She ran her hands across the sofa that had served as her bed for the majority of the week. Then she reached into the refrigerator, pulled out a bottle of water, and walked toward the door. She looked down at the carpet where she had finally come to terms with herself, with her life, with her shame. And she whispered a prayer of gratitude. Then she walked out the door to the car that waited below.
* * *
They entered Tamyra’s room quietly. Her eyes were closed and her face still incredibly swollen. Winnie walked around to one side of her bed, and Laine and Riley came up on the other side. “You awake, baby girl?” Winnie whispered.
Riley watched as Tamyra opened her eyes slowly. She was certain she saw a faint smile. “How are you feeling?” she asked.
“Like I’ve been beaten.”
Her words broke the tension and they all laughed.
Tamyra started to laugh, then reached quickly for her ribs.
“Okay, no more laughing,” Winnie scolded.
“How do I look?” Tamyra asked.
“You are through with beauty pageants, aren’t you?” Laine asked.
Riley shook her head, grateful to hear that Laine was still alive in there inside her pain. “You look bruised and swollen. You went through a horrible ordeal. But the police called right before I left to tell me they found Jason. He was trying to get a flight out today. The storm kept him trapped here.”
She saw relief on Tamyra’s face. She would probably rest better tonight than she had in months.
Winnie reached for her hand. “Me and Laine are about to fly out, baby girl. But your mom is coming in on a flight this evening. So she will be here with you the rest of the time, okay?”
Riley watched as tears surged to the corners of Tamyra’s eyes. She reached up and, as a mother would, wiped them away. “It’s okay, Tamyra. I’ll stay with you until your mother gets here. I won’t leave you.”
Tamyra’s eyes turned to Riley. “Thank you,” she whispered.
Winnie bent down and kissed the top of Tamyra’s head. “I’ll see you very soon, sweetheart.”
Riley stepped back so Laine could say good-bye. “You will be fine, Tamyra,” she assured her. “And you will always be beautiful. Because beauty comes from the deepest place in you.” Then Laine bent down and kissed her too. As Laine turned to walk away, Tamyra grabbed her hand.
“Thank you, Laine.”
Laine patted her hand and Tamyra let go.
Riley turned to her. “Let me walk them out and I’ll be right back.”
Tamyra nodded and waved with the tips of her fingers as they exited her room.
Outside the hospital, they stood beside an open car door. “You call me as soon as you know the arrangements,” Riley said, then reached out and pulled Laine into her arms. Laine’s hand patted her back softly as she laid her head on her shoulder.
“Pray for me,” Laine whispered.
“I haven’t stopped,” Riley said.
Laine straightened and climbed into the back of the car.
Winnie walked over and hugged Riley. “You take care of her, Winnie.”
“As if she were my own.”
Riley watched as the car pulled away. These three women had etched a place into her very fiber. They had come in like hurricanes and were leaving like familiar breezes. She wiped the tears that had fallen down her face with ease. Then turned and walked into the hospital to take care of Tamyra.
* * *
When Laine and Winnie reached the tarmac and the private plane, Roy Rogers stood at the bottom of the jet’s stairs.
“It’s that man.”
Winnie nodded. “Roy Rogers. You know him too?”
“Yeah, when I got here that first day, he said something about the waters here being full of healing.”
Winnie smiled. “He said the same thing to me.”
Roy nodded as they approached. “I can see you are leaving different from the way you arrived, ladies.”
Winnie stopped at the edge of the stairs and punched him playfully in the arm. “How can you tell?”
“You’re glowing,” he said.
“She glows perpetually,” Laine quipped.
Roy’s black eyes took her in completely. “And you. The tough one. You’ve let go of something, I believe.”
The tears burned as they rushed to the brim of her eyes. “Let go of my disease, Roy. And found a great deal in return. Healed, Roy. Healed.”
She saw the emotion on his face. And he nodded at them, waiting until they had ascended the stairs and let the flight attendant bring them in and close the door. When Laine looked out the window to catch one last glimpse of Roy, he was gone. Roy Rogers was nowhere to be seen. She didn’t know whether to be freaked out or not. Maybe with the stress of everything, her eyes were just playing tricks on her. But she did know she wasn’t leaving paradise the way she had come. No, these waters had been just like Roy had said. They had been healing.
* * *
Tamyra’s mother had gotten in about nine o’clock that evening. Riley had dozed on and off, fed Tamyra, talked to her when she had felt like talking, and had been told by the doctors that she would be able to go home in a couple of days. They just wanted to make sure the swelling came down in her nose so she could breathe okay. Riley felt as if her very bones ached as she pulled into the parking lot at her condo and turned off the car. She opened the car door.
“Mommy!” She heard the little voice ring from across the parking lot.
She looked up and saw Gabby run toward her. She dropped her purse and ran toward her little girl, letting her fall into her arms. She peppered her with kisses. “I’ve missed you so much. How is my angel girl?”
Jeremy walked out of the shadows of the darkness into the streetlight’s glow. “We took the first flight out we could get. We went by the office first to surprise you and
