Between Sisters

The cab pulled along the curb and stopped. Before Claire could even say thank you, the front passenger-side door opened. Meghann threw a wad of bills at the driver, then slammed the door shut.

Claire’s door opened.

Meghann was there. “Hey, Claire, come on out. ”

Claire grabbed her handbag and climbed out of the cab. She felt shaky, confused.

“Where’s your luggage?”

Claire looked around. “I must have left it in my car at the airport. ” She laughed, though it sounded weak, even to her. “Look, Meg, I’m feeling a lot better now. I don’t know . . . I just spazzed out for a minute. The plane ride was awful, and they practically strip-searched me in Memphis. I’m already missing Bobby, and he’s going to be down there for the next few weeks. I guess I had a panic attack or something. Just take me to a quiet restaurant for a cup of coffee. I probably just need to sleep. ”

Meg looked at her as if she were a science experiment gone bad. “Are you kidding me? A panic attack? Believe me, Claire, I know panic attacks, and you don’t forget how to get home. ”

“Right. And you know everything. ” The stress of her . . . thing . . . snapped cleanly, left her exhausted. “I don’t want to fight with you. ”

“You’re not going to. We’re getting in that car and going to the hospital. ”

“I’m fine now. Really. I’m probably getting a sinus infection. I’ll see my doctor at home. ”

Meghann took a step toward her. “There are two ways this can go down. You can get nicely in the car and we can leave. Or I can make a scene. You know I can. ”

“Fine. Take me to the hospital, where we can spend the whole day and two hundred dollars to find out that I have a sinus infection that was exacerbated by air travel. ”

Meg took her arm and guided her into the cushy black interior of a Lincoln Town Car.

“A limo to the emergency room. How chic. ”

“It’s not a limo. ” Meg studied her. “Are you okay now, really?”

Claire heard the concern in her sister’s voice, and it touched her. She remembered suddenly that Meg always got loud and angry when she was frightened. It had been that way since childhood. “I’m sorry I scared you. ”

Meg finally smiled. Leaning back in the seat, she said quietly, “You did. ”

They exchanged looks then, and Claire felt herself relaxing. “Bobby aced the auditions. They offered him a big fat contract. ”

“He won’t sign it until I review it, right?”

“The standard response is: Congratulations. ”

Meghann had the grace to blush. “Congratulations. That’s really something. ”

“I believe it belongs in Ripley’s Believe It or Not! under the headline Eliana Sullivan Does Good Deed. ”

“A good deed that benefits her. A famous son-in-law puts the spotlight on her, too, you know. Just think of the I-discovered-him-and-changed-his-life interviews. ” Meg pressed a hand to her breast, and said, “I’m so bighearted when it comes to family” in a gooey Southern drawl.

Claire started to laugh. Then she noticed that the tingling in her right hand was back. As she stared down at her hand, her fingers curled into a kind of hook. For a split second, she couldn’t open it. She panicked. Please, God—

The spasm ended.

The car pulled up in front of the hospital and let them out.

At the emergency room’s reception desk, a heavyset young woman with green hair and a nose ring looked up at them. “Can I help you?”

“I’m here to see a doctor. ”

“What’s the problem?”

“I have a killer headache. ”