No One Knows Us Here(51)

Wendy was sitting on the exam table in the nurse’s office, looking like the waifish orphan she was. Stringy ash-blonde hair. Dark circles of kohl around her eyes. Layer after layer of clothing: ripped-up tights over another pair of tights, black skirt, a moth-eaten sweater, a scarf. She was sipping juice from a juice box, her legs stretched out in front of her like a little kid. “Hey,” she said.

“She gave us quite a scare.” The nurse was young, younger than I expected a school nurse to be, with aggressively straightened blonde hair and periwinkle scrubs. “She needs rest, hydration.” She turned to Wendy. “And don’t skip breakfast next time.”

“Excuse me.” Leo’s voice sounded deep and commanding, a little too loud for the room. “Is someone going to explain what, exactly, happened here?”

The nurse dropped her eyelids and then cleared her throat. “She lost consciousness in class—”

“What?” I turned to my sister.

“I fainted,” Wendy said. “That’s all. I was sitting up on my desk—we all were—watching this slideshow in health class. It was disgusting. A live birth. A human birth. The woman, she had her legs spread open, and she just kept opening, getting wider and wider. You could see the top of the head, the hair on the baby’s head, all slick with blood and this goo, and—”

“They let you watch that?” It didn’t seem like something kids should be watching in school.

“And I just—I don’t know. Blacked out, I guess.”

“She fell flat onto the floor,” the nurse added. “Just—clunk.”

“I forgot to eat breakfast this morning. Low blood sugar.”

“Take it easy the rest of the day,” the nurse said. “Get plenty of fluids.”

“We’ll take good care of her,” Leo said.

Only then did Wendy seem to take notice of him there, with me standing beside him. Me in a tight red dress and matching lipstick. Leo in his jeans and hoodie. “This is my boyfriend.” I tried to smile, but it probably wasn’t working. “Leo.”

This wasn’t supposed to happen. These two worlds weren’t supposed to collide. I had been doing such a great job, up until then. She had no clue. She thought I was a respectable person, with a respectable job. That was my dream, anyway. My delusion. I wanted to be angry with Leo. This was a violation of our agreement. Or—it should have been. I should have seen to that. Anyway, this was a special circumstance. He was helping. He had driven me here.

I didn’t know how she reacted because I couldn’t meet her eyes.

“Can I have a word?” the nurse said to me.

I glanced at Wendy. She was sucking on the straw of her juice box. The box folded in on itself.

“I’ll take care of her,” Leo said.

“No!” I yelped. It came out too quickly, and the nurse shot me a cautious glance. “I mean—”

Leo was already helping Wendy off the table. “We’ll wait for you in the car.”

“Rosemary.” Wendy said my name in a tiny little voice.

“It’s okay.” I tried to nod reassuringly. What was I thinking, in that moment? Did I have my little sister’s best interests in mind, her well-being, when I let Leo take her out to the parking lot? Obviously not. I was only thinking that I needed to get through this, that I needed to seem normal, like an appropriate guardian. If I acted like I was worried about my putative boyfriend taking Wendy out to the parking lot, well—what then? The nurse might make a few phone calls, a social worker would come over to inspect us, and . . . I didn’t know. I didn’t know what would happen.

The nurse was talking to me, trying to tell me about Wendy, but I couldn’t listen. My eyes kept darting toward the door. “Could be stress,” she was saying. “Eating disorders aren’t uncommon at this age. Drugs.”

My head snapped back in the direction of the nurse. “Drugs?”

“Follow up with her pediatrician. That’s all I’m saying—”

“She’s not on drugs.”

“If you have a minute, I can give you some referrals.”

I told her I didn’t have a minute. I had to go. My sister had been through a lot. She’d lost both her parents. She was adjusting. I couldn’t just leave her alone out there—

The nurse gave me an inquisitive look. “She’s not alone. She’s with your boyfriend.” When I didn’t respond, she put a hand on my arm. “Miss Moseby—”

Moseby was Wendy’s last name. Her dad’s name. “Rabourne,” I corrected her.

“Miss Rabourne—are you all right?”

The name meant nothing to her. It wouldn’t have, back then. Rosemary Rabourne wasn’t a household name. Rosemary Rabourne was no one anyone had ever heard of. Not yet. “I’ve got to go.”

We took Wendy home in the black SUV. She sat between me and Leo in the back seat.

“Thanks for everything,” I said when the SUV pulled up in front of my building.

“It was my pleasure.” He got out of the car and held out his hand for Wendy.

“I’m fine,” she said, but she took his hand and allowed him to help her step out of the vehicle.

The elevator was closed for repairs, so we had to take the stairs. She had to stop and rest after just one flight. Her face was pale, with rings forming under her eyes.