Ivan(19)

The sight of so much grime and dirt on Ruby made my skin crawl. I found the stack of washcloths and the towels the kind nurse had left me. I filled a blue plastic basin with some warm water and some of the liquid soap in the toiletry kit provided.

After swishing around the mixture with my fingers, I carried it to the rolling cart and moved it next to the bed. I dipped a washcloth in the soapy water, wrung it out and gently wiped her arm and hand. Slowly, I moved around the bed, cleaning the skin exposed by her loose-fitting hospital gown. Hopefully she'd be strong enough to stand up for a shower later but this was the best I could do right now.

As I dabbed at her sticky face, Ruby moaned. She began to wake. Obviously groggy, she blinked rapidly and glanced around the hospital room. I smiled at her and brushed the washcloth over her cheek to wipe away some of the filth clinging to her skin. "Hey, sleepyhead."

Instead of a smile, I received a nasty glare. Her voice gravelly, Ruby asked, "What the hell am I doing here?"

I steeled myself for the inevitable ugliness. When she came down from a high, Ruby could be a real monster. Calmly, I explained, "You overdosed last night. We brought you to the hospital."

"Why?" She tried to sit up but fell back.

Not wanting to see her struggle, I reached for the bed remote and carefully adjusted the head of the bed. I fluffed the pillow behind her and tried to help her into a more comfortable position but she fought me. "You were sick and I thought you were going to die. That's why you're in a hospital."

"Oh please," she growled. "Spare me the love bullshit."

I coiled the remote cord around the bed rail. "It's not bullshit, Ruby. You're my sister. I love you."

"Then where the hell were you when I called you begging for help?"

"What are you talking about? I came to get you but you weren't there."

"If you really loved me, you would have gotten there faster."

I bit my tongue. She was probably in pain and desperate for a fix. "I drove as fast possible."

"Well not fast enough!" Ruby huffed and jerked at the thin sheet covering her. "Andrei came back but he didn’t want to wait for you. He said you weren't going to come and he was right."

I fought the urge to roll my eyes and remind her just what a prize Andrei was. "Look, I did the best I could to get there. I'm sorry that we missed each other but it was probably for the best. A bunch of scary guys found me there when I arrived."

Ruby's eyes narrowed. "Oh and I'm sure that's my fault!"

"Well—yeah, it is."

"Sure, Erin, just throw it in my face that I'm such a fuck up!"

"I didn't say that." I reached for her hand but she snatched it away.

"Don't touch me!"

"Okay." I backed away from the bed. It was easy to recognize the signs that she was about to explode. It wouldn't have been the first time she'd flown at me in a drug-induced rage. "You just need to rest."

"Don't tell me what to do." She tightly gripped the sheet. "You're always telling me what to do."

"I don't think that's fair, Ruby. I'm always telling you not to do drugs and not to steal and not to lie to doctors. It's hardly the same thing as ordering you around for some kind of sick, twisted pleasure."

"You're such a bitch." Her snarled reply hit me hard. "You think you're so fucking perfect with your stupid job and your stupid school and your stupid friends. You know what you are? You're a lonely, miserable freak. At least I have a man who loves me."

Loves you enough to drag you into a gang war and abandon you in a crack house. I squashed the nasty thought and grabbed my purse and the small overnight bag. Certain we were going to get into a real fight, I headed for the open door. "I don't have to listen to this crap, Ruby."

"Oh yeah! Just leave! Go on! Walk out on me like everyone else!"

I turned around to tell her that no one had ever walked out on her but saw the plastic basin flying at my head. I moved at the last second. The basin slammed into the wall. All the dirty water it held soaked me.

Gasping with shock and indignation, I demanded, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Fuck you, Erin. Get out! Get. Out."

"Gladly." Face burning with humiliation, I stepped out of the room—and ran right into Dimitri. "Sorry."

Ivan's tall, blond friend gazed down at me with such concern. "It's fine. Are you okay?"

From inside the hospital room, Ruby continued to berate me with a string of filthy words. Tears stung my eyes at her awful treatment of me. Logically, I knew it was the drugs making her this way but it didn't make it hurt any less.