The Mermaid's Mirror

Chapter 6

When they got home, Lena's mom made her a cup of tea, which was the first solution to most problems in their house. Strangely enough, Lena felt better after she drank the hot, milky tea.

Cole asked her to play Ninja-Cat with him on his Mind-bender, so she picked up a controller and joined him on the floor.

"...eyes were open ... conscious ... seemed almost like a fugue..." Her mom was speaking quietly into the phone, but Lena could still hear fragments of her sentences. There was a pause, then her mom said, "Yes. All right. I'll see you soon, then."

Fugue? thought Lena. Isn't that a music thing?

Her dad was pacing between the kitchen and family room. He had apologized to Lena already, saying, "I'm sorry I upset you, sweetheart. We're not leaving Diamond Bay. I was just..." His voice had trailed off, and he resumed pacing.

When Grandma Kath arrived, she bustled in with her usual English good cheer. "All right, love?" she asked, kissing Lena's forehead.

Cole hugged her. "Grandma!"

"Yes, yes, darling, hullo!" Grandma Kath gave him a cuddle, then went to the kitchen sink and washed her hands with soap before examining Lena. She removed an electronic thermometer from her bag, pressed a button on it, and said, "Open up, love, there's a good girl."

"Is Lena sick?" asked Cole.

"No, darling," said Grandma Kath. "It's just a quick checkup."

Lena held the thermometer under her tongue.

"Can I listen to her heart?" asked Cole. He was fascinated with Grandma Kath's stethoscope.

"In a few minutes," she said. "Go back to your game."

But Cole stood watching for another moment, then raced upstairs.

The thermometer beeped, and Grandma Kath took it out of Lena's mouth. "Perfect," she said. "Now let me take a look in those lovely eyes ... the color of a stormy sea, your dad always says." She shone a light in Lena's eyes, and down her throat. Then she took her blood pressure, and listened to her heart, all the while keeping up a soothing patter. "Breathe in. Your mum says you were upset. And that you seemed a bit dazed when she found you on the beach. Breathe out. Do you remember what happened just before that?"

"Nothing happened. I just went to the beach." Lena adored Grandma Kath, but she felt fine now, and resented this minor medical drama. "Can I call Pem now? We were supposed to get together. She's probably wondering what happened to me."

Cole reappeared, dragging Lena's quilt with him. "Here," he said. "In case she feels cold."

Lena looked at her sun-and-moon quilt—made by Grandma Kath—and smiled. "Aw, thank you, Coley." Normally he wasn't allowed in her room, but she couldn't get mad at him when he was trying to take care of her.

"Which side do you want?" he asked.

"The sunny side," she said. One side of the quilt was sky-blue flannel with a yellow velvet sun stitched in the middle; the other side was midnight-blue velour spangled with white stars, and a satiny moon in the center.

Cole struggled to drape the heavy quilt over Lena's shoulders. When he was satisfied she was warm enough, he went back to his game.

Grandma Kath resumed her ministrations. "Breathe in," she said, placing the stethoscope on Lena's chest. "Did you fall down at any point? I know you sometimes climb on the rocks."

"No." Lena inhaled.

"And breathe out. Did you go in the water?"

Lena exhaled, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, I went in all the way up to my knees."

"Do you remember if the sun on the water was especially bright or shimmering?"

"It just looked normal."

"Did you hear anything unusual?"

Lena hesitated. "No," she lied.

Grandma Kath gave her a sharp look. "Right. One more big breath in. Good. And let it out. Did you see anyone else? Speak to anyone?"

"Grandma, it's the weekend. Of course there were other people on the beach. But no, I didn't talk to anyone."

"And how are you feeling now?"

"Fine."

"Not feeling sleepy or nauseated?"

"No. Can we be done with this?"

"Certainly." Grandma Kath smiled and packed up her things. "You're fit as a fiddle. Would you be a love and let your brother have a listen to your heart?"

Lena sighed, but agreed. Cole sat next to Lena, and Grandma Kath put the ends of the stethoscope in his ears. Then she showed him where to put the chestpiece so he could hear Lena's heartbeat.

A rapt look came over Cole's face. "Lena, I hear your heart," he said, his blue eyes shining.

She smiled. "How does it sound?"

"Like this." He imitated the sound of a heartbeat. "Want to listen to mine?"

"Of course." She reached for the stethoscope.

Grandma Kath carried her bag of nurse-y tricks over to the kitchen table, where Mom and Dad were hovering.

Placing the stethoscope against Cole's little boy chest, Lena pretended to listen to his heart, but she slipped one of the ear tips out of her ear so she could hear what Grandma Kath said.

"...blood count would be a good idea, but she seems fine. Keep her home today, so you can observe her. Watch for lethargy or irritability."

Lena kept her expression neutral, but she thought, I'll be irritable if you make me stay home, duh!

"I want to be a nurse when I grow up," said Cole.

"Do you? Turn around and I'll listen through your back," said Lena.

As Cole scooted around, Lena heard her mom say, "...straight to the ER next time."

Lena's eyes bugged out slightly before she could compose her face. The ER?!

"Or a quarterback," added Cole.

Lena regarded his small shoulder blades, so fragile-looking. She was tempted to place a kiss right between them, but he probably wouldn't appreciate that, so she just placed the stethoscope on his back, murmuring, "Hmm."

Then she heard her dad's voice, low and urgent. She couldn't make out what he was saying, but she caught one word: "...Lucy."

Lena kept her gaze fixed on Cole's back, but her heart thumped harder. No one ever talked about Lucy, her real mother. She had died when Lena was barely four. Her dad had married Allie—Mom—when Lena was nine.

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" asked Cole.

Lena strained to hear the adults' conversation, but they were whispering.

"Lena," persisted Cole. "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Her parents and Grandma Kath had stopped talking and were looking at her now. Lena raised her eyebrows at them and said to Cole, "Happy."

***

Lena's parents did, indeed, make her stay home for the rest of the day.

Lena texted Pem that she'd had a fight with her dad, leaving out the part about the beach and the fugue and the drama. She just said she didn't feel good, and would talk to her tomorrow.

By four o'clock, Lena was going stir-crazy. "Mom, please," she said. "I feel totally fine! Kai called and asked if I could go to the Creamery with him. Please?"

Her mom shook her head.

"I'll bring you home some ice cream," Lena wheedled.

"No."

"Caramel Mocha Madness? Come on, you know it's your favorite ... those little chunks of dark chocolate..."

Her mom laughed and put her arm around Lena. "No, honey. Not even for Caramel Mocha Madness. Grandma told me to keep an eye on you, and I take her orders very seriously."

Lena heaved a sigh. "Mom, I know you think I ... zoned out or fugue'd out or whatever..."

Her mom frowned at this evidence that Lena had listened in on her conversation.

"But I've been thinking about it, and I'm sure I was fully conscious the whole time I was on the beach. I just didn't hear you calling."

"I'm glad you feel better, honey. You're staying home, though." She let go of Lena and said, "But if Kai wants to come over here, he's more than welcome." She moved into the kitchen. "We're planning a wild night of football watching. Cole and Dad are fired up about the Raiders game. I'm fired up about lying flat on the couch."

"Fine."

Lena went to call Kai. "My mom won't let me out of her sight. Do you want to come over here?"

"So your parents are home?"

"Kai! Of course they're home. They're going to watch the Raiders game on TV."

"They are?"

"Um, yeah, why?"

"Well, even I—who knows nothing about football—know the Raiders suck."

"They do?"

"Pretty reliably."

"Aw, that's too bad. Cole likes them because they're pirates. Which is also why he likes the Buccaneers. So do you want to come over?"

"I'll be there in ten minutes."

When the knock on the door came, Lena opened it and Kai burst into the house, his hand on his heart, singing, "Summer lovin'...had me a blast!"

She laughed. "I take it the Drama Club decided on Grease."

"Yes, and you are going to help me practice for the audition."

"I am?"

"Of course you are. And Lena, seriously, with your voice, you should try out for the show, too."

"Not even maybe," she said. "But thank you. That's sweet." She headed for the stairs.

Kai followed. "Well, yeah, I am totally sweet. But for real, Lena, you should audition. It's just not right to keep that amazing voice hidden. And wouldn't it be great if we both ended up with the lead roles? You and me ... Sandy and Danny!" At the top of the stairs, he caught her in both arms and kissed her.

Just then Lena's mom came out of her bedroom, and her eyes widened.

Kai and Lena sprang apart.

"Hi," he said.

"Hello, Kai."

Then no one spoke for a long moment. Finally Lena's mom said, "Why don't you two join us downstairs for the game?"

"Uh, Mom?" said Lena. "We're not into football."

"Neither am I," said her mom. "But it's nice to be with the family, right?"

"Sure."

"Lena's going to help me practice some songs for an audition," offered Kai. "We're doing Grease this year."

"Oh. How nice."

Nervous, he added, "I told her she should try out, too."

"Lena does have a beautiful voice," said her mom, smiling. "But the only person she ever sings for is Cole."

"Come on," said Lena, pushing him down the hall toward her room. "We'll join you later," she called back to her mom.

"Don't forget to—"

"Yes, Mom, I'll leave my door open." She rolled her eyes.

Flopping down on her bed, Kai crossed his arms behind his head. "I guess I'm pretty special."

"Why is that?" asked Lena, sitting down next to him.

"Your mom thinks you only sing for Cole. But you sing for me, too."

"That's only because you heard me singing to Cole and wouldn't shut up until I sang to you, too."

He grabbed her hand and pulled her down next to him. "I remember. It was his bedtime. You sang, 'I Can See Clearly Now.'" His expression softened. "It was so beautiful."

"Oh, yeah, that's one of his favorites." She rolled on her side and looked at Kai.

"So will you help me practice for Grease?"

"I guess. But I'm not trying out, so you might as well give up on that idea."

"Oh, Sandy," he sang. "I sit and wonder why-yi-yi-yi..."

She giggled. Kai trailed off, gazing at her, and she knew what was next.

They kissed for a few minutes, until Lena heard her dad making a lot of noise coming up the stairs. She and Kai sat up hastily, and Kai moved to the chair beside her desk.

Her dad appeared in the doorway, wearing a Raiders bandanna and carrying Cole's plastic sword. "Arrgh!" he cried. "Come downstairs, me hearties."

"Oh," said Kai. "Yo ho."

Lena stood up and walked out of her room. Kai followed, and her dad brandished the sword at him as he passed, saying, "Ye scurvy knave! I'll teach ye to eye me daughter with yer filthy peepers!"

"Right," said Kai. "Um, argh."

After the Raiders lost, Lena walked Kai out to his car.

"Sweet dreams," he said.

She kissed him, then backed away, singing, "My head is saying, 'Fool,forget him'...My heart is saying, 'Don't letgooooo'..."

Grinning, Kai put his hands to his heart in a display of theatrical devotion.

***

When Lena woke up on the beach that night, she sank to her knees.

Oh, God, she thought, her heart leaping with fright. There is something wrong with me.

Shipwreck Rocks were closer this time. She watched the sweep of light from the lighthouse and listened to the call of the foghorn. After a few minutes, the terrified pounding of her heart was calmed by the regular pounding of the waves.

One thing she knew for sure: it was time to tell Kai and Pem.