Page 122 of The Sun Sister

A few minutes later, the door opened and to my surprise, Miles appeared from behind it.

‘How is she?’ he said.

‘Sleeping,’ I whispered, putting a finger to my lips.

‘Can you come outside for a second so we can talk?’

I shook my head. ‘No. I said I’d stay right here until she woke up.’

‘Okay.’ Miles tiptoed into the room, took a chair and carried it across to put it next to me.

‘How did you get here?’

‘When I got your message from reception, I got in my rental car, but because I had no note from the “authorities” to say I could leave, the darned guard wouldn’t open the gates! So then I had to scale the fence, call a cab and wait for it to arrive outside.’

We both stifled a giggle.

‘Does this constitute a mass breakout of Ranch inmates?’

‘It sure might, yes,’ he agreed. ‘How are you?’

‘Oh, okay, apart from a sore arm.’ I indicated the one that was still stroking Vanessa’s hair. ‘She said her mom used to do this. She told me she was dead.’

‘Yeah, she is.’

‘What happened?’

‘I don’t know,’ Miles said. ‘Vanessa is HIV positive, so it might have been AIDS.’

Vanessa stirred and I hushed Miles. ‘You’d better go. We’ll talk later.’

‘Hey, I can do quiet. I’ll just sit right here and keep you company.’

And so he did, and I had the oddest sensation that we were parents watching over our kid. Despite the circumstances, it felt comforting. As the clock on the wall ticked by the hours until dawn, my head became heavy and I began to doze. I felt an arm come around my shoulders and pull me closer so I could rest my head against his warm chest.

‘I’m thirsty,’ said a voice somewhere in the distance.

I jolted awake as my pillow was taken from behind my head and I opened my eyes. Miles was pouring some water into a cup and pressing the button that made the bed rise so that Vanessa could take a drink.

‘Just sips now, honey, take it slowly,’ he said, holding the straw for her.

When Vanessa had finished, he sat back down in the chair and she turned to look at us.

‘What are you two doin’ here? You my mom and dad or something?’

I smiled as Vanessa voiced just how I’d felt last night.

‘I can see you’re feeling better, missy,’ Miles smiled. ‘You scared us.’

Vanessa shrugged. ‘I was hopin’ I’d never have to wake to see another morning, but hey, here I am.’

Maybe it was me, but I thought Vanessa seemed perkier.

‘Electra here has refused to leave you all night in case you woke up,’ said Miles, who then turned to me. ‘How about you go freshen up and find someone who can bring us some coffee?’

As it happened, I was bursting to go to the bathroom, so I agreed.

‘Black or white?’ I asked.