* * * * * * *
The second time that Gabrielle woke up the large nurse was gone and in her place was a dark haired woman that looked familiar… and then she realized it was Louise Harrison. On the bedside table sat an ostentatious bouquet of white lilies and next to them a few prettier pink carnations.
“Am I dead?” Gabby moaned, lifting her head to stare at Louise. She hadn’t seen George’s sister in… what more then six years. She had moved to America, but Gabby could have sworn it was somewhere in the Mid West. Weren’t they in California?
“Hello Gabby” Lou said, giving her a smirk that was so like George that Gabby’s heart felt like it might rip out of her chest.
“hey, lou”
“Ah” Louise laughed “There’s that accent. Still talking through yer noses ye scousers”
Gabby smiled and struggled to sit up. She was unsure weather she should be happy to see Lou or ashamed of why she was there.
“So… what are you doing here?” she asked slowly
Louise smiled ironically “Your friends, Trixie and Montana, they called Art to tell him you were ill. When I called to see how you were he said you were out here in California” she made her hands dance about her face while she talked “Isn’t it a funny world we live in. We were taking the kids out here for their Mid Winter Holiday.”
“Yeah, funny world”
“So I thought maybe we’d run into you, I called Art from the Hotel this morning and he told me you were in hospital. So of course, you being my little brother Georgie’s best friend in all the world, I had to come see how you were”
Gabby smiled down at her hands. “Thanks Lou”
She stood up and came over to the bed. “So, you’ve not been taking care of yourself, eh?”
“No…” Gabrielle shrugged “I mean… not really”
Lou laughed and shook her head “What’re we gonna do with you, girl. Get home. Or at least get back to New York. Last time I talked to Mum she said you were being a right proper student there.”
“When did you talk to her?” Gaby asked, her eyes bright “How’s the band and George and all”
“Oh about a month ago” Louise nodded “They’re heading down to London, last I heard, looking for a record deal”
Gabrielle beamed “I knew they would do it”
Trixie flounced into the room then, fidgeting nervously “oh good, yer not fucken dead” she said, grinning at Gabby “That would have been a horrible way to die”
“I want to go home” Gabby sighed, rolling her head to stare at the flowers. She reached out with one be-tube’d arm to take hold of the card and found it was from Bob Dylan. Hah. White Lilies. What a joking bastard.
Trixie fidgeted over to the edge of the bed and picked up the end of the quilt. “So Montana and I were thinking maybe we should go back to New York”
“Maybe” Gabrielle admitted. She wouldn’t have gotten grades for the first semester she wasted at NYU. For some reason the stay at the hospital was putting strange things into perspective. She looked up at Louise “Oh, sorry, this is George’s sister Trixie.”
“Hello again” Trixie grinned and then turned back to Gabby, looking guilty “Uh, hope this doesn’t come off as a not-good thing, Gabby. We sort of borrowed money from your bank account. The number was on your Credit Card. We thought we should maybe fly home”
“Whatever, isn’t my money” Gabrielle muttered waving her off
“So you want to go home? We’ll probably have to sneak you outta this joint”
Gabrielle rolled her head to stare at the ceiling. She was so tired. And craving cigarettes and pills like mad. She felt as if something were draining out of her and she were half empty. She wasn’t sure what was draining out of her. The week stay in the hospital was indirectly and directly getting her to come off months of drugs. She felt herself falling back under the haze of sleep
Louise leaned down and kissed Gabby on the cheek “See you soon Gab” she whispered.
*
The girls flew back to New York and spent a week holed up in the apartment doing nothing but sleeping and recuperating. Art sent out for Pizza and Chinese for them. Gabby ate normally, coming out of her room three times a day to eat whatever was in the kitchen until she was full.
Soon after that she ventured into the NYU registration office to sort out that mess. However, one thing that she forgot to do was call England.
It was Another two years before Gabby would go home.
* * * * * * *
End of Part Three.
