Chapter 3
“Oh
come on, Cici…let me put this on you.”
“Get
that greasy gook away from me. YOU’RE supposed to be the grotesque patient
here.”
“Yeah,
but you’re a spooky nurse. You need spooky make-up.”
She
grabbed the sponge out of the boy’s hand and couldn’t help but smile. To say he
enjoyed Halloween was a major understatement. The kid lived for it.
“Aren’t
I too old to be doing this anyway, Nick?”
“Show
me where in the rule books it says you can’t go trick or treating after a
certain age.”
Silence.
Damned kid had her there. “But Nick….I feel foolish.”
“Stop
it. You’re my chaperone. Dad’s taking BJ and Les, Mom’s staying here with the
twins. You’re hired. Now, sit still and let me put this make-up on you.”
“You’re
a pain, Mr. I-Wanna-Be-A-Star, you know that?”
Nope,
it’s Mr. I’m-GONNA-Be-A-Star, and yes, I know…close your eyes.”
“Okay,
okay, let me sit down first. God, you’re persistent.” She plopped down on the
toilet seat and Nick almost jumped out of his skin dipping the sponge in the
different colors, painting a scary, greenish hue on her face. He was always
scheming up some sort of make believe play, show or movie for his family. So
Halloween was an opportunity to let it all hang out. No holds barred. How Ciara got herself into the mix this time, she’ll never
know.
“Ooooohhh, I’m good. Here, look at yourself.” He handed her
a small mirror and gleamed with pride at his work. Yep. He was good.
“Alright,
Patient. Switch me seats. It’s your turn. Where did you want that scar?”
After
Ciara finished up with the make up, she wrapped a
“blood”-stained turban around her young friend’s head. He was downright
giggling with glee. The goof. As she tucked in the final piece of fabric a
squeal from the hall jolted them both out of their creative haven.
“NICKY!!!!!!
Looky meeeeeeeeeee!!!! I’m
a FAIRY!”
Ciara stepped back so Nick could see into
the hall, laughing at his younger sister’s dance. Leslie was swirling and
spinning so much, she just might take off in flight. “Oh, Les…you look
beautiful!”
The
little girl stopped her swirling when her big brother’s head popped out from
the bathroom. Her eyes bulged out of her head and she took a breath to scream,
but nothing came out. Trying to help the little one see that it was just her
big brother in funny clothes, Ciara got down on her
knees to talk to her. Ooops. She forgot she was
green. That did it. The young child took one look at Ciara’s
face, another quick glance up at her…big brother…maybe…and screamed at the top
of her lungs.
“MOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!”
Her legs scampered before her body caught up, finally organizing themselves
enough to run down the hall to her mother’s awaiting arms.
“Nickolas
Gene…what have you done to your….” Jane stopped cold at the sight of her son.
“Dear God, Nick. No wonder she can’t breathe.” Jane took the sobbing child back
into her room trying to decide what was more entertaining. Nick’s costume, his
make up, or the confused look on his face. “I think you’re done, Nick…go on
out. It’s almost time.”
“Oops.”
Nick sulked back into the bathroom for his own inspection of Ciara’s work. “WOW! You should do make-up for movies and
stuff! This is great!”
“Thank
you, and no. I’d rather clean up wounds, not make them.” Ciara
suddenly sat back down on the toilet seat, grabbing the sink ledge on the way.
“Woah…hang on Nick. I’m not feeling well. Damn.”
He
had seen this once before on the boat the previous summer. Something about her
blood sugar. Quickly trying to think whether it was high blood sugar or low
blood sugar that made her weak and sweaty, he started pacing the
bathroom…wanting to help, wishing Ciara didn’t have
to go through with this junk. “Uh, you okay, Ci? Do
you need something?”
“Yep…some
fruit juice, or…hey. Your mom is giving out Life Savers isn’t she?”
“Yeah,
I think so, why? You can’t have sugar, can you?”
“Normally,
no, but I need some now. Go get one of those little packages for me, huh?”
With
a quick look back and worry written all over his made-up, scarred face, he took
off down the hall to the front door as quickly as his costume would allow.
Ciara sat back on the seat, trying to keep
calm. She’d been doing this a lot lately. It was getting old. Nick had only
seen it once and he was just too young to be expected to handle it. Her friends
rarely even saw it, and usually were complete retards with it when they did.
One even went so far as to call her a druggie when she saw Ciara
giving herself a shot at a pizza party after a football game last week.
As
her lips started to go numb, Nick showed back up with a couple of packages of
the candy. “Here. I grabbed a few. You okay?”
“Yeah,
honey…I’ll be okay. Can you open one for me? My fingers feel like rubber.”
“Oh,
okay, sure. Are you gonna still be able to go out?” Nick frantically struggled
to find the pull cord on the wrapping, finally using his teeth to get it open.
“Here…how many do you need?”
“A
couple is good. Thanks.” She popped the candy in her mouth and sat back,
smiling at the nervous boy sitting on the edge of the bathtub. So young, yet so
mature. Five years her junior, yet in just a few short months had become a real
important part of her life. He kept her laughing, sang her songs, showed her
that life was worth enjoying, not just dragging your butt through everyday. Her
disease had made her a bit tired and old for her age. Nick brought back
balance. And now, here he was nursing her back to health like a worried old dad.
He was too cute.
She
reached out to his fake scar and touched it gingerly. “I’ll be okay, sweetie. I
just need a few minutes to get my blood sugar back up. I wouldn’t miss this for
the world. YOU need a nurse!”
He
offered a tentative smile. “I think it’d help if you weren’t so darned green!
That make-up is making this look worse.”
“Oh
God. I forgot about that. I probably look gorgeous.” She giggled as she looked
back into mirror he had offered only moments before, feeling a bit better as
the sugar in the candy began to do its magic. How could something that could
ultimately kill her also heal her? It was confusing, but sadly, that’s the way
this disease worked.
After
a few more moments, she felt strong enough to get up and give this trick or
treating a shot.
“Alright.
Let’s hit the streets.”
“You
sure you’re okay? I can go with Dad.”
“Would
you rather go with him? I don’t have to do this, Nick.”
“No!
I want to go with you. The guys will be so jealous. I’ve got the prettiest
green nurse on the block!”
“Oh,
you really know how to win over a girl. Alrighty then, help me up kiddo. We
have some spookin’ to do.”
***
