“Shelly, you can’t do things like that!” she said.
“First of all, the girl could have been lying to you. Maybe she’s using your money right now to buy drugs.”
“No, I don’t think so,” Shelly said.
“She was really skinny. I believe that she hasn’t eaten in ” “Even if she hadn’t eaten, even if she needed a few bucks for a meal, you didn’t have to give her your whole check.”
“Daria, Iwish you could’ve seen her. You would’ve given her your whole check, too. She’s poor. We’re not poor. She needed that money a whole lot more than I did.”
“We’re not as wealthy as you seem to think,” Daria said, although that was hardly the issue.
“And now you’re expecting a baby. And babies cost money.”
Shelly looked stricken.
“I won’t give any more money away, then,” she said quickly.
“But really, Daria, she said her stepfather beat her and everything. You wouldn’t want her to go back to that kind of home, would you?” “No, of course not. But there are other ways of handling a situation like that and getting her help.” Daria looked toward the ceiling in frustration.
“We’ve been through this so many times. Shelly. You can’t save the world, honey.” “I know that. I just wanted to help this one single girl. I don’t think that was so wrong.”
“It was really… foolish.” She had started to say “stupid,” but caught herself in time. Tears were already brimming in Shelly’s eyes.
“This is why I worry about you, Shelly,” she said.
“This is why I don’t believe you’re mature enough to have a baby. Your judgment is not always good. I know it’s hard to hear that. I know you don’t really understand it. But there is no way you’re ready to get married and have a child.”
Shelly didn’t respond. Her eyes suddenly went blank in an expression Daria knew all too well, but hadn’t seen in a while. She rushed to her sister’s side just as her body stiffened and dropped to the floor.
Shelly began to writhe with convulsions. Daria quickly turned her onto her side, then pulled a cushion from one of the kitchen chairs and slipped it beneath Shelly’s head. As she held on to her sister, waiting for the convulsions to run their course, she wondered if the seizure could hurt the baby. If it did, if the baby suffered damage, would Shelly then agree to an abortion? Daria squeezed her eyes shut, horrified with herself for even entertaining the thought.
“Daria?”
She glanced up to see Rory standing in the doorway between the kitchen and living room.
“I think it’s almost over,” she said, looking down at Shelly, whose body no longer twitched and jerked. She shifted Shelly’s head slightly on the pillow to be sure she could breathe easily.
Rory walked across the room and knelt down by Shelly’s head. Moaning, Shelly curled herself into a fetal position and slipped her thumb into her mouth. Rory smoothed his hand over her silky blond hair, and Daria fell even more deeply in love with him. “Could the seizure hurt her baby?” Rory asked.
“It’s possible, but this one was very short,” Daria said.
“I doubt it did any damage.”
“Is this the first one she’s had all summer?”
“The first in about six months, actually,” Daria said.
“And I’m afraid I might have brought it on. I yelled at her.” She leaned over and kissed Shelly’s temple.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart.”
Rolling onto her back, Shelly opened her eyes. She pulled her thumb from her mouth.
“Seizure…?” she asked.
“Uh-huh.” Daria nodded.
“How do you feel?”
“Did I hurt my baby?”
“No. I don’t think so.”
Shelly rolled back onto her side and closed her eyes again.
“Tired,” she said.
“You can’t sleep here on the kitchen floor,” Daria said.
“Stay awake just another minute, honey, so Rory and I can get you to the couch in the living room.”
They managed to raise Shelly to her feet, and with their help, she stumbled through the house to the sofa in the living room. She lay down, her thumb back in her mouth.
“Let’s go out on the porch,” Daria whispered to Rory.
They sat down in two of the rockers, side by side. Rory reached out to hold her hand.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
She smiled at him.
