Chapter Six
Cassie woke up early
the next morning when she heard Rachel making noises in her room. Cassie
dashed across the hall into Rachel's room. This must be what it's like
to have kids, Cassie thought. Maybe I don't want them. . . .
Rachel was thrashing
about on the bed. The sheet was tangled around her legs, her hair was matted
and a thin sheen of sweat coated her face. Cassie sat on the edge of Rachel's
bed and gently took one of Rachel's hands. "Rachel. Wake up, Rachel." Cassie
reached over to smooth Rachel's hair.
Rachel woke up suddenly,
her eyes wide but unfocused. She bolted upright and grabbed Cassie's wrist.
"Rachel!" Cassie gasped.
"It's me. It's Cassie!"
"Cassie?" Rachel said.
She dropped Cassie's wrist. "Cassie, why is it so cold in here?"
"Cold? Rachel, you're
sweating." Cassie put a hand to Rachel's forehead. She was hot to the touch.
"You're sick, Rachel. I want you to go back to sleep."
Rachel lay back down,
her hands clamped over her head. "I can't sleep. My head hurts too much.
And it's still cold."
"That's because you're
sick. I can get you some Tylenol for your headache, but I think you need
to go to the hospital."
"No. I don't need Tylenol
and I don't need a hospital. I need a beer and some shit."
"That's why you're
sick, Rachel. You're hung-over and probably going through withdrawal from
whatever drugs you were on."
"Heroin," Rachel said
softly.
"What?"
"Heroin. It's what
I always use when I visit Marissa."
"I didn't see anybody
with you when I found you."
Rachel peeked out from
under her hand. "You found me?"
"Yes. I picked you
up around sunset on 97th street. You were. . . sick even then."
"I'm not sick," Rachel
grumbled. "Just say it. I'm a drunk stoner."
"And that's why I want
you to go to the hospital."
"Wouldn't the tabloids
love that one? Rachel, the reclusive Animorph, checks in to Betty Ford."
"I'd rather pick you
up there next month than on 97th street again. What were you doing there?
Who's Marissa?"
Rachel burrowed under
the comforter she had been sleeping on top of. "I don't want to talk. If
you're not going to bring me beer or drugs, I want to sleep."
Cassie sighed. "Of
course, Rachel." She stood up, then went to the windows, pulling down the
shades. "Oh, by the way, I talked to Tobias last night."
Rachel ripped the comforter
down from over her head. "Why?!"
"I made him tell me
what happened three weeks ago, when you ran away."
"Three weeks?" Cassie
nodded. "And I didn't run away."
"Well, whatever happened,
Tobias didn't want to tell me at first. He wanted me to think you
were still sick, like you had been for a week and a half."
"I was only 'sick'
for a week."
"But he'd already told
me you were getting better. So I didn't leave him alone until he finally
told me you'd left. You'd already been gone for a week by then. He
didn't tell me what made you leave, but I've been on the look out for you
since. He has, too. Though I don't think he ever got to 97th. Maybe he
didn't want to think about you there."
Rachel snorted. "Our
neighborhood was a lot worse than 97th."
"When I called last
night, he wanted me to tell you he loved you."
"Sure he does." Rachel
pulled the comforter back over her head. "He always says that, but he never
does anything. God, I'm cold," she added softly.
"Sleep well," Cassie
whispered as she left Rachel's room. With a sigh, she walked down the hall
to the thermostat and turned it up several degrees. She was already warm,
but she could change into cooler clothes while Rachel probably wouldn't
be warm even now.
Rachel was furious at Cassie for a number of perceived injustices, namely having to stay in the apartment, though that wasn't Cassie's fault. As Rachel's withdrawal continued, she got weaker and weaker. It got to the point where Rachel could hardly leave her bed, let alone the apartment. Cassie's only part in Rachel's captivity was refusing to help her escape.
"If you can't walk a dozen steps to the bathroom, how do you expect to get out of my building?" Cassie asked Rachel one afternoon.
"I don't need to go far," Rachel moaned, "just need to get my -" she couldn't finish the sentence. She leaned over the bed to throw up in a bucket Cassie had provided.
Cassie pulled Rachel's hair back. "When you can walk on your own, we'll talk again."
Rachel was lying peacefully on the bed with only a sheet covering her. The other blankets Rachel had been using all week had been kicked to the end of the bed. Cassie tiptoed to the side of Rachel's bed. The bucket was empty and Rachel's forehead was cooler than it had been. If Rachel still had a fever, it was mild. Cassie let out the breath she felt she'd been holding since she'd picked Rachel up.
Feeling much better, Cassie went about her usual Saturday morning routine: putting on coffee, taking a shower, then curling up on the couch with the paper and her coffee.
She hadn't even made
it through the first section of the paper when there was a knock at the
door. Cassie slowly went to the door. Only a few people were allowed up
without her being told and she hadn't planned on any of them coming by
today.
After undoing the dead
bolt and chain lock, Cassie opened the door to find Ronnie standing outside.
"Hey, Cass. Miss me?"
"Miss you? Of course."
Cassie kissed Ronnie's cheek. "What are you doing here?"
Ronnie looked confused.
"Uh, don't you remember? We've been planning on a picnic lunch to celebrate
our six month anniversary for weeks."
Cassie about slapped
her forehead. "Ronnie, I'm so sorry. I completely forgot and now an emergency's
come up."
"The one that forced
you to cancel your meetings this week?"
"Exactly."
"Can I at least come
in so you can tell me what's been going on? When I heard the news on CNN,
I about freaked, but I figured you'd call."
"And I'm so sorry that
I didn't," Cassie said as she took Ronnie's arm and led him to the living
room couch. "You see. . . well, it's about Rachel. She's had a rough couple
of weeks and I'm helping her get back on her feet."
"And she requires constant
care?" Ronnie asked.
"Pretty close."
"Then why aren't you
with her now?"
"Well, she's getting
better. And she's asleep."
"Then we can still
go out!"
"She isn't out of the
woods yet," Cassie said gently. "I don't want to leave her alone yet."
"So why isn't her boyfriend
taking care of her?"
"I will tell you everything
as soon as I know and Rachel gives me permission," Cassie promised.
"When I give you permission
to do what?" Rachel asked.
Cassie turned around
to see Rachel wrapped in her sheet, leaning against the wall for support.
Her hair was limp and her skin pale except for the dark circles under her
eyes, but it was an improvement over the feverish flush she'd had.
"Nothing," Cassie said
quickly. She stood and took her friend's arm, guiding Rachel to the couch.
"Rachel, I want you to meet Ronnie, my, uh, boyfriend."
"Boyfriend?" Rachel
said skeptically. She stared at the hand Ronnie was holding out as if it
might bite her. "What happened to you and Jake?"
Cassie felt herself
blush. "He and I broke up a long time ago. You know that."
"Cassie was just telling
me she's been helping you out all week, Rachel," Ronnie said brightly.
"Depends on your definition
of helping."
"Yeah, well, I was
wondering if you were feeling well enough to let me borrow Cassie for an
afternoon."
Rachel wrinkled her
nose. "Cass?"
"No, Ronnie, I really
can't go today," Cassie said quickly. "I'm sure Rachel needs to be going
back to bed and I'll need to get her some breakfast. Or lunch."
"Hey, you said when
I could walk we'd talk about when I could go," Rachel grumbled as Cassie
tried to lift her from the couch.
"You're not walking
quite yet," Cassie said.
"Here, let me help,"
Ronnie said. He stood and took one of Rachel's arms.
"No!" Rachel
said with more energy than she'd been able to muster all week. she pulled
her arms away, then grabbed the sheet from where it had fallen to her waist
and pulled it tightly around her shoulders. "Don't you ever touch
me." She glared at Ronnie with hooded eyes. "I make the rules now and Cassie
promised. No men."
"Oookay," Ronnie said.
"I think I'd better be going. Uh, bye, Rachel. Nice to -" he caught sight
of Rachel's glare again. "Never mind." He moved to kiss Cassie, but she
turned her head so he could only kiss her cheek. "Bye, Cass. Cassie. I'll
call later and we'll reschedule."
"Yeah. Bye."
Rachel waited until
Ronnie had left to turn to Cassie and say, "Cass?"
Cassie shrugged. "It's
a nickname. It's nothing big."
"You wouldn't let me
call you 'Cass.' You gave me the silent treatment for a week after I called
you Cass."
Cassie smiled. "I'm
glad you're feeling better, but your memory's a little off. I only did
that for a day, back in Kindergarten or something."
Rachel frowned. "So
was I imagining that you said I could leave when I could walk?"
"I said we'd talk.
I don't think you can go out on your own yet -"
"Yes, I can!"
"All right. Walk to
the kitchen and back," Cassie said. Rachel stood slowly, then grabbed the
edge of an end table to aid her balance. "Without help."
Rachel let go of the
table, took two steps, then feel backwards on to the couch. "No, let me
try again," she grumbled.
Cassie laid a hand
on Rachel's arm. "I'll let you go to someplace else where someone can still
help you. Your mom, the hospital, a friend's, or back to Tobias. I'm afraid
of what might happen to you if I let you out on your own."
"I can take care of
myself."
"Then why did I pick
you up stoned and drunk?" Cassie asked quietly.
"It was a bad day,
that's all."
"You don't go through
withdrawal that serious after only a day of drugs."
"How do you know? Have
you delivered any crack Hork-Bajir babies lately?"
"Fine then, why don't
you tell me why you were having such a bad day."
Rachel crossed her
arms and sunk deeper into the couch. "I don't remember."
Cassie nodded. She
knew Rachel would 'remember' when she felt like it. "Why don't I make some
lunch? You haven't eaten much all week."
"I have a serious craving
for Chinese."
"I don't think you're
ready for that yet. How about soup?"
"I could order hot
and sour soup."
"Or I could make tomato."
"Or you could make
tomato," Rachel grumbled.
Cassie stopped with her cup halfway to her lips. "What?"
"Marissa hated tomato soup."
"You mentioned her before. Who's Marissa?"
"She's. . . she was the friend who helped me out."
"What happened?"
Rachel finally took a deep slurp of her soup. She gagged, but kept it down. "Nothing."
"Okay." Cassie went back to her soup."
"The day before, we talked about groceries. We needed more. I wanted tomato soup, but she said she hated it."
"Did she say why?"
"It was too plain. Marissa always liked things more exotic."
"What things?"
Rachel took a small sip of soup, then went back to staring into the cup. "Her drugs, her sex, her friends. She told me so few people were naturally blond haired and blue eyed now, I counted as exotic."
"It must have been nice, having something think of you as exotic."
"It was," Rachel said softly."
"Did you end up buying the tomato soup anyway?"
"I never went shopping."
"Did Marissa?"
Rachel took another gulp of soup. "She - I - No. No, she didn't. She . . . couldn't."
Cassie set her soup down on the coffee table and moved closer to Rachel so she could put her hands around Rachel's trembling ones. "You don't need to tell me anymore now."
"Okay," Rachel said meekly. "I want to go back to sleep."
"That's fine. I'll help you back to the bedroom."
Rachel silently allowed herself to be lifted from the couch and guided back to her temporary bedroom. Cassie laid her down on the bed and pulled the sheet back up over Rachel.
"Cassie?" Rachel whispered as Cassie began to leave. Cassie turned around. "Thanks."
Cassie smiled as Rachel closed her eyes and appeared to fall asleep immediately. She closed the door quietly then went back to her room where she picked up her phone and called Ronnie.
"Hey, Cass," Ronnie said after he heard Cassie's voice. "Uh, how's Rachel?"
"She's doing fine. She's sleeping again. I wanted to apologize again for not telling you earlier."
"I understand. She obviously needs you more than I do right now. You're an awesome girl, Cass."
Cassie felt herself blush. "You're not so bad yourself, Ronnie."
"And that's why I love you. Keep me updated on how Rachel's doin', okay? We'll get together when she's better. And tell her I'm sorry for. . . whatever I did to upset her."
"You touched her after I promised there would be no men at my apartment," Cassie explained. "I think you'd better stay away until she's thinking a bit clearer. I'm sure she'll love you, but right now she's not really up to visitors, you know?"
"Yeah, I know. What has that girl been through?"
Cassie sighed. "I don't know exactly. I can make some guesses, but Rachel hasn't been willing, or maybe able, to tell me much. Maybe she'll let me tell you someday, but for now . . . ."
"For now I'm just the strange man who's infringing on her territory," Ronnie said. There was a clicking sound on Ronnie's end of the connection. "That'd be my call-waiting. See ya', Cassie. I love you."
"I love you, too. I'll call back soon."