Bamboo & Lace

  Knowing there was little they could do, the two followed as Gabe took Lily toward the front door. Ashton came in just as he got there, and with only Gabe holding her hands, they took Lily to the car.

  "Call the number Jeff left," Gabe told a stunned Evan as he shut Lily's door and Ashton climbed into the back. "Tell him what's happened and that we'll be in touch."

  "All right."

  "Tell her we're praying," Bailey said, tears still filling her eyes. "I will," Gabe said, continuing his own prayers as well.

  What followed for Lily felt like hours of being trapped in the same nightmare. The seat belt rubbed her skin because she did not want to sit back against the seat. Then she was in a hot, stuffy room with Gabe on one side and Ashton on the other. Her stomach was so upset, she thought she might die from holding everything down. Then a strange woman was telling her to undress. She was asked to climb into a bed with scratchy sheets, one that felt ten feet off the floor. And finally, a needle was pushed into her arm and stayed there. With that, Lily could not hold the tears. They seeped out at her temples and soaked into the pristine white pillowcase under her head.

  Sometime later, she opened her eyes to see Gabe sitting at her side. Without even the energy to drop her gaze, she stared at him numbly, just wanting her father or Jeff to come and take her away.

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  I'm sorry," she said finally. "So sorry."

  "Why are you sorry?" Gabe asked, even as his hand came up to gently touch her hair. He was a tactile person he wanted to hold her hand at the very least, touch her brow and soothe the hurt, but she was a mass of burned flesh, and with just the slightest touch to the side of her hair, he took his hand away.

  "I don't know. I'm just sorry."

  "Lily, this is our fault. There's so much we didn't understand. Jeff tried to tell me, but I didn't get it. I thought if you could come to us we would be just fine. But your culture is so different, and now we've let you get hurt."

  "I can't fly like this."

  Gabe smiled. "You're not going to fly at all. Before I saw you this morning, I would have agreed to send you back to Kashien. You just needed to ask. But not now."

  "Why not now?" she asked, suddenly comfortable with him.

  "Because now we're going to take care of you. Now I understand, and everything is going to be fine."

  Lily still didn't know what he hadn't understood that was so clear now, but she had run out of steam to think.

  "Where am I?" she asked, her eyes closing.

  "At the hospital."

  "I've never been in a hospital."

  "Not even when you were born?"

  "No. I was born in Lhasa. My father delivered me."

  Gabe smiled.

  Ashton peeked around the door just then and came to stand by Gabe's side.

  "How is she?" he whispered.

  "She was just talking, but I think she might be asleep." "I called and talked to Evan. He said Bailey would be finding a sitter so they can both come." "Did they get ahold of Jeff?"

  "Yes. They called the number, and he called right back. They set up a time for him to call again."

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  Gabe nodded.

  "Are they keeping her, Gabe?"

  "I think so. She was getting dehydrated, and they've got her on morphine for the pain."

  Almost as if on cue, a doctor came in the door.

  "Hello, I'm Dr. Grant," he said. "I understand that you're friends of Lily's."

  "Yes. I'm Gabriel Kapaia and this is my brother, Ashton. Lily is staying with us."

  "Okay. Was she wearing any block?"

  "We don't think so."

  The doctor looked up at them but didn't comment. The nurse came in, and a moment later the brothers were asked to leave.

  Even as they moved from the room, they heard Lily wake and say her brother's name. Once in the hall, the men leaned against the wall to talk.

  "I hate it that Lily has to suffer for my lack of insight."

  "How are you to blame for this, Gabe?"

  "I knew how unfamiliar she was with the culture. Jeff and I certainly talked about it enough times. But then she had had a few days with him, and from that I made way too many assumptions."

  "We all have," Ashton put in.

  While they waited quietly, the doctor and nurse came out and explained what the next few days would look like.

  "I want to keep her for a few days, mostly for pain management. As you can see, she's in a tremendous amount of pain, and this way we can keep the morphine going and monitor her pain level. She's also going to need another IV bag, maybe two. If she stays here with the catheter, she won't have to be climbing out of bed just yet. But once you get her home, she's still going to be miserable and want to take it very slowly."

  "We'll see to that."

  "Good. I'll check on her again in a few hours." The doctor had no more finished with his explanation when Evan and Bailey showed up. Bailey waited only long enough to

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  hear the doctors prognosis from her brothers before she went in to see Lily. It hurt to look at her. Bailey thought she might be asleep, but as soon as she bumped the chair, Lily's eyes opened.

  "Hi," Bailey said, thinking on the fact that hindsight was always 20/20.

  "Hi, Bailey."

  Bailey sat down. I'm sorry this happened, Lily. I feel terrible." "It's all right. I should have thought more about it." "Do you use sunblock in Kashien?" "No, we stay covered all the time."

  Then I don't know how you could have thought on it were Baileys thoughts, but she kept them quiet.

  Evan peeked around the comer just then and slipped in when Bailey waved to him.

  "Hi, Lily. How bad is it?"

  "Oh, it's bad, I guess," she said quietly, trying not to shiver. "Is Gabe here?"

  "Right here," Gabe answered from the end of the bed, and all watched as Lily looked up at him without prompting. "Did the doctor tell you I have to stay?" "Yes, for a few days."

  Lily licked her lips a labored movement and Bailey stood to give her some ice. "I'm sorry I'm so tired."

  "It's all right," Evan told her. "We'll get out of here so you can sleep."

  Lily didn't respond, but the foursome left, at least for a moment. When they reached the hallway they had a short meeting before Gabe headed back inside to sit by Lily's bed and quietly read the newspaper Evan had brought with him.

  "Evan talked to Jeff," Gabe told Lily when the nurse woke her to take her blood pressure. "How is he?"

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  "He's concerned about you. He'll be calling again tonight."

  "Did you tell him I'm all right?"

  "No."

  Lily looked at him. "Why not?"

  "Because you're in a lot of pain and not all right."

  Lily glanced around the room. Her hot skin hurt so badly, but she was cold. It made no sense.

  "You don't have to stay, Gabe."

  "Okay," he said kindly, and lily looked to him.

  Somehow she knew he would remain. She hadn't wanted to be a bother.

  "You're not a bother," he said, and Lily couldn't believe she had said that out loud; she then realized she hadn't.

  "How did you know what I was thinking?"

  "I put myself in your shoes. I thought about being in Lhasa and getting hurt. You and your father would be sitting with me instead of getting on with your own life. I wouldn't want you to do that."

  "But you're willing to do it for me."

  Lily watched Gabe smile. His teeth were nice to look at very white.

  "Jeff is like another brother to me, Lily. I'm not sure if he's told you how close we are or not, but my wanting to be here for Jeff's sister is like wanting to be here for Jeff. It would never occur to me to do anything else."

  "That was a nice thing to say. Does Ashton feel bad about my being burned?"

  "Yes. You're not that fair, Lily. It doesn't seem that you could burn that badly. But that's not the main problem. We offer hospitality for a living. We warn guest
s about the sun on a weekly basis, and here we let you fry." Gabe shook his head. "We're all kicking ourselves, and I'm sure you can understand why."

  Yes, she could, but again she was too weary to say anything.

  A knock at the door drew Gabe's eyes upward and dropped lily's.

  "Well, Gabe." A man in a white coat came in.

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  "Barry!" Gabe said before the two embraced.

  "How are you?" Barry asked. "You look great!"

  "I feel great, thank you."

  Barry glanced toward the bed.

  I'm Dr. Barnes," the man said.

  "Hello," Lily greeted him, her eyes still down.

  "This is Jeff Walsh's sister, Lily," Gabe filled him in. "She's visiting us from Kashien."

  "And you got a major burn," he said with compassion. "Are your legs burned, Lily?"

  "Very little, sir. It's mostly my face, back, shoulders, and arms."

  "Okay," he said, his eyes on the chart. Lily stole a peek at him and saw that Gabe was watching her anxiously. The moment caused Lily to wonder what she looked like. She knew she felt miserable and assumed she looked the same.

  "I need to listen to your lungs, Lily."

  "All right," she said faintly; it had hurt so badly before. She knew the moment Gabe slipped out and thought she might cry He was like her brother right now, and she wanted him near.

  You will not shame me, Lily.

  Even hearing the words in her mind were enough to break Lily's heart. She was in so much pain and had been thoughtless about the sun; her father might be ashamed of her. She closed her eyes against a rush of tears and heard the doctor's soothing voice.

  "It's miserable, isn't it? I'll be as quick as I can."

  And he was swift, but just moving her gown away was not only painful, but humiliating. No man had ever seen her naked until these doctors, and Lily was mortified with it all.

  "Your lungs sound clear. That's good. We'll keep your bed cranked up, and that will help. Have you been able to sleep some?"

  "Yes."

  "And what about lunch? Did you eat?" "A little."

  "Do you normally have a large appetite?"

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  "No."

  "Okay. Well, keep sucking on the ice chips and sleep as much as you can. Do you have any questions for me?" "No, sir."

  His heart wrung with compassion for how miserable she had to be.

  "I'll get Gabe back in here, shall I?" "Thank you."

  He was on his way out when Lily realized she could have asked him why she was so cold, but on further thought realized she didn't really want to talk any more. Her eyes closed, she heard Gabe enter the room. If she talked to him, maybe it would take her mind from her skin. It had before. Nevertheless, Lily was just too weary to make the effort.

  "How is she?" Jeff asked over the phone to Evan after dinner that night.

  "Miserable. They're keeping her pumped with morphine, and she's staying for a few days in an effort to keep her as comfortable as possible."

  "Good."

  "Gabe is with her. He has been all day. Do you want any messages sent to her?"

  "No, but if you'll track down the number for me, I'll call her." "I'll do it. Why don't you call back here in about ten minutes?" "Thanks, Evan."

  "You're welcome, Jeff. Goodbye."

  Evan had the phone number and Lily's room number ready in far less than ten minutes. He hadn't thought of himself as anxious until he realized he was drumming his fingers on the table and sitting right next to the phone as though he might miss the call. On top of that, Peter was tapping him on the leg.

  "Papa?"

  The little boy finally got through.

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  "Yes, Peter?" "Is Lily better?"

  Evan took him into his lap and tried not to think of lily's own father. If one of his children was hurting the way Lily was, he imagined his own agony would be great.

  "She's not better yet," Evan told him honestly, "but they're taking good care of her. She's going to stay at the hospital for a few days, and when she does come home, she'll need lots of rest."

  "CeCe and I can be quiet."

  I'm sure you can. Lily will appreciate that very much." "Can I make a card for her?" "You certainly can. She would like that." "I could put a boat on it. Do you think she likes boats?" "I don't know. Maybe she could tell you about " The phone rang in midsentence, but Evan made himself finish. "Maybe Lily could tell you about the boats they have in Kashien."

  Peter nodded as Evan reached for the phone.

  "Hello."

  "Evan? It's Jeff."

  "Hi, Jeff," the man in Hawaii said with a small sigh; he had been more tense than he realized. "I've got those numbers for you right here."

  When the phone rang in lily's room, Gabe quickly reached for it, but Lily still woke. Gabe could see that she had started awake, but he kept his voice soft as he answered.

  "lily Walsh's room."

  "Is that you, Gabe?"

  "Hi, Jeff."

  "Hi. Hows Lily?"

  "Well, she's been better. Do you want to talk to her?" "Yes."

  Lily had started to cry when Gabe said, "Hi, Jeff."

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  "Can you take it?" Gabe asked the woman in the bed. "I don't know if I want it touching my ear." "Then I'll just hold it for you. Can you hear?" "Jeff?" "Hey, Lil."

  "Oh, Jeff," was all she could manage as she tried not to shake with her sobs.

  It would not have been Gabe's choice to be in on this private conversation, but he heard every word.

  "Now listen to me, Lily. Your body is hurting enough; don't work your heart over as well. Just concentrate on getting better so you can enjoy your visit."

  "I think I should have gone home."

  "Lily, you're right where God wants you. Don't forget that. He's in control, and He can see you through this." "All right."

  "You must tell Gabe everything you need. You've got to, Lily. He'll take care of you. Do you hear me?" "Yes."

  "What hurts the most?"

  "My shoulders. They're covered with blisters. The skin just above my upper lip is also blistered. It hurts to touch it." "What are they doing for you?"

  "Bathing my skin in a brown liquid and giving me morphine." "And Evan said they're keeping track of any signs of infection?" "Yes."

  "Good. We'll ask God to keep you free from any additional pain."

  "Jeff," Lily went on after she had thanked her brother, "please tell Gabe he doesn't have to sit here. Tell him not to bother."

  Lily heard her brother laugh on the other end of the line, but it wasn't a mirth-filled sound. Not until that moment did she think how this might affect him.

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  "I can't do that, Lil. I need Gabe to stand in for me. He'll take care of you. I know he will." "All right." "Are you tired?"

  "Yes. The morphine it makes me sleepy." "Don't fight it. Go ahead and sleep and be as comfortable as you can be." "I will."

  "I'll let you go. Evan is keeping me informed. I'll call again tomorrow."

  "Okay, Jeff. Thank you."

  "Gabe?" Jeff took a chance that he was able to hear. "Right here."

  "Is it just you? Is Lily still listening?" "No."

  "Should I come?"

  "I had a feeling you might ask that. Can you check with me again in 24 hours?" I'll do that."

  "And of course, I'll call you if things change." "Right. Thanks, Gabe."

  "You're welcome, Jeff, but I'm still sorry it had to happen." Gabe listened a moment longer, said goodbye, and hung up. Lily's eyes were on him. They were sleepy and pain-filled. "Can you sleep for a while?" "I'll do that."

  "If you wake and I'm gone, it probably means I've gone home for the night. I'll be back first thing in the morning." "Thank you, Gabe." "You're welcome."

  Lily decided not to fight falling asleep anymore. She had thought he might be staying the night. Now she was only glad he had the good sense to go home and sleep in his own bed.

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Chapter 7

  Lily left the hospital to return to the resort at noon on Wednesday. The staff advised her on symptoms that signaled infection and told her what lotions to use. Although they could keep her more comfortable at the hospital, they told her she was over the worst.

  Moving gingerly and wishing she could take off her blouse and undershirt, she came in the front door of the Kapaia home.

  "Where will you be the most comfortable right now?" Gabe asked, having come in behind her.

  Lily looked indecisive, and Ashton spoke up.

  "Why don't you take the sofa over here, Lily? Peter can put in a video. It might take your mind off everything."

  "Okay. Thank you."

  "Hi, Lilyee," Celia greeted her, still using her own pronunciation.

  "Hi, Celia. How are you?" "Are you hurt?" "A little, yes."

  Celia had been warned repeatedly about not hugging Lily, but her uncles still kept a close eye on her to make sure she was not going to get too close.

  In the midst of this, Bailey came on the scene, a sheet in her hand. She left it folded over several times, and then laid it where Lily's back would be.

  "The fabric on this sofa is rough, Lily. This might help."

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  After thanking her, Lily carefully sat down, not quite able to cover her wince of pain. She glanced up at the occupants of the room to find all three siblings staring at her. Where she got the courage to do what she did next, Lily didn't know, but with no small amount of effort, she spoke.

  "I would like to speak to all three of you, if I could."

  "Certainly," Gabe said.

  Although Lily kept her eyes down, she could tell that he came and sat down. After Bailey asked the children to color at the dining room table for a few minutes, she and Ashton did the same.

  "I can't tell you how thankful I am for all of your care and concern, and I would rather pull my tongue out than sound ungrateful, but you must go on with your lives. If I need something, it's time I learned to ask for it. I don't find that very easy to do, but as of today I will commence to tell you of my needs, so you won't need to unduly concern yourselves.

  "I didn't know this kind of pain existed, but sitting around isn't going to help me get better. Anything I can get for myself, such as food and water, I'll see to on my own. If I can't do something, I'll tell you."