Someone threw me a beer. They wanted to hear about the island, and I answered all of their questions. Ben must have told them how he got his black eye, though, because no one asked about Anna.

I was on my second beer when a girl sat down on the couch next to me. She had long blond hair and wore a ton of makeup.

“Do you remember me?” she asked.

“Kind of,” I said. “I’m sorry. I forgot your name.”

“Alex.”

“You were in my class, right?”

“Yeah.” She took a long drink of her beer. “You look way different than you did when we were sophomores.”

“Yeah, well, that was four years ago.” I finished my beer and looked around for Ben.

“You look good. I can’t believe you actually lived on that island.”

“I didn’t really have a choice.” I stood up. “I’m getting ready to leave. See you around.”

“I hope so.”

I found Ben in the kitchen. “Hey, I’m taking off.”

“You can’t go already, man. It’s only midnight.”

“I’m tired. I’m going to bed.”

“That’s lame dude but okay, I understand.” Ben high-fived me, and I walked out the door.

On the way to the train I thought about Anna, and I smiled all the way home.

OceanofPDF.com

Chapter 51 – Anna

I woke Joe and Chloe up so we could have breakfast together. We were finishing our toaster waffles and juice when Sarah walked into the kitchen.

“Good morning,” she said. “Thanks for getting the kids breakfast.”

“Aunt Anna makes the best waffles,” Chloe said.

“Aunt Anna’s boyfriend is coming over tomorrow night,” Joe announced.

“How did you know about that?” Sarah asked.

“I heard you and Aunt Anna talking about it.”

“Yes, Aunt Anna’s boyfriend is coming over to celebrate New Year’s Eve. I expect you two to use your manners and not act like complete hooligans.”

“Aunt Anna needs to get in the shower,” I said to the kids. “She has a busy day ahead of her.”

“Doctor?” Sarah asked.

“And dentist. That’ll be a fun appointment.”

***

I read a magazine while I waited for them to call my name at the doctor’s office. When the nurse asked me to step on the scale, I was shocked when it registered one hundred and two pounds, especially since I’d already had a few days of solid eating. At five foot six, I should have weighed fifteen to twenty pounds more. I probably wasn’t even in triple digits on the island.

I sat on the exam table dressed in a paper gown. When my doctor walked in, she hugged me and said, “Welcome back. I’m sure you’ve heard this a lot, Anna, but I can’t believe you’re alive.”

“It’s something I don’t mind hearing.”

She flipped open my chart. “You’re underweight, but I’m sure you know that. How are you feeling overall? Is there anything specific you’re worried about?”

“I feel better already, now that I’m eating more. I haven’t had my period in a long time, though. I’m worried about that.”

“Well let’s take a look,” she said as she guided my feet into the stirrups. “Given your low weight, I’d be surprised if you were having periods. Any other problems?

“No.”

“Almost done,” she said. “I’ll run the usual labs but your menstrual cycle should resume normally as soon as you put on some weight. You’re obviously malnourished but that’s relatively easy to reverse. Make sure to eat a balanced diet. I want you to start taking a multivitamin every day.”

“Will not having a period for so long make it hard to get pregnant someday?”

“No. Once your period comes back, you should be able to get pregnant.” She stripped off her gloves and dropped them in the trash. “You can get dressed now.”

I sat up on the table. She paused at the door and said, “I’ll write you a new prescription for your birth control pills.”

“Okay.”

I thought it would be easier to accept the prescription instead of explaining that I didn’t need birth control pills because my twenty-year-old boyfriend was sterile.

I visited the dentist next and sat uncomfortably in the chair for over an hour while the hygienist took x-rays and scraped and polished my teeth. When she announced I didn’t have any cavities, I considered myself lucky.

Sarah had loaned me some cash. After my dentist appointment I took a cab to the nail salon. When Lucy saw my face, she jumped out of her chair and barreled toward me.

“Oh, honey,” she said, wrapping me in a hug. When she pulled away, she had tears in her eyes.

“Don’t cry, Lucy. You’ll make me cry, too.”

“Anna home,” she said, smiling up at me.

“Yes, I’m home.”

She gave me a manicure and pedicure and spoke so excitedly I caught even less of what she said than I usually did. She mentioned John a couple times but I pretended I didn’t understand. When she finished she gave me another hug.

“Thanks, Lucy. I’ll be back soon,” I promised.

I left the nail salon and glanced down at my hands. They were freezing without gloves but I didn’t want to smudge the polish. My teeth felt clean and smooth when I ran my tongue over them. The smell of hot dogs from a street vendor filled the air as I window-shopped, peering through the glass at the latest styles. I decided to come back the next day and buy clothes that fit.

Unrecognizable, I hoped, in the sunglasses and wool hat I borrowed from Sarah, I strode down the sidewalk with a smile on my face, feeling like there were springs in the bottom of my shoes. I hailed a cab at the corner and gave the driver Sarah’s address.

Even the reporters that swarmed me when I arrived at Sarah’s apartment couldn’t dampen the joy I felt. I pushed my way through them, unlocked the door, and shut it quickly behind me.

T.J. called later that night.

“How did it go at the oncologist?” I asked.

“They won’t have my scans and blood work back for a few days. He said he was optimistic though since I haven’t had any symptoms. I went to my regular doctor, too.”

“How did that go?”

“I need to gain weight, but otherwise I’m fine. I told him about getting sick on the island. He’s pretty sure he knows what I had. You were right. It was viral.”

“What was it?”

“Dengue hemorrhagic fever. Transmitted by mosquitoes.”

“You always were covered in bites. So it’s like malaria?”

“I guess. They call it ‘breakbone fever.’ They’re right.”

“How serious is it?”

“It has about a fifty percent death rate. The doctor said I was lucky I didn’t go into shock or bleed to death.”

“I can’t believe the things you’ve survived, T.J.”

“Me neither. How was your doctor appointment? Is everything okay?”

“I’ll be fine as soon as I gain some weight. My doctor said the malnutrition wouldn’t be difficult to reverse. I’m supposed to take a vitamin every day.”

“I can’t wait to see you tomorrow night, Anna.”

“I can’t wait to see you, too.”

***

On New Year’s Eve, I took a shower, styled my hair, and put on the makeup I bought when I went shopping. My new lip stain wouldn’t come off when I kissed T.J., which I planned to do a lot. I snipped the tags off a new pair of jeans and a navy blue v-neck sweater, then pulled them on over a black push-up bra and lacy underwear.

When T.J. knocked, I ran to the door and opened it.

“Your hair!” I said. Cropped brown hair framed his face and I ran my fingers through it. Clean-shaven, he wore jeans and a gray sweater. I inhaled his cologne. “You smell good.”

“You look beautiful,” he said, bending down to kiss my lips. He had briefly met Sarah and David at the airport, but I introduced them again. The kids stole looks at T.J., peeking out from behind Sarah.