Broken (7 page)

Aiyana
sighed and glanced in her daughter's direction. "She has problems with her
eyes. She was born with it. You can't tell by looking at her, but she has
developed severe cataracts in both her eyes. It's growing by the minute now.
Her sight is getting blurry. It's not affecting her too badly yet but it will
eventually. The doctor who examined her said she might go blind if it is not
treated. My husband Michael doesn't want to spend the money on surgery. Says we
don't have any. And he doesn't want to take money from my family. Says he
doesn't want to be in debt to them. So that's when I thought of you. You're an
eye surgeon."

"Of course. I can take care of it. No problem. It
will be my gift to her, to you. I would love to, really."

Aiyana
sighed deeply. Then she stopped and looked at me. She grabbed my arm. Her light
brown eyes contained a deep sorrow so unfamiliar in her. So unusual for her
normally light and joyful personality. "Michael can't know," she
said.

"Can't know what? That I am operating her? I
don't understand."

"He can't know about any of this. He can't know
you're operating on her, he can't know who you are, that we met like this, our
history or that we even know each other. Can you promise me that? Can you do
that for me?"

I felt both confused and angry. "But why? It's
his daughter!"

"Yes. But you have to know this about Michael. He
is very proud. He will never accept charity. He would never accept this if I
told him. Especially not if he knew who you were."

I nodded slightly as we began to walk again. Part of
me understood what she was saying. "So what are you planning on telling
him?"

She looked at me with wide eyes. "Nothing. He
must not know anything about it. He will be out of town some weeks from now for
a week. Doing some work in Georgia with his friends. He's an electrician so he
takes the jobs that come to him. There haven’t been many lately and we're
running out of money, so now he started accepting jobs in other states. I
thought we might do it when he is gone. As far as I am told the surgery will
only take a day, right?"

"That's correct. The procedure itself only takes
a few minutes. It's all the examinations and the preparation that takes time.
And unlike adults she needs to be under anesthesia but that shouldn't cause too
many problems for her. If you bring her in around ten she'll be done by four in
the afternoon. I will make sure that she gets the best treatment."

"Then that's what we'll do." She grabbed my
arm and squeezed it. "Thank you so much, Christian. This means everything
to me."

"It's nothing," I said. "But don't you
think your husband will notice eventually and start asking questions?"

"Maybe. But at least then
Luyu's
eyes will be healed and she will be able to go on with her life,"
Aiyana
said. "He can't change that, he can't reverse
it."

I nodded in silence. I was thrilled to be able to help
Aiyana
and by the prospect of getting to see her once
again, but I didn't like the feeling I had about this guy she had married. It
made me uncomfortable.

We walked for a little while longer staring at the
waves and the long stretch of sandy beach reaching as far as the eye could see.
Seagulls and pelicans dove for fish. We stopped to watch them as
Aiyana
put her hand in mine again. She squeezed it tightly.
A thrill coursed through my body. I closed my eyes for a second and took in the
moment. The wind took her hair and her scent of subtle jasmine filled my
nostrils causing all my memories of our time together ten years ago to rise
inside of me again. I had forgotten almost nothing from that time. I remembered
every word she ever spoke to me; I remembered every little thing about her
body, every curve, every bump. I felt so happy at that moment hand in hand with
Aiyana
that I almost couldn't bear it. I wanted to
stay like this forever. I opened my eyes and looked at her with a huge smile. I
wanted to get to know her again. I wanted to catch up on all I had lost,
everything I didn't know about, everything that had happened in her life since
then.

"So did you ever write that book?" I asked
as we began to walk again. A crab fled from our feet and hid in a hole.
"The one based upon your grandmother's notebooks about her life?"

Aiyana
shook her head slightly. "Let's just say it's a work in progress."

"What does that mean? It was your dream! To
become a writer was your big dream!"

"Well. Michael doesn't actually condone me doing
it, so I stopped. I only need like the last third of
Shimasani's
story and then it is done. But that has
to wait. At least till
Luyu
is grown. I can't do
both, Michael says. I have obligations to take care of the house, my husband
and child."

"
Hm
," I growled. I
didn't like the sound of that either.

"I'll finish it when the time is right," she
said.

William and
Luyu
splashed
water at each other, shrieking joyfully.
Aiyana
looked at me with a mischievous look. Then she kicked the water and it splashed
all over my neat pants that I had been planning on wearing for work. She tilted
her head backwards and laughed. I closed my eyes with a smile and listened to
that childlike laughter hoping I could somehow hold on to it long after this
moment was gone. The laughter had grown older, more experienced but it was
still every bit as enchanting as it had been ten years ago. It could still make
me forget all of my worries.

Chapter 8

We
walked to the
Sunset Grille where I bought us all
lunch and loads of ice-cream for dessert. The kids shared their food and seemed
to be enjoying this day every bit as much as us adults, possibly more. We
laughed more than I had done in years, we even sang at one point and ate too
much. I couldn't help but smile as I watched everybody I loved sitting at this
table - even
Luyu
who I had just met had already
earned a huge spot in my heart. And certainly one in William's as well. I never
once thought about the clinic or Heather and how to explain this to her. Not
until the end of the day approached and we all knew we had to get back to
reality. The waiter arrived with the check and put it in front of me. I stared
at it for a long time. Not because it was expensive, I would have paid a lot
more for a day like this again. It was such a definitive statement that soon I
had to go back. Back to the world I came from. Back to the house, back to
Heather.

"I hope I haven't caused you any trouble,"
Aiyana
said and put her hand on top of mine across the
table.

I shook my head. "Don't worry about it."

"So what will you tell her?"

"Heather?"

Aiyana
nodded while drinking from her glass of cola. "What will you tell her
about where you were today?"

I shrugged. "I don't know," I said and
forced a smile. "I'll come up with something. And you? What will you tell
Michael?"

"He’s been gone all day. He won't notice."

"And
Luyu
won't
tell?" I emptied my glass of beer.

"God, no. They never talk much anyway."

"Neither do William and his mother."

"That's really sad, Christian."

I smiled. "Yeah. I know. For both of us I
guess."

She laughed. "I guess you're right." Our
eyes locked for a second. Then we both laughed. Not because it was funny, but
because we both realized the absurdity of our situation.

We were all quiet in the
car on our way back towards the city. The kids had fallen asleep in the
backseat. William still had a chocolate moustache from the ice-cream and
Luyu's
hair was still messed up with loads of sand. They
looked so peaceful as they slept leaning on each other, as if they wanted to
hug even in their sleep. Like they were afraid of letting go or missing even a
second of each other's lives. I watched them through the rear-view mirror and
smiled.

"I don't think I’ve ever seen William as happy as
I did today," I whispered. "I’ve never seen him laugh like
that."

"I haven't seen
Luyu
like this before either," said
Aiyana
.

We went quiet again. I wanted to tell her how madly I
loved her, how gravely I needed her in my life, but the words never left my
lips. "I'll call my secretary as soon as I get back and make all the
arrangements for
Luyu
," I said instead.
"I'll leave a message at the front desk to have them take care of it. All
you have to do is call the clinic tomorrow or later this week and tell them
when you're able to come. Okay? My secretary will make room in the
calendar."

Aiyana
nodded. Then she sighed. "It really is very nice of you to help me. I mean
I would understand if you were mad at me."

"I could never be mad at you. You said it
yourself. You had to marry this guy to carry on the legacy." I looked at
Luyu
in the mirror. "So is she ... has she ...?"

"We don't know yet. She hasn't showed any signs.
But neither did I until I was sixteen."

"That's right. Does she do other stuff?
Premonitions?"

"Not that I know of,"
Aiyana
said. "I hope it will wait a little though. I want her to be a normal kid
for as long as possible."

"Do you have her in school?"

"Yes."

"Oh, your mom probably isn't too happy about
that."

Aiyana
went quiet and stared out the window as we crossed the bridge. "What? Did
I say something wrong?" I asked.

She turned her head and looked at me again. "No.
I just miss them, you know. Miss my family, especially
Halona
."

"She must be almost grown up by now?"

"Seventeen,"
Aiyana
said with a small voice. She lowered her eyes. "She is seventeen
now."
Aiyana
paused and lifted her face. She
stared out the window and pointed. "Just drop us off here at the bus stop.
We will take the bus the rest of the way."

"But ..." I said almost panicking. I wasn't
ready to let her go just yet. I wanted to enjoy the last few minutes we had
together. I really wanted to take her all the way home. "But
Luyu
is sleeping. Let me drive you all the way. Please.
It's no trouble at all."

She turned her head and snapped at me. "Please
Christian. I need you to stop the car and let us get out. Michael has many
friends in this part of town and if they see me in a car like this, with you,
then ... well then ... please just let us get out here."

I glanced after
Aiyana
and
Luyu
for a long time
after they had left the car.
Aiyana
carried
Luyu
towards the bus stop. She was crying because she
wanted to stay with William, she said. William had burst into tears as well and
was screaming for
Luyu
. It was a heartbreaking
display. It was devastating to see them like this. But they were only
displaying how I felt inside.

"We'll see them again," I told him trying to
comfort him as well as myself. As soon as William had calmed down and I had
seen
Aiyana
and
Luyu
get on
the bus and drive away I grabbed the phone and called the clinic. I told Julie
that
Aiyana
would call soon to make an appointment
for
Luyu
and instructed her to clear the calendar for
that day so I would only have to take care of that one patient. "She is
very important, and she can choose any day she wants," I said. Then I hung
up. With a heavy heart we set the directions towards our home.

William was still sobbing in the backseat every now
and then calling
Luyu's
name out.

"It's okay buddy. I miss them too," I said.
Then I did something I had never done before. Something that I wasn't very
proud of, but felt was necessary. I asked him to lie for me. I asked him to not
tell his mother where we had been and who we had been with. "If she asks
about your day you just tell her you had a great day. Don't say you didn't go
to school; just tell her that you had fun." In that way it wasn't really
lying, I told myself. It was just withholding parts of the truth.