Forbidden Sister (The Forbidden 1) - Page 60
“So why are you in New York?” I asked. “Seeing a show or . . .”
She looked at Mama for the answer, which started my nerves flickering again.
“Your vacation is coming up at the end of this we
ek,” Mama began.
“You want to go to France?” I said quickly. Maybe Aunt Lucy was going with us or something.
“Not yet,” Mama said. “Now, I don’t want you to get worried or anything, but I have to have a procedure done, and it means I’ll be in the hospital a while. I thought I could have it all done during your vacation, and your aunt Lucy is very happy to invite you to her and your uncle’s home for that period so you won’t have to be alone. I would worry about you if you were left alone, Emmie,” Mama added with conviction. She was leaning on me to agree quickly.
I glanced at Aunt Lucy. She had the sort of face Papa would call an interrogator’s dream face. Her eyes were like two peepholes through which anyone could see the truth or that she was lying.
“What is this procedure, Mama?” I asked, instead of agreeing to be with Aunt Lucy.
“It’s just a hysterectomy,” she said.
I looked at Aunt Lucy. She was watching me closely to see how I would react.
“What is that?”
“They remove the uterus. I’m certainly not going to have any more children,” Mama said, smiling. “It’s a very common procedure.”
“Why does the doctor want to do that?”
“Precaution,” she said. She hesitated and then added, “I have a small cyst. They’re confident that this will prevent any further problems.”
“I have two friends who have undergone the same surgery,” Aunt Lucy said. “They’re both doing fine. One of them has gone back to work. She works for Senator Batch, who’s on the Armed Services Committee.”
“Why are you waiting until my vacation?” I asked Mama, completely ignoring Aunt Lucy.
“It’s only a few more days, Emmie, and it just works out with the surgeon’s schedule. If you visit Aunt Lucy during this time—”
“I won’t leave you alone,” I said firmly. I looked at Aunt Lucy. “Thank you for the invitation, Aunt Lucy, but I’ll be fine.”
“You’re being selfish,” Aunt Lucy said sharply. “Your mother won’t get well quickly if she is lying there in the hospital worrying about you.”
“She won’t have to. She knows I’m capable of taking care of myself. I won’t leave you, Mama,” I said.
She could see the look on my face. I was sure it was Papa’s determined look, so she knew it would be useless to argue, at least right now.
She nodded and turned to Aunt Lucy. “We’ll discuss it, Lucy. Thank you so much for offering to help and for stopping by,” Mama said.
Aunt Lucy bristled. She clearly sensed that she was being dismissed. I was sure Uncle Orman spoke to her that way whenever he wanted to end a conversation or an argument. In fact, she pulled herself up so sharply I thought she might crack her spine. It almost brought a smile to my face.
“Well . . .” she said rising. “You know how to reach me, Vivian. I do have to make some preparations, of course. Orman hates last-minute things, as you know.”
Like my father dying, I wanted to say, but swallowed back the words and raised my eyes toward the ceiling.
“I’ll be here at the St. Regis tonight,” she added. “But I am going to dinner with the wives of some Pentagon officials.” She looked at me. “Be a good girl, now, Emmie, and please help your mother get through all this.”
“No one has to ask me to do that, Aunt Lucy,” I said in the softest, sweetest tone of voice I could manage, but you’d have had to be tone-deaf not to hear my sarcasm, too.
She nodded.
Mama rose to walk her to the door. I waited, my heart still racing.
“I know how you feel, Emmie,” Mama began even before she entered the living room, “but she was the closest relative I could think of and the easiest trip for you to manage.”
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