Lindy Ginger's Arc

Chapter 2 of 2

Lindy left the sisters soaking and followed the cough down the hall. Kaya was curled on her side on the bed, one hand at her throat, the other pressed to her stomach. The cough had stopped, but her breathing was shallow and her mouth was tight. Lindy knelt beside her. She pressed the back of her hand to Kaya's forehead. Cool. She checked her pulse. Steady. "No fever," Lindy said. "Sit up for me." Kaya pushed up on one elbow. Lindy helped her the rest of the way, one hand under her shoulder. Kaya swayed, then steadied. "Show me where it hurts." Kaya moved her hand down and to the left, just under her ribs. Lindy laid two fingers there and pressed, slow. Kaya flinched. She yelped, turned her head, and coughed hard into her sleeve. What came up was thin and sour, streaked pink. Not blood. Lindy knew the difference. She had watched enough of both. She reached for the small bin by the bed and slid it under Kaya's chin until the coughing stopped. Then she wiped Kaya's mouth with the edge of a clean cloth. "That's reflux," Lindy said. "Not blood. The pink is from irritation, not a bleed." Kaya's eyes stayed on her. Waiting. "I think you have a couple of small ulcers," Lindy said. "Your sisters too. Theirs aren't as bad. None of them are the kind that need cutting or heavy medicine." Kaya nodded once. "Drink water. A lot of it. Broth if you can keep it down. Rest as much as the girls will let you. Eat gentle things — oats, soft eggs, plain bread. No coffee, no citrus, nothing sharp. You'll all be fine." "How long," Kaya said. "A few weeks if you rest. Longer if you don't." Kaya lay back on the pillow. She looked at the ceiling. "I thought it was my heart." "It's your stomach. It's been your stomach." Kaya closed her eyes. Her shoulders dropped a full inch. Lindy pulled the blanket up over her. "I'll check on the girls," Lindy said. "You sleep." Kaya nodded without opening her eyes. Lindy stood in the doorway a moment. Three sisters. Same illness, different sizes. No fevers. No bleeds. Nothing she had missed. Her hands were not shaking. She noticed that. She walked back down the hall. The bathwater was still warm. Joy had her cheek on the tub's rim, half asleep. Elleanor lifted her head. "Kaya?" Elleanor said. "Same as you two," Lindy said. "She's resting." Elleanor watched her face for a long second, then let her head drop back against the tile. Lindy sat down on the floor beside the tub. She had come to Treeland for work she could finish. Today she had finished it. She let herself sit with that before she started thinking about what came next — supplies, a follow-up, telling the clinic she would be back tomorrow with three names on her list.