the wine clawing at her now. She surrendered to it, let it push thoughts of him from her mind.
The shrill ring of the phone split the air once more.
Swearing, she rolled over and snatched up the receiver. “What?” If this was him… Why the hell did he do this? Why didn’t he just leave her alone?
“Sabrina?”
Oh, hell. Her sister.
“Leslie, sorry about that. I thought you were someone else.” Then she remembered the time. She sat bolt upright, the haze of sleep and wine dissolving instantly. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s Mom. You need to meet me at the hospital.”
And just like that Sabrina’s great night was over.
CHAPTER FOUR
THERE WAS SOMETHING about the medicinal smell of a hospital that made Sabrina think of running away. It wasn’t that the people inside the hospital were sick or dying, which, of course, was depressing enough. No, she was pretty sure it was more likely because for as long as she could remember, her mother had required regular hospital admissions. Growing up, she and her sister had spent many nights holding vigil at their mother’s hospital bedside.
Not due to any physical ailment. Nope, her mother had been and still was, to some degree, a hypochondriac. Janelle Fox could suck the very life out of other human beings with her neediness. Everything was all about her.
“She’s really sick this time, Sabrina.”
Sabrina didn’t doubt her sister’s assessment, but somehow, standing here in this hospital in Kansas after all these years of watching their mother pull this crap, it was hard to be sympathetic.
Leslie, her only sibling, had always defended their mother. Maybe because she was the oldest and somehow felt it was her job. Whatever the reason, Sabrina was the third wheel in this relationship. Especially since their father had passed away.
“What’s the diagnosis?” Sabrina hated that her skepticism showed, but, hey, she’d scarcely had any sleep.
Leslie Fanning shook her blond head in slow contempt. “I don’t know why you even came.” She had the same hazel eyes and tall, lean physique as Sabrina, but their personalities heralded from opposite universes.
Sabrina shrugged. “I don’t know why you even called me.” She leaned against the cold, white wall and folded her arms over her chest. She wasn’t going to take any holier-than-thou crap from her sister this time. The episode three months ago had been the last straw.
“You are unbelievable, do you know that?” Leslie hissed. She glanced around the corridor to make sure no one had heard her hushed outburst. “Our mother could be on her deathbed and you wouldn’t care.”
Sabrina rubbed her eyes with her thumb and forefinger. This was so ridiculous. The same old melodrama they’d played out a dozen times before. “You don’t know how I feel, Leslie, so don’t pretend you do.”
“I know that I’m the one who lives here.” She moved closer so she could keep her voice down, but that didn’t keep her outrage from oozing from every pore of her skin. “I’m the one who takes care of her needs, week in and week out. While you’re off in New York being you and without a care as to what anyone else needs.”
Sabrina looked at her sister, really looked at her for the first time in a long while. She did look tired, and older…older than her thirty-seven years. Maybe Sabrina wasn’t giving her sister full credit here.
“You’re right. I’m not here. I don’t know how it really is. I can only go by what I see when this stuff happens.”
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