“What happened?” she said.
“You’re fine,” said Agnes. “Don’t move.”
Molly became hysterical and refused to let go of Lisa’s mother. The commotion she made was so loud that Arthur hurried in with Yvonne to see what was wrong. Everyone else was busy, so he gave Yvonne to Lisa and rushed to Sabrina’s side. Yvonne was inconsolable. The chaos in the room made Lisa feel dizzy. Yvonne struggled and screamed, and Lisa tried to comfort her with no success. Molly increased the volume of her shrieks to compete with Yvonne.
“Get Molly out of here,” said Agnes to Lisa’s mother.
“No!” wailed Molly. “It’s not my fault! I didn’t do anything! What’s wrong with her? I thought she wanted to talk about the wedding! It’s not fair! This wasn’t supposed to happen. Oh, where is Graham?”
Lisa’s mother dragged Molly out the door.
“Go take care of your fiancée,” said Agnes to Graham.
“Molly will be fine,” said Graham. “I would rather stay here.”
Agnes stood up and put her hands on her hips. The top of her head barely came up to Graham’s shoulder.
“Sabrina needs privacy,” she said in an icy voice. “I’m trying to take care of her, and you’re getting in the way.”
Graham slunk out the door, and Lisa saw him following her mother and Molly down the beach toward Molly’s house. He kept looking over his shoulder as if he couldn’t bear to tear himself away.
“I’m okay,” said Sabrina. “Help me get up.”
“Slow down, Sabrina,” said Agnes. “You might have broken something. I didn’t like the way you crumbled like that. Just relax. I’m going to call an ambulance.”
“No,” said Sabrina. “I don’t want to go to the hospital.”
“Don’t worry,” said Agnes, patting her on the shoulder. She took out her cell phone, but Sabrina snatched it away.
“Take me upstairs, Agnes,” she said. “I’m fine. I’ve just been pushing myself too hard for the past couple of days. I’ll feel better after I get some rest.”
“No, you won’t,” said Agnes. “Your body has been compensating for a long time, but it’s reached the breaking point, and it’s starting to shut down. This confirms what I already knew: we don’t have the resources to care for you here at the house. If this were a hospital, I’d slap a heart monitor on you and order some lab work, but I can’t protect you if I can’t anticipate problems. This isn’t a sustainable situation.”
“Sabrina, she’s right,” said Arthur. “It’s not the end of the world. Even if you go to the hospital to get checked out, it doesn’t mean you have to stay there.”
“I thought you were on my side,” said Sabrina. “So much for love! It’s only been two days since you found out how sick I am, and you’ve already gotten tired of taking care of me. I see how it is. Now that I’m not convenient anymore, you want to dump me on other people so you don’t have to deal with me.”
Agnes shook her head.
“Where’s a doctor when you need one?” she said. “Sabrina, listen to me. I’m morally obligated to do what I think is right, and in my professional opinion, I’d be neglecting you if I let you stay here.”
“If you lay one finger on me without my consent, I’ll have you charged with assault,” said Sabrina. “You’re here to take care of me, not to boss me around. I’m so sick of all your patronizing little remarks. Who do you think you are?”
The door opened, and Lisa’s father and Richard walked in. At the same moment, Josh appeared from the other room, looking worried. He had heard Yvonne crying and wanted to make sure she was okay, but his timing couldn’t have been worse. He gasped when he saw his mother lying on the floor.
“Mom, what happened?” he said.
“Josh, get out!” shouted Sabrina. “Why are you always showing up when you’re not wanted? You don’t belong here.”
Josh left before she could continue, and Arthur followed him with a sigh that was audible to everyone in the room. Sabrina managed to sit up, wincing as she did so, and Lisa’s father examined her to make sure she hadn’t injured herself.
“I don’t mean to criticize, but you were a bit cruel to Josh,” said Richard. “From Arthur’s passive-aggressive reaction, I assume this isn’t the first time you’ve treated him that way.”
“I’ve never known what to do with Josh,” said Sabrina. “I remember when he was six years old and he fell off his bike and broke his arm. He came into the house with tears rolling down his cheeks, and I actually shoved him away—of course, I didn’t know how badly he was hurt at the time, but I felt terrible about it later. He was so confused. I wanted to comfort him, but I didn’t.”
“Why not?” said Richard.
She gave him a peculiar look.
“Isn’t it obvious?” she said. “I want him to be able to take care of himself so he won’t be hurt when people disappoint him. He knows I won’t accept any weakness from him. It seems harsh, but it’s good for him. He’s not scared of anything.”
“Or maybe he is, but he hides it,” said Richard.
He helped Sabrina to her feet. Lisa’s father and Agnes steadied her, and the four of them went upstairs together, leaving Lisa and Yvonne behind. Lisa looked down at the baby. She wiped the tears off Yvonne’s cheeks, and as she gazed at her contorted face, she felt a tender sense of compassion for Yvonne that took her completely by surprise. After all, it wasn’t Yvonne’s fault Sabrina was so horrible. Lisa leaned over and kissed the baby on the forehead. To her amazement and delight, Yvonne stopped crying.
Chapter 6
The next day was the last day of the winter break. Sabrina had worsened to such a shocking extent since the previous afternoon that she was unable to get out of bed. Breakfast was a gloomy affair, and Arthur’s attempts
