C2 chapter 2

“Lizzie,” said her sister, who Edna realized was grasping one of her hands, some of her cheap bauble rings cutting into her already sore flesh. Edith seemed far less calm, with black lines of make-up running down her cheeks. Her usually supernaturally smooth hair now frizzed like Edna’s usually did. Edna realized the bar smell had been coming from Edith, a slightly sickening blend of cheap beer and cigarettes. No, not beer. Whiskey. A whiskey sour. How in the hell could she guess her sister’s latest drink from smell alone?

“Do you hear me, baby?” her father asked.

“Yes,” Edna said. As a matter of fact, she heard him surprisingly well. His voice was so clear that it might have been coming from inside her head. She thought she could feel her eardrums vibrating. And she could hear more than just his voice. She could hear the air pushing in and out of his lungs. She could hear his heart pumping…more quickly than usual. It had to be the drugs. She didn’t know what they had given her for pain, but it was trippy.

“You’re going to be okay,” Edith said, although her tear soaked words contradicted the statement. Edith kissed the back of Edna’s hand and then held it against her cheek. Since Edith couldn’t give her sister a full-on hug, she seemed to settle for just the hand. Edna had the strangest sensation of feeling like she could count the skin cells on Edith’s cheek. She could feel the tiny blood vessels under her smooth skin, each one pumping away gently in elegant rhythm like her body played its own kind of gentle jazz.

Yeah, she’d never been a fan of getting high, and she didn’t like this either. Once they released her, she was going back to nothing stronger than Advil.