Bitter Winds (17 page)

There was Lily coming out of the automatic doors of the hospital with no cane and no one to guide her! What was she doing free already? And where was her sister? He watched as her lips moved silently and she paused at the top of the concrete stairs, then took her cane from under her arm and began to unfold it.

“Lily! Wait!”

Her head jolted up at the sound of his voice. “Ye Ye?”

Benfu hurried across the walk and up the stairs. He gave her a quick hug, then stepped back. “What are you doing out here and where’s Ivy?”

Lily bit her lip. A sure sign she didn’t want to tell him something.

“Lily? What is it?” He guided her out of the way of the many people coming in and out of the doors. They stood next to the hospital wall. Benfu watched as she took a few hard swallows, then pulled her shoulders back.

“We switched places,” Lily said quickly, then flinched. “Ivy made me do it. I swear.”

Benfu shook his head. He should’ve known. He’d watched as Ivy had made it her life goal to protect her sister since the day they’d arrived on his doorstep. While he should’ve been angry, he wasn’t—he was just relieved to have one of them to take home.

“I can’t say I’m surprised. That sister of yours is more than a little protective of you. I’m surprised she didn’t take the entire hospital staff hostage to get you sprung.” He sighed as he looked at the glass doors behind her. “Well, what’s done is done. Now we have to get her out of there. But first, I need to get
you
home. You’ve been through enough and I think you need some time to pull yourself together.”

Lily nodded. “They’re working on the transfer and might get to it before this evening. Do you think we can get her out before then?”

Benfu put his arm around Lily and guided her down the stairs and to the line of taxis.

“I’m going to do my best, Lily.”

He opened the door of the first taxi and gently nudged Lily until she climbed in. He leaned down and told the driver their address, and threw a twenty-reminbi bill at him.

“You, my dear daughter, need to go straight home and into your Nai Nai’s arms.” He watched as one tear found its way out from under her sunglasses. He was proud of Lily—she’d been courageous long enough. Now he could see she was close to losing her composure and probably would once Calli started mothering her.

“Okay, Ye Ye. But please, see what you can do for Ivy.”

Benfu bent his head lower until he could see the driver in the front. “Make sure you drive very carefully. This is precious cargo you got back here.” He patted Lily’s hand once, then closed the door securely. He turned back toward the hospital.

Now, on to see what he could do for his other daughter.
It was only early morning and his joints ached from the stress and uncertainty his body held. He knew one thing for sure—he was getting too old for all this turmoil.

S
ami sat across the table from Li Jin and Calli, painting her nails a bloodred. The blind twin, Lily, had shown up alone an hour before and shook everything up. She’d told quite a story of switching places in the psychiatric ward with her sister.
More drama from the precious flock
—and again Sami was left alone while they comforted the girl and finally put her to bed. It was the middle of the day and they were letting Lily sleep! If she was the one who wanted to sleep in, she’d have to put up with their disapproving looks and such, but because Lily was theirs, she could do what she wanted. It was unfair.

“Did you see how much she was shaking?” Li Jin said, reaching down to rub her feet. Sami knew she had to be tired; she’d fed everyone breakfast and lunch, and supervised all the cleaning involved. Li Jin wouldn’t admit it, but her family worked her way too hard.

Calli nodded and
tsked
her lips for the fifteenth time. “And I peeked in just a minute ago and she was sound asleep, cradling her violin. It’s going to take her a while to get over this.”

They were really throwing a pity party for the girl, Sami thought as she held her nails up and blew softly on them. The only bright spot of the afternoon was the baby was taking an extra-long nap, meaning Sami could finally relax awhile.

“I wish your Baba would come home or call and let us know what’s happening with Ivy. That girl! Only she could come up with such an elaborate scheme. I’m not surprised at it one bit,” Calli said.

Sami looked up to see the old woman taking a long swig of her green tea. That was another thing. They talked about budgeting and rationing their supplies all the time, but she and the old man could always be found in the kitchen, stalking Li Jin and drinking up all the tea. Sami could barely get a moment alone with her own best friend.

“I didn’t want to ask her before she got rested up, but I hope nothing horrible happened to Lily while she was there. She’s more delicate than Ivy. And I can tell she’s been crying,” Li Jin said.

“Oh, they said she was locked in her own room. So hopefully she was protected from those who are truly mentally ill,” Calli said.

Sami snorted without looking up. These people had no clue what kinds of things happened in the local hospitals. They’d be shocked right off their fairy-tale rockers if they did.

“Sami, did you have something to add?” Calli asked.

“Uh—not really. I just find it entertaining that you both think you know so much about mental wards and you’ve never really been in one. The blind twin probably saw more without her sight than you two will ever understand about hospitals.”

“Don’t call her that,” Calli said. “But anyway, you think you know more than we do about the hospital?”

Even without looking up, Sami could feel the disapproval forming on the old woman’s face.

Li Jin, of course, butted in and tried to smooth it over. “Sami just probably knows a lot from street talk.”

“No, that’s not where I know it from,” Sami said. She’d give them a little to chew on.

“What do you mean?” Li Jin looked perplexed, amusing Sami even more.

“I’ve been in a few mental wards.” She held both her hands up and wiggled her fingers. “Not ’cuz I’m crazy or anything—just because when you aren’t a part of an upstanding family or have government connections, you can get thrown into a mental hospital for just about anything.”

“Like what?” Li Jin persisted.

Sami started painting the other hand. Now that she had their attention, she was going to draw it out. She finished all five fingers before answering.

“Like . . . I knew of a man who was committed for six months just because he complained to the owner of his company about their treatment of employees. The owner knew someone who knew someone and there you go—he did months locked in the psych ward and his wife had to pay a big fat fine to get him sprung.”

“That’s awful!” Calli said, holding her hand to her heart. “But what about you, Sami? What did you do to get put in there?”

Sami fought the urge to roll her eyes. This family was just too much. She could really shock the old lady if she wanted to but she wasn’t telling them anything about her past troubles.

“What else were other people in for?” Li Jin asked.

“Hmm, I also met a woman in the same ward as me who tried to divorce her husband. Unfortunately he held a position in the local government section. He had her committed and she’d been there for years. The last time I saw her, they were shooting her up with some injection. She was screaming that it felt like she was being attacked by a swarm of bees as the juice went in. They gave that juice to anyone who refused to be compliant and quiet.”

“Isn’t there some kind of law to keep the government and hospitals from committing normal people? And from giving them drugs they don’t need?” Calli asked, shaking her head.

“I’ve heard they’re working on one now.” Sami held her hand up and examined her work. She was pretty good at it, if she did say so herself. “But I doubt they’ll ever get it passed. The government will always do what it wants to do. Even if a law
is
passed, it won’t do much good. If a person with a little power wants you removed from society, you’d better say your good-byes and pack your bags.”

“Those poor people,” Li Jin said.

“You think
they’re
in bad shape? That’s nothing compared to what your pretty-boy Sky is probably going through if they’ve transferred him. Falun Gong practitioners are beaten, starved, and even tortured if they resist long enough. There’re even rumors of organ harvesting for the black market.”

Li Jin gasped.

Sami tried to hide the twitching of the corner of her mouth. She didn’t want Li Jin to see her smile. It wouldn’t do for her to know how much the thought of Sky’s punishment brought her joy. The best part of this whole situation was she thought maybe they’d gotten rid of him for good. It was much easier this way, as Sami had even contemplated seducing Sky to turn Li Jin against him. Now he was out of the picture without any help from her.

She heard Lan’s cries from the hallway.
Great, the kid was up.
So much for her anticipated long afternoon break. And she’d hoped the old woman would go find something to do so she and Li Jin could talk. But no, she sat her plump bottom right down at the table, probably even knowing that Sami wanted to be alone with Li Jin. Lately nothing went her way.

“I’ll get her.” Li Jin pushed her chair back and stood. “I need to get out of here anyway.”

Sami watched her leave the room. Li Jin could run but she couldn’t hide from all the troubles being a part of a family and being attached to someone would bring. It was Sami’s job to make her understand that. Then maybe she’d agree the best thing to do was hit the road with her.

Speaking of the road—Sami was headed out again later but first she needed to talk Li Jin into keeping the baby for the evening. Or, if she was careful, she could just sneak out again while her back was turned and then she knew Li Jin would watch Lan. But first she needed to take a bath and do up her hair and makeup. She hoped she’d have a profitable night. She couldn’t have love and didn’t want family—but damned if she wouldn’t one day have riches.

Li Jin changed Lan’s bottom and took her outside. She needed to get some air and she was sure Sami was probably still working on her nails—or even her toes by now, and wouldn’t take kindly to an interruption. Li Jin didn’t care; she could handle the baby all night if she had to. Anyway, something about Lan’s quiet nature always made Li Jin calmer.

And right now she needed any diversion she could get. All she could think about was Sky and if he was being mistreated. She knew Sami didn’t mean to, but her comments had really upset Li Jin.

She looked at her watch and wondered what he was doing right now.
Is he pacing in a cell? Looking out a window? Is his grandfather fighting to get him out? Is he hurt?

She went to the bench in front of the door and sat down. She balanced Lan on her lap, facing her out toward the yard so she could look around. The little girl was getting more curious every day and she loved to be outside. Jojo would be home any minute from school and Li Jin knew from experience that when the baby saw him headed down the sidewalk, she’d ball up her little fists and punch the air with excitement.

Li Jin kissed Lan on the top of her head. Even with the comfort of the baby’s downy soft hair touching her lips, she couldn’t stop thinking about Sky and what he might be going through. She felt guilty that everyone’s focus was on Ivy and hardly anyone mentioned Sky’s predicament.

She felt helpless. Not only was she tied down at the shelter, unable to be gone for long periods of time, but she didn’t have any money left to even try to help. She didn’t even know if they were asking for a fine to be paid for her sister’s release yet. She needed to get Linnea to call Sky’s grandfather and get some news on him, too, but she didn’t want anyone to think she was more concerned for him than she was for her own sister. She sighed. Yes, they needed to just concentrate on getting Ivy home. She didn’t want to upset her parents any more than they already were.