Girls in Pants - Ann Brashares [23]
It was an accident. It was horrible, but not nearly as horrible as the ways in which Tibby had failed her little sister on purpose. Tibby was jealous and resentful. She hurt Katherine’s feelings on the pretense that small kids didn’t have actual feelings. And yet Tibby knew in her heart they did—possibly the deepest feelings of all.
If Tibby had loved Katherine as she deserved, maybe she wouldn’t have fallen out the window. If Tibby had paid attention to her and given her a boost to the branch of the apple tree, then Katherine wouldn’t have been climbing out anybody’s window. If Tibby hadn’t been so preoccupied with Brian, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.
Love was the best padding anybody could have. And though irrepressible Katherine deserved it a million times over, Tibby hadn’t given it.
I do love her, God. I love her so much. Tibby just wanted a chance to do better.
The phone rang and Tibby threw herself on top of it.
“Tibby?”
It was her dad. She ran the phone into the kitchen so Nicky wouldn’t hear. “Dad?” Her body was shaking.
“Honey, she’s doing better. The doctors say she’s going to be okay.”
Tibby gave herself full permission to cry now. She wept and sobbed and heaved and shook. Her dad was doing similar things on his end.
“Can I come?” she asked.
“She’s still getting X-rays. Her skull is fractured, which is the most serious thing. She also broke her wrist and her collarbone. We’re hoping that’s the extent of it. She’s talking and alert now, but I’d rather you stay home with Nicky for a couple more hours. Bring him over around six when things settle down here, okay?”
“Okay. But I want—I want to see her so bad, Daddy….” Tibby’s voice got swallowed up in tears.
“I know, honey. You will.”
“Tib, it’s me, Carma. We’ve been terrified all day. Lenny made me stop calling your house, and then she called five more times. I’m so glad K’s gonna be okay. I’m thinking about you. Please call when you get a second. I love you.” Beeep.
“Tibby! It’s Bee! God, Lena called me here to tell me about Katherine. I’m still shaking. She’s going to get better so fast, though. I know it. Call me? Love you.” Beeeep.
“Tib, sorry I kept calling before. It’s Lenny. I just couldn’t stand waiting. I’m so glad the news is good. I’ll come visit tomorrow, okay? Hang in there. We love you.” Beeeep.
“And I saw it really close, so I wanted to get it.” Katherine was propped up on pillows in her hospital bed, slightly woozy from medication but still eager to recount her adventure to Tibby and Nicky, who were both sitting cross-legged on the foot of her bed.
Tibby nodded eagerly, trying not to show her agony at each word of the retelling. Her heart ached at the sight of Katherine’s bruised, bandaged head, her cast, her sling and multiple cuts and scrapes. It was made almost more heartrending by the fact that Katherine didn’t seem to notice.
“I couldn’t reach it, so I climbed.” Here she looked remorseful. “I’m not supposed to climb. But I almost got it, so I climbed more. And then”—she looked to Nicky for this bit—“I falled.”
Nicky was entranced. Rarely had his sister done anything so interesting. “On the ground?” he asked breathlessly.
“First I grabbed on the bottom of the window,” she explained. “I tried to climb back in because my fingers hurt because I was hanging.”
Nicky nodded, eyes wide and unblinking.
“I couldn’t climb back in, so I saw the soft bushes and I falled.”
“Oh,” Nicky murmured.
“They aren’t very soft because I crushed my skull,” Katherine added conversationally.
“Katherine!” Tibby could not take this. The images were too awful to bear. She turned her head to get hold of herself. When she turned back, she lay across the bed on her stomach and grabbed Katherine’s two bare feet. She tried to smile. “You are so strong and brave, you know?” She turned to Nicky. “Isn’t she?” She knew his was the compliment Katherine would treasure.
“Yes,” Nicky said solemnly.
“But you have to promise you will never do something like that again, right?”