked.

  “Rory, you passed out during the team performance,” Rajiv said to her over my shoulder. You’re in Irvine. Don’t worry, the paramedics are here and we’re all going with you to the hospital.”

  “What? The paramedics?” she mumbled. She was definitely in a haze. I reached toward her again but the head paramedic grabbed my arm and held me away. “Sir, please. We’ve got to get her into the van.”

  “But I don’t know where you’re taking her,” I said, a bit taken aback by his use of force.

  “Come on, we’ll follow them,” Rajiv said, brushing my arm and pulling me toward the door. “It’s okay. She’s going to be okay,” he said once we were outside, obviously seeing the worry in my eyes. I nodded, thanked him.

  Rajiv knew where they were going, so I followed him in my car.

  Rajiv, Samantha, and I all arrived at the same time. “I know how this works. You can let me do the talking. I mean, if you want,” he said while we walked in together.

  I nodded. He was a doctor, he was Rory’s friend and therefore definitely trustworthy.

  “What’s up? How is she?” A voice behind me asked, as Rajiv approached the intake desk.

  I turned to see Kendra, Rory’s friend. Following her were Mitsi, Pepe, and several of Rory’s teammates. The lobby was filling with Rory supporters.

  Before I could answer, he walked in. The bastard ex. His mouth opened into a wide O as he took a slow survey of the room. Yes, she has real friends now that she’s rid of you, asshole, I thought. The second our gazes met, he looked away, took a step back from the group of us, turned on his polished Oxford heel and walked quickly toward the front desk. I’d been so pissed at our confrontation before the paramedics, I hadn’t even stopped to think. What the hell was he even doing here? How did he know Rory would be performing? Had they been in touch all this time? Why didn’t she tell me? I watched him talk to the woman at the desk. Rajiv was no longer there. The ex seemed to be having more difficulty getting information out of her than Rajiv had. I was thinking how thankful I was for Rajiv’s presence when he called out to us.

  “Okay, here we go,” he said, approaching us with a young woman with dark blonde hair held back with a clip. She was dressed in slacks and ballet flats with a medical jacket over her top. She was about twenty-five.

  “We’re with Rory,” Rajiv said, extending his arm toward me.
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  She looked back and forth between the two of us. “She fainted,” she began. She had a deep, stern voice that sounded much older than she looked. I heard footsteps shuffling up behind me. Without turning, I knew it was him.

  “Is this about Aurora Laudner?” he called out over my head, sounding almost accusatory. “Because I’m a lawyer and…a very close friend of hers.”

  The doctor looked at us. Rajiv eyed me. I didn’t know what to say. I badly wanted the fucker gone. I didn’t know if Rory wanted him here—if she even knew he’d been in the ballroom. What did he want? “We would prefer you just tell us, for now,” Rajiv said.

  “You know what, it’s okay,” James said with a sarcastic laugh. “Her family’s on their way. We’ll catch you after you’re done with…these guys.”

  I could tell without even seeing him he was giving us a condescending glare. Me. But his mention of her family made my heart stop. What was going on? Why were they here? Had she told them about her performance without telling me? I knew so little about her family. This was how I’d meet them. He walked away but not without another dramatic sigh.

  “Okay,” the doctor continued, now speaking in a low tone. “She passed out. I’m not sure at this point what from. We’re trying to figure it out. Her blood pressure is low and her heartbeat is irregular, which could simply be an effect of the fainting, or it could signify something more serious.”

  “Something more serious? Like what, doctor?” I said, hearing the panic in my voice.

  “I don’t know that right now, sir. We’re doing blood tests and an EKG for her heart, and some other tests. I will let you know as soon as I get the results.” She gave me a firm nod, then Raj, and walked away.

  “What do you think?” I asked him.

  He shook his head. “Irregular heartbeat can definitely be from the fainting. From not getting enough oxygen. It could also be the result…” he spoke slowly.

  “Of what?” I said.

  “Of an eating disorder?” Samantha asked.

  He nodded.

  “Oh, jeez. I was afraid of that,” Pepe said.

  “How serious is it?” I asked Rajiv, trying hard not to raise my voice. What had I let happen to her? Her anorexia wasn’t my fault, but it was on me for knowing about it and not doing anything. Or not doing enough.

  “I don’t know yet. She’s not that bad, Sasha. She’s only lost some weight. I mean, she doesn’t weigh, like, ninety. She’s probably a good twenty pounds from that. There’s still enough time for her to get better,” he said. But there was a tentativeness in his voice. And he saw the look in my eyes. He shook his head and looked off to the side and I could read his thoughts: Don’t delude yourself. This isn’t going away on its own. Not without a lot of work.

  ***

  After what seemed like hours, a young man with curly hair came out. “Is there a Sasha here?” he said. I shot up.

  “Yes,” I said.

  “Ms. Laudner is asking for you.”

  Asking. That meant she was awake and alert. And okay. Yes, okay. I followed him down a long hall and into a room.

  My pulse beat hard and fast when I saw her beautiful but frazzled face. She was lying in a hospital bed, sitting up. Her complexion immediately lit up when I walked in, and she bounced on the bed. Her face was wet with sweat and her cheeks and forehead were red, but she looked radiant. As always.

  “Careful with the bouncing,” the nurse barked. “I’ll leave you alone until the doctor comes back.” He gave a cursory nod and closed the door.

  Ignoring his advice, Rory sprung up in the bed and I rushed toward her, taking her hand and squeezing tightly before raising it and pressing my lips to her knuckles. Then I bent over the bed and gave her a long but soft kiss on the lips.

  “I was so worried,” I said, moving my lips to her cheek, then forehead. I put both hands on the bed and knelt down until I was face-level with her. “I saw you having difficulty. You looked like you were sweating too much. You looked like you were having trouble breathing. My heart almost fell out of my body when you collapsed, Rory.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “No. Whatever it was, it’s not your fault. My God, I just want you to be okay.”

  “I’m definitely feeling much better now that you’re here.” She smiled but held her head down, as if she was embarrassed.

  “I’m so sorry they wouldn’t let me ride in the ambulance with you. I’m so sorry they made me leave your side. I should have insisted. But I didn’t want to cause a scene or anything.” I didn’t want to mention the asshole. I didn’t want to upset her if she didn’t know he was there.

  “It wasn’t your fault. But yeah, that was weird. It sounded chaotic, from what I heard. I heard people saying you were my partner. I heard Rajiv. And it was weird but I thought I heard someone else saying the same thing. I mean, fighting you.” She frowned. “But I was in a haze, so…I don’t know what I know.”

  I couldn’t let her think she’d hallucinated the whole thing. I nodded. “Yeah. There was. I mean, I don’t think there would have been a problem with the ambulance situation if he hadn’t been there.” I was being pissy and competitive and trying to shift blame. There was no place for this now. What the hell was wrong with me?

  “So, there was someone else?” Her eyes widened and I could see confusion and a bit of panic. Now I knew she didn’t expect him there.

  “Your old boyfriend. At first I didn’t recognize him. He wanted to ride with you. He seemed very upset too.”

  “James? What? He was in the ballroom? I don’t understand. That makes no sense. What was he doing there?”

  “I don’t know. He showed up here too. The medical people spoke with Rajiv and me first. He said—” I stopped. Glad as I was she obviously hadn’t spoken with him, this was making her upset. I thought about leaving out what he’d said to the doctor, but decided I had to prepare her.

  “What? He said what?” Her voice was laced with panic and I was more pissed than ever that the bastard had shown up like that out of the blue. What was he thinking? “Is my sister okay?” she asked.

  I knew next to nothing about her sister. She, like me, hadn’t talked much about her family, and I hadn’t prodded her. I well understood not wanting to talk about such things, about the past. Especially if it caused any pain. And the way she was speaking, there was pain there.

  “He said he was waiting for your family to arrive, then they’d all talk to her—the doctor—together.”

  Her eyes opened wider and she looked out the window as if to gather her thoughts. I could feel her heart race through her skin. I rubbed my thumb along the fleshy part of her palm, caressing it, not knowing what to say.

  She shook her head. “Family has to mean my sister. I mean, my mom’s never shown up all the way out here. And if my sister’s coming that means…she’s okay…” She shook herself out of her reverie and looked at me and shrugged. “I know I’ve never talked about them but they’re close friends. I actually met James through her. So it’s not that odd they’d be together. But it’s just weird they’d be here.”

  “I don’t know about her but he was at the hotel to watch the performance. Before you fell. He never told you he was coming?”

  “No. But I haven’t checked my cell phone in a while. A few hours. Maybe there’s a message.” She began looking around her.

  “Oh, your bag’s in the lobby with Pepe. I meant to bring it to you. I be right back. I’ll be right back.” My grammar had waned for the first time in a while. “Right back,” I repeated, opening the door.

  “How is she?” Pepe asked when I got to the lobby.

  “Good. She needs her things, though,” I said, grabbing her purse.

  “Sure thing. Tell her we love her, man!”

  I looked around. No James. I nodded and gave Pepe a solid pat on the back before returning to Rory.

  “There are messages, sweet,” I said, glancing at the phone’s face.

  As she listened to her voice
mail her face paled, the edges of her mouth turned downward, and her eyes narrowed. My stomach took a nosedive. Anyone who upset my love, particularly at a time like this, was my clear enemy.

  “They’re both from my sister,” she said, throwing the phone facedown on her bed. Her voice sounded more angry than upset.

  “She’s okay?” I sat down next to her and placed my hand atop hers.

  She nodded. “She’s always okay. Better than okay.” I wondered what she meant but let her continue. “James was there. Watching me. He called her when I collapsed and now she’s on her way to the hospital. With him. I guess she was in Santa Monica for the weekend. So, lucky me, she just happened to be in town.” Rory’s voice was full of sarcasm. And her face was growing paler by the second. She looked almost as sick as she did when the paramedics arrived.

  “She doesn’t live around here?” I didn’t know what else to say. There were obviously issues between her sister and her.

  “No, she lives in Northern California. She and James met at Stanford.” Rory blinked then kept her eyelids half closed.

  “Well, she cares,” I said, treading lightly.

  “She’s coming to chew me out,” she said, picking the phone up again and looking at it as if it were to blame.

  “About what?”

  “She doesn’t think I should be dancing again. She…” Rory took a breath. “She thinks it will make me sick again. She thinks it’s…stupid, and I should be happy being a lawyer, like her. She’s a great lawyer. So, good for her, but it’s not for everyone, you know?”

  “Yes, of course. But…what do you mean by sick?” My stomach took another nosedive. Anorexia.

  She took another breath and looked off toward the corner. “When I was a teenager and dancing ballet, I developed…an eating disorder. My mom pulled me from the program. It was a really prestigious program too. In New York. I was so upset. I wanted it so badly. My dad had just died and he wasn’t there to be on my side.”