The Patient from Silvertree: Book One in the Silvertree Series

by Marian Dribus

  “Because she’s your mother, and you were embarrassed,” said Lisa. To her surprise, she felt like laughing. “Josh, I’m not offended. It makes perfect sense. Just think about it: she knows she’s living on borrowed time, and she doesn’t want to miss out on anything. That’s why she’s being so pushy.”

  “So you’re not upset?” said Josh.

  “No,” said Lisa. “She doesn’t mean any harm—not this time, anyway.”

  “I’m so lucky to have you, Lisa,” said Josh. “I was seriously about to panic. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t want to do those things with you someday: it’s just that we’re still getting to know each other. We would need to be completely sure before we started a family. I don’t want to think about kids until I get married, and I don’t want to get married until I’m finished with school.”

  They walked around the corner, and Lisa saw Graham waiting for the elevator at the other end of the lobby. His back was turned, but Lisa didn’t want to take any chances. The hospital chapel was directly across the corridor, its stained-glass doors standing wide open. She shoved Josh inside.

  “Or we could just get married right now,” said Josh.

  Lisa put her hand over his mouth.

  “Listen to me,” she said in a whisper. “Graham is here. He’s getting into the elevator. We have to do something.”

  “Like what?” said Josh.

  “I don’t know,” said Lisa. “We should at least see where he’s going.”

  The elevator doors were closing. They hurried across the lobby once they were sure Graham wouldn’t notice them and watched as the numbers above the elevator counted up, passing the floor where Josh’s mother was staying, and finally stopping at the top of the building.

  “Josh, he’s going into the intensive care unit,” said Lisa.

  “Well, of course he is,” said Josh. “Lisa, there’s no reason to panic. If Molly told you Graham was planning to visit his friend—or his victim or whatever you want to call him—I don’t understand why you’re so freaked out about the whole thing. Besides, I thought we’d decided he wasn’t going to do anything bad.”

  “No, you decided that,” said Lisa. “I never made up my mind. I can’t just stand here and let him get away with murder.” She was so flustered that she forgot to be afraid. “Josh, if you don’t want to come with me, I’ll go by myself.”

  She started to march away, but he rushed after her.

  “Fine, Lisa,” he said. “Whatever you say. As long as he doesn’t see us, I guess it’ll be fine. Let’s take the stairs, though. We don’t want to somehow get stuck in the elevator with him.”

  They were out of breath by the time they arrived outside the intensive care unit, just as Graham vanished through the doors. Unlike the unit where Josh’s mother was staying, the entrance was locked.

  “Now what?” said Lisa.

  “I don’t think they’ll let us in unless we’re here to visit someone,” said Josh. “We’re wasting our time, Lisa. Look, even if Graham is up to no good, he couldn’t exactly kill him without being noticed. Alarms would start going off all over the place. I’m sure the patients in there are hooked up to all sorts of monitoring equipment.”

  Lisa waited until the doors opened again. She caught a glimpse of Graham, huddled in the room beyond the nurses’ station. He appeared to be in an attitude of prayer, kneeling beside the bed with hunched shoulders and clasped hands.

  “What is he doing?” said Lisa.

  “It looks like he’s crying,” said Josh. “Maybe he feels bad about the whole thing. You saw how miserable he was at the park.”

  “Molly told me he was terribly upset,” said Lisa. Now that the initial shock of seeing Graham had worn off, she felt exhausted. “I was wrong about him. He’s not here to cause any trouble. Let’s go. Your family is probably wondering where we are.”

  They found the cafeteria without too much trouble, and Josh’s father took them back to the apartment. Josh drove Lisa to her house. They sat on the porch for a long time, talking about their day and listening to the roar of the waves. Finally, Lisa couldn’t delay their farewell any longer. She leaned over and kissed him.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said

  “I like the sound of that,” said Josh. “Good night.”

  Lisa went into the house, wondering how she had gotten so lucky.

  Chapter 16

  After Josh drove away, Lisa closed the door and turned around. She found her parents waiting for her. They were sitting near the fireplace, and her father had an envelope in his hand. Lisa immediately felt guilty, even though she hadn’t done anything wrong. She couldn’t imagine why her mother had allowed her father into the house, and she tried to prepare herself for the worst.

  “I didn’t know you were here,” she said.

  “I needed to pick up a few things,” he said. “I parked down the street.”

  Lisa suspected he was avoiding the curious eyes of Graham. She felt herself sweating and squeezed her hands into fists in a futile attempt to stop herself from trembling.

  “Where have you been?” said her father.

  “Josh invited me to go with him to visit his mother,” said Lisa.

  “How is she?” said her father.

  Lisa hesitated. Technically, it was none of his business, but she couldn’t ignore his question without antagonizing him.

  “She’s fine,” she said. “Can I go upstairs?”

  “Not yet,” he said, raising his voice. “It’s almost eight o’clock, and you have school tomorrow. Do you really think it’s appropriate for you to be going out when you’re doing so poorly in your classes?”

  “But I’m not,” said Lisa.

  “Your midterm report card came today,” said her father. “I don’t want to upset you, but your future is at stake here, and I’m not going to let you mess it up. College admissions committees don’t pay attention to mediocre students.”

  Lisa hated hearing the disappointment in his voice.

  “I had some trouble focusing for a few weeks, but I’m back on track now,” she said. “It’s not that bad.”

  “Well, this says otherwise,” he said, waving the envelope in her face. “The numbers don’t lie, Lisa. From now on, if you’re not in school, I want you to be in your room studying.”

  “But then I won’t get to see Josh,” said Lisa. She regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth, but frustration made her reckless. She couldn’t bear the thought of being separated from him. “Why is this happening to me? I didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “I’m not trying to punish you,” he said. “I’m trying to protect you. Believe it or not, you’re precious to me, and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  “Josh wouldn’t hurt me,” said Lisa.

  “Not on purpose, maybe, but this whole thing with the two of you needs to stop right now,” he said. “It’s not going to last. The sooner you realize that, the less upset you’ll be when it ends. Things are already complicated enough. You need to get your priorities straight and focus on your grades.”

  Lisa could barely speak.

  “You’re wrong,” she said. “My grades are fine. Josh makes me happy, and Mom said it was okay for me to go out with him. I don’t need your permission. You lost the privilege of bossing me around when I begged you not to leave and you shoved me away so hard that I fell on the ground.”

  “I didn’t mean to do that,” he said.

  “My arm was all scraped up,” said Lisa.

  “What is she talking about?” said her mother.

  “It was just a misunderstanding,” he said. “It wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t made a scene at the wedding, but that’s not important right now. This is about Lisa, not us. Until her grades improve, I don’t want her going on any more dates, wandering around on the beach, or wasting time talking to your delusional friend.”

  “Andrew, she’s a teenage girl,” said Lisa’s mother. “Those are perfectly healthy things fo
r her to be doing, and I’m not going to penalize her for struggling in school, especially after you abandoned her without any explanation.”

  Lisa felt like she was back at the wedding. Even though her parents didn’t sound particularly upset, she wanted to scream at them to stop, but she couldn’t speak.

  “Nora, you’re the one who threw me out,” said her father.

  “You gave me no choice,” she said, getting to her feet. “Let’s not discuss this subject in front of Lisa. I thought it would do her good to see you, but I was wrong. You obviously don’t care about her. All you’ve done since she walked through that door is lecture her and make her feel worthless.”

  “I wonder how you’ve made her feel?” he said. “She might be too immature right now to recognize what’s going on, but when she grows up and realizes you prevented her from having a relationship with her father, she’s going to resent you.”

  “Get over yourself, Andrew,” she said. “What makes you think she even wants a relationship with you? She’s doing just fine without you, now that she’s adjusted to you being gone. She probably doesn’t even miss you.”

  “Oh sure, which is why she rushed into the arms of the first available boy,” he said, getting up from his chair so he could look down on her. “You’re setting her up for a lifetime of abuse. I know how men are. They’ll take advantage of her every chance they get.”

  Lisa couldn’t bear to listen to them anymore.

  “Stop!” she said.

  They looked at her in surprise, as if they had forgotten she was there.

  “Neither of you know anything about me,” she said. “You don’t know how I feel or what I think. How could you? You’ve never bothered to ask me. I wish you’d stop fighting. What difference does it make if one of you is worse than the other? You’re both guilty, as far as I’m concerned—guilty of being selfish.”

  She stopped because she was out of breath.

  “You’re right, Lisa,” said her mother. “I can’t let this continue.” She faced Lisa’s father. “Andrew, I consulted with an attorney a few weeks ago, but I didn’t have the courage to proceed with the divorce until now. There are obviously some decisions that need to be made, but I want full custody of the girls, and I want enough money to send them to college. I also want the house and one of the cars.”

  “Put a document together, and I’ll look at it,” he said.

  “Oh, I will,” she said. “You’ll sign it, too, without arguing. I don’t want to have to drag you into court, but if you try to make things difficult for me, I will. It shouldn’t take more than a couple of months to finalize everything. It will be better for everyone if we end this chapter of our lives and move on.”

  Lisa’s father didn’t reply. Shaking his head, he opened the door and went out. Lisa’s mother sat down and covered her face with her hands.

  “So that’s it?” said Lisa in bewilderment.

  “Lisa, please just go upstairs,” said her mother. “I feel absolutely sick to my stomach when I think about what just happened. I shouldn’t have let your father confront you about your grades, I shouldn’t have quarreled with him while you were there, and I especially shouldn’t have mentioned the divorce.”

  “Do you really want to divorce him?” said Lisa.

  “No, but I don’t want to be married to him either,” she said. “I wish I could forget I ever loved him. Oh, Lisa, if only you knew the truth about him. I don’t want you to hate him, but he’s done things that can’t be forgiven. That’s the best explanation I can give you right now. I’m a horrible mother.”

  She started sobbing. Lisa was too exhausted to comfort her. She started to go upstairs, but to her horror, she saw Veronica’s face peering over the banister. They stared at each other for a moment, and then Veronica dashed away. Lisa hurried after her. Veronica tried to slam the door in her face, but Lisa stopped her.

  “Go away!” shrieked Veronica. “Stephen’s gone, and Mom and Dad are getting divorced. You lied to me. You said it wouldn’t happen, but you were wrong!”

  “Veronica, it’s not my fault,” said Lisa.

  “Yes, it is,” said Veronica. “They were talking about their problems until you butted in and ruined everything. You should have let them figure it out. They would have stopped arguing eventually.”

  “Shut up,” said Lisa. “If I hadn’t said anything, you would have had a fit about me letting them fight. You’re never satisfied with anything I do. How am I supposed to know when you want me to get involved and when you don’t?”

  “I don’t know,” said Veronica. “Why couldn’t you have waited just a little bit longer?”

  “I was tired of listening to them,” said Lisa. She sat down at Veronica’s desk and put her head in her hands. The adrenaline rush subsided, and she became numb with despair. “They weren’t just arguing. They were using me to hurt each other. I couldn’t let them do that.”

  Veronica sat down on the edge of the bed. Her hysteria faded, and her face became uncharacteristically solemn.

  “It was pretty bad,” she said.

  “I hope they don’t really believe those things they said about me,” said Lisa. “Dad probably thinks I hate him now. Mom tried her best to convince him I didn’t care about him being gone—which is completely false—and he basically said I’m only interested in Josh because I want his attention.”

  “Is that true?” said Veronica.

  Lisa didn’t answer right away. Her parents’ angry words had distorted her perception of herself, and she began to wonder if they were correct. Maybe there was a deficiency in her character that she hadn’t noticed before. She knew her feelings for Josh were real, but at the same time, she realized she wouldn’t have been so grateful to him if he hadn’t provided something that was missing from her life.

  “Everything is so different now,” she said. “I used to trust myself, but I don’t know what’s going to happen anymore.”

  “I do,” said Veronica. “You’re going to fix this mess.”

  “How?” said Lisa. “Mom’s already made up her mind.”

  “But the divorce will take much longer if Dad doesn’t agree to give her everything she wants,” said Veronica. “You saw how upset he was when he left. Mom’s trying to steal everything from him, including us. She’s basically kidnapping us. It shouldn’t be allowed. How is Dad going to survive without us?”

  Lisa put her feelings aside and tried to see things from her father’s point of view. The result was even bleaker than she had expected: total alienation from his family with no possibility of reconciliation. She wondered why he had accepted his fate so calmly, but she knew he didn’t have much of a choice with such hostile opposition from her and her mother.

  “You need to tell him to stand up for himself,” said Veronica. “He’s being ridiculous. If they’re really going to get divorced, they should split everything evenly.”

  “Veronica, if he makes things difficult for Mom, she’ll just hate him more,” said Lisa. “It won’t change anything, so what’s the point?”

  “It’ll make them think about what they’re doing,” said Veronica. “They might even start liking each other again if they spend enough time together. Please, Lisa, just talk to Dad. You always seem to know what to say.”

  Lisa studied Veronica’s face and realized the situation was even worse for Veronica than it was for her: since Veronica didn’t know about the murder, the separation probably seemed incomprehensible.

  “Fine, Veronica, I’ll talk to him,” said Lisa. “I don’t know when, and I don’t know how, but I’ll do it. There, are you happy?”

  Veronica nodded.

  “Thank you,” she said. “I’m sorry for yelling at you, Lisa. I’ve been in a bad mood ever since Stephen left, but I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. You’re a wonderful sister.” She breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at Lisa. “I can’t wait to see Stephen tomorrow.”

  “Good night, Veronica,” said Lisa.

  She went int
o her room, but she couldn’t sleep. She bitterly regretted her promise to Veronica. The more she thought about talking to her father, the more impossible the task seemed. She didn’t even know if she wanted him to be a part of her life, but at the same time, she couldn’t bear the thought of shutting him out completely.

  ∞∞∞

  Lisa’s father returned to the hotel, consumed by gloomy thoughts. He regretted his treatment of Lisa, and although he desperately wanted to fix his relationship with her, he felt like he made additional mistakes every time he interacted with her. An apology would be insufficient to heal the countless wounds he had inflicted with his careless words. When Graham appeared unexpectedly from the bushes, he was so discouraged that he barely even flinched.

  “It’s not a good time,” he said to Graham.

  “You’re not the only one with problems,” said Graham, following him into his room. “I’ve been at the hospital for the last hour, sitting at the bedside of an old friend. He was in an accident—got his head all bashed up—but the poor man just won’t die.” He sat down in the chair near the window. “I don’t know how you do it, Andrew, dealing with sick people. It makes you see the world differently. Nothing is permanent. Everything is hanging by a thread, waiting to snap.”

  “Graham, what do you want?” said Lisa’s father.

  “My boss is miffed, to put it bluntly,” said Graham. “Not only did you fail to deliver the requested tissue samples, but you sabotaged the entire project. I trusted you, but thanks to your incompetence, my reputation is now as tenuous as your future.”

  “I did the best I could,” said Lisa’s father.

  “Well, it wasn’t good enough,” said Graham. A haunted expression appeared on his face, and his eyes roved across the floor. “Never before have I been verbally assaulted like I was this morning when I finally informed my boss about your massive failure. I’m telling you, Andrew, if my contingency plan doesn’t succeed, I’m going to be in serious trouble. I might even have to rethink my professional career.”