“You don’t have to do that. Don’t you have work? We can’t ask you to drop everything for this.”
“I’m doing it because I want to. She’s my baby sister.”
Dad was silent for a short bit. “I didn’t realize…I mean, I’m glad you feel that way. I’ll get you a plane ticket.”
He didn’t realize she felt that way about Kieu?
What the hell. Really? Was this just one more example of how right Chris had been? Had she replaced showing her concern for Kieu with guilt over what she’d brought Kieu into? Were all those rules her version of penance when she should have been reaching out to her sister?
She didn’t know what to think anymore. All she knew right now was that she had to go see her sister, to be there for her now even though she hadn’t done a good job of it in the past.
She pulled out her bag and started throwing clothes into it. Gali appeared in the doorway.
“What’s going on?”
Minh shared the news and Gali enveloped her in a hug. “God, I’m so sorry, Minh. What can I do?”
She shook her head. “You’ve already done so much. I can’t—you were right, you know. I’ve been too rigid. I’ve been hiding behind all my rules, and I need to go straighten that out. My dad is getting me a ticket to New York and—”
Just then, her phone beeped with a text message. She picked it up and read You’re on a nine o’clock flight tonight. Love you, Dad.
“I’m leaving in a few hours. I—”
Gali put her hands on Minh’s shoulders. “Hey. It’s going to be okay. You pack, okay? That’s all you need to worry about right now.”
“But, the film—”
“Pack. You can take care of the rest later.”
Minh took a deep breath. “You’re right. First things first.”
…
Chris was still in the office when Minh called. Without her around, he didn’t feel like going anywhere else. He figured he may as well stick around and finish up any loose ends on the film.
When the phone rang shortly before eight o’clock and he saw who it was, his heart skipped a beat.
He needed to tell her what he’d really been thinking, before. He already hated the distance between them.
But when he answered, all thoughts of that discussion fell apart as soon as he heard her voice.
“Chris, it’s me. I-I had to call you because I’m at the airport. I—”
Shit, she sounded awful. Like someone had died or something. Oh, fuck. She’d told him about her sister. What if something had happened to Kieu?
“Are you okay? Why are you at the airport?”
“It’s Kieu. She—” Fuck, he knew it. “—overdosed on pills, and she’s in the hospital. I need to go for a few days.”
Chris breathed a sigh of relief. Oh, thank God. Kieu was still alive, at least. He couldn’t imagine what Minh would go through if her little sister had died. Not with all the guilt she already carried around.
But that also meant that Minh wouldn’t be around to finish up the score. How were they going to complete it on time? Maybe he could get someone in to do just the last two scenes—he’d probably have to pay out the nose for someone as good as she was, but at least it was for only two songs.
The two most important ones.
Damn it.
He certainly couldn’t tell her that she needed to hurry back or he’d have to find someone else. Not right after her sister had ended up in the hospital. He stared out of the windows of the booth.
“Sure, yeah. I understand. I’m really sorry, Minh.”
“I’m sorry, too,” she whispered, and the way she said it…
It sounded like she was talking about more than just what had happened with her sister.
Did that mean she wanted to talk to him about their relationship, too? Did that mean she wanted more?
Fuck. She was going to hate him if he had to replace her on these last two songs.
So all he said was, Have a good trip, and then sat there in silence after she’d hung up the phone.
Chapter Sixteen
“Mr. Jackson?”
Minh’s father immediately shot out of the chair where he’d been dozing. It was Monday evening, and Mom had gone back to the hotel to sleep after the nearly three-day vigil they’d all been keeping at Kieu’s bedside. The doctor had put her into a medically-induced coma after they’d pumped her stomach, but she was healing quickly enough that they’d been talking about bringing her out of it.
“Yes. Any updates?” Dad was staring intently at the doctor as though trying to read the poor woman’s mind. Minh rose too, out of the chair where she’d been curled up, not sleeping, and thinking about Chris.