21. Lani

21

Lani

L ani dabbed tiny dots of yellow onto the wall with her paintbrush in a state of perfect flow. She had already finished the baseline of what she had wanted to accomplish – huge tropical plants in the green room, a coral reef and sea turtles in the blue – and now she was just playing.

It was such a joy to add little details for the kids to discover, like this gold dust day gecko crawling along the underside of a branch. They were an invasive species – pests, really – but kids loved them. Lani did too. The bright green lizards with blue eyeshadow and orange stripes were just too beautiful to dislike.

Lani added a few more yellow speckles with her smallest brush and stepped back to admire the effect. Perfect.

She was just about to start on some jewel orchids when her phone buzzed and Tenn’s smiling face appeared on the screen. She set her brush aside and answered the call.

“Aloha! How’s your day going?”

“Olivia’s in the hospital,” he said without preamble.

She felt the blood drain from her face as she crumpled, sitting down right there on the drop cloth.

“Lani?”

“I’m here.” She sucked in a breath. “Which hospital? Hilo?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you there? What happened?”

“I’m still in Kona,” he said, his frustration and worry audible in the way he bit off each word. He drove across the island at least once a week to stock up on food and other supplies for his restaurant. “My mom’s barely responding, and my dad’s not picking up at all. They were in a car crash.”

She jumped to her feet and grabbed her keys. “I’m on my way.”

“They’re okay,” he said, sounding like he was trying to convince himself. “My mom said that they’re okay.”

“Good. That’s good.”

“But I could hear Livie crying.” His voice broke on the last word. “They think she broke her arm.”

“She’ll be okay. I’ll call you as soon as I see her. Just… drive safe.”

“You too.”

Lani shoved the phone into the pocket of her paint-splattered overalls and pulled the door to New Horizons shut behind her. She fumbled the keys twice before locking it. When she got to her truck, she made herself breathe slowly – in through the nose, out through the mouth – until her hands stopped shaking.

At the hospital, she ran straight to the front desk.

“I’m looking for Olivia Nakamura.”

“Are you a relative?”

“She’s my daughter.”

Sympathy flashed across the woman’s face as she turned to type something into her keyboard.

“Room three-oh-six.”

“Thank you.” Lani raced up the stairs to the third floor. She found the right door and threw it open without knocking.

“Mom!”

Lani put a hand over her mouth, holding back a sob of relief.

She was okay.

Her blue eyes were bright, and there was a long bandage taped to the side of her face. Strands of yellow hair near the bandage were matted with blood. Her right arm was in a sling. But she was okay.

Tears ran down Lani’s face as she put her arms around her stepdaughter. She barely touched her, wary of putting pressure on any other places that might be hurt, but she needed to hold her, to convince herself that she was really okay.

“Where’s Dad?” Olivia asked. Lani kissed the top of her head before pulling back.

“He’s on his way.”

“Where’s Rory?”

“She’s in Waimea with her babbo today, remember?”

“Oh yeah.” She smiled and held up her injured arm. “I got a cast.”

“I see that.” Lani’s voice hitched as she brushed a piece of hair away from Livie’s face.

“They had lots of colors, but only one at a time. I got white so you can draw on it. Will you?”

“Of course I will.” Her voice was thick with unshed tears, and she had to clear her throat before she could continue. “I’ll draw anything you like. We’ll get a whole box of markers and use every single color.”

“Thank you.” Olivia smiled and blinked sleepily, leaning her head back against the pillows.

“Mrs. Nakamura?”

At the sound of a man’s voice, Lani turned and took in the rest of the room for the first time. Sonya and Ken stood by the window, staring at her. With her by the bedside was a young man in scrubs. He was looking at her, even though (technically speaking) Sonya was the only ‘Mrs. Nakamura’ in the room.

Lani nodded and waited for him to continue.

“Your daughter has a buckle fracture in her right arm. One of the bones in her forearm is damaged, but not completely broken. She won’t need surgery, but she’ll need to keep the cast on for at least a couple of months.”

“Okay,” she said, nodding along.

“She needed a few stitches on her face, but it was a clean cut that should heal without any scarring. There are no signs of any internal bleeding, but she does have a minor concussion. We’d like to monitor her for a few more hours, just to be sure everything’s okay.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

“She’s been very brave.” He smiled at Olivia and then nodded to Ken and Sonya on the other side of the room. “I’ll be back before the end of my shift to check in.”

Lani stared after him for a moment, still disoriented by the adrenaline spike that had lasted all the way to the hospital.

Another surge of panic hit when she realized that she still hadn’t called Tenn. She pulled her phone from her pocket and hurried to reach him before he hit the windy, treacherous part of the Saddle Road.

“Hello?” His voice was raw.

“I’m here with Livie,” she said immediately. She held the phone towards their little girl. “Say hi to your dad.”

“Hi Daddy,” she sang out, a bit loopy from the painkillers.

“Hi Livie!” The words were bright and cheerful, but Lani could hear tears in his voice. “I’m on my way.”

“See you soon!”

Lani pulled the phone back and said, “She’s okay. We’re in room three-oh-six.”

“Okay.” He took a ragged breath. “Thank you.”

“Drive safe,” she said fiercely.

“I will. I promise.”

“See you soon.”

“Lani?” His tone was urgent, and her finger paused over the red circle.

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

She let out a breath of relief, like a one-note laugh. “I love you too.”

“Can we go home now?” Olivia asked as Lani pocketed her phone.

“Not quite yet.” Lani stepped closer and held her hand. “Daddy’s coming here, to the hospital.”

“Okay,” she sighed. Her eyes drooped, and Lani felt another jolt of worry.

Were kids supposed to stay awake when they had a concussion? Was that a thing? The guy in scrubs hadn’t said.

“What do you want for dinner?” Lani asked brightly. “We can get anything you’d like.”

“I’m not hungry,” Olivia mumbled. Her eyes slipped closed, and Lani cast a panicked glance towards Sonya and Ken.

“She can sleep,” Ken said, as if reading her mind. “They said it would be okay.”

Lani’s shoulders slumped in relief. “Thanks.”

She stood by the bed, stroking Olivia’s hair as she drifted off to sleep.

The door opened again, and she glanced over her shoulder to see Sonya leave the room.

“Is she okay?” Lani asked Ken when the door swung shut.

“Why don’t you go ask her?” he asked kindly.

Lani looked at her stepdaughter, reluctant to leave her side, but Ken moved to sit on the other side of the bed.

“I’ll stay with Olivia.”

“Okay.” Reluctantly, she let go of Livie’s hand. “Thank you.”

She found Sonya standing just down the hall. She stood against a wall, head back against the concrete, arms crossed tight over her chest. Her eyes were closed, and her face was pale and drawn. Lani went to stand beside her.

“Sonya?” she said softly. “Are you alright?”

“Not a scratch on me,” she said bitterly.

“You were driving?”

Sonya opened her eyes. “It was just me and Olivia. We were driving home from the toy store. I don’t know what happened. I drove through a green light – it was green, I know it was green – and out of nowhere, this car plowed into us. Right into Olivia’s side of the car.” Her voice broke on her granddaughter’s name.

“That must have been terrifying.”

“Worst moment of my life. Right up there with getting the call about Tennyson.”

Lani glanced down the hall. She could see the door of the room where Tenn had recovered from his gunshot wound.

“It’s not easy being back here.”

“No,” Sonya agreed. “It’s not.”

“I never wanted him to take a bullet for me,” she said, her voice cracking with emotion. “I had no idea that would happen. I never thought that he would get hurt.”

“But he did.”

“Yeah.” Lani put her head back against the concrete wall with a faint thump . “He did.”

“It’s not your fault.” Sonya’s voice was flat. “I know that. But every time I looked at you, I saw him in that hospital bed… and I felt it all over again, how close we came to losing him.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry.” She turned and looked at Lani with intense focus. Her bright blue eyes were red-rimmed and bloodshot. “ I’m sorry. I’ve been awful. And you didn’t deserve it.”

“I forgive you,” Lani said quietly, and Sonya pulled her into a hug.

“You’re a family now, which means that you’re my family. You and Rory both. And I am so sorry for not treating you like it.”

Footsteps – a familiar stride – pulled her attention down the hall. She peered over her mother-in-law’s shoulder and caught sight of Tenn.

His eyes met hers for a moment and he offered her a tight, worried smile before going straight into Olivia’s room. He had to see for herself that she was okay.

“Olivia’s mother put him through hell,” Sonya said, releasing her. “But we made a good show of it, the three of us. We raised that baby ourselves.”

“And then I came along and messed everything up.”

“It was an adjustment. And it was fast. I’ll admit that I just about had a heart attack the first time I heard her call you ‘Mom’.”

Lani laughed. “Me too.”

“She adores you. My son adores you. So I’ll just have to–”

“Put up with me?”

“Get over myself. And get used to it. You make him happy, and Olivia adores you. That’s all that matters. The way I’ve treated you… you didn’t deserve it. Can we start over?”

“Yes,” Lani said without hesitation.

Sonya put a hand over her eyes, moved to tears – or just exhausted by the events of the day.

Lani squeezed her shoulder and said, “Let’s go back in.”

“You go ahead. I just need another minute.”

Tenn was standing at Olivia’s bedside, holding her hand. When Lani walked in, he looked up – his eyes were red from crying – and immediately held out his free arm. She stepped under it and wrapped both arms around his waist while he held tight to her shoulders.

“Hey Mom.” Olivia smiled up at her, still half asleep. “Can we go home now?”

“Soon,” Lani promised. “We’ll go home soon.”