Delia's Gift (Delia 3)

She did as I said. I was worried she wouldn’t understand the directions well enough to follow them, but when she came out, she said it wasn’t far. She simply had to follow this street, and then she would make a right turn on the fifth street. She kept repeating what she had been told, babbling now. The only thing I thought was in our favor was that according to Trudy, Sophia had passed out just before Cliff had come for me. She wasn’t unconscious that long.

When we arrived at the hospital, I thought it was better for me to rush into the emergency room for help. I told Trudy to stay in the car with Sophia. A nurse and an emergency-room attendant listened to my quick report, and moments later, two attendants wheeled out a gurney and loaded Sophia onto it. I told Trudy to find a place to park the car, and then I followed them into the emergency room.

Trudy never came in. Later, I realized she hadn’t looked for a place to park the car. Instead, she had driven away.

Such were the friends Sophia considered her dearest, I thought, and actually pitied her.

Not long afterward, a policeman came into the waiting room and beckoned to me. My heart began to pound. Sophia had been in the emergency room for almost a half hour. I had given the admittance nurse as much information as I could, including mi tía Isabela’s name and telephone number, and she had told me to wait in the lobby area.

“I need to speak with you, Miss,” the policeman said.

He looked very young, I thought, but he also looked very angry.

“Where is this party you mentioned?”

“I’m not sure,” I said. He pulled his head back in disbelief. “I’m not from here, and I don’t know the streets. It was up a hill. I was too frantic to pay much attention to anything but getting her here, sir.”

He grimaced. “Did you give your cousin the drugs?”

“No, sir,” I said, astonished at the question.

“Are you carrying any on you now?”

“I never had any,” I said, and rushed out a description of what had happened at the party.

He looked at a clipboard on which I could see some of the information I had given the admittance nurse.

“This is the address where you are now staying?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And this is the name of the person who lives there?” he asked, pointing to Fani’s name.

“Yes, it is.”

“And this is your aunt’s address and phone number?”

I nodded. “How is my cousin?”

“The doctor will speak with you as soon as he can. In the meantime, don’t leave this area. Any drug overdose is a very serious situation.”

“I understand,” I said.

He didn’t look satisfied. “I’ll be back in a while,” he said, and left.

When I turned to go back to my seat, I saw the way the other people waiting were looking at me. No one smiled. I lowered my head and sat. At the moment, I was too tired and numb to feel anything, even fear. I wondered if Trudy had returned to the party to tell Fani or if Fani had met Cliff and he had told her. Surely, she was looking for me by now and would seek out anyone who knew me.

Almost another forty minutes went by, and still no one came to speak with me. I went to the admittance desk and asked the nurse there if she knew anything about Sophia. I told her how long I had been waiting.

“When the doctor is able to speak with you, he will,” she told me. She looked as angry as the policeman.

Why were they angry at me? I wondered. Did everyone assume I had given Sophia the drugs?

This time, when I returned to my seat, I closed my eyes and leaned back. Despite the lights and the noise around me, I was so exhausted, both physically and emotionally, that I actually fell asleep. I had no idea how much time had passed, but I woke up when I felt myself being nudged and looked up at Tía Isabela.

For a moment, she seemed to loom above me like some imaginary giant whose head brushed the ceiling. Her eyes rained down rage and disgust. She was dressed in a black pantsuit, with her hair pinned back severely. Although she was wearing her usual ton of makeup, she looked pale.

“Was this meant to be your little revenge?” she asked.