An explosion detonated, shaking the phone booth.
Mama’s voice went tight, shrill. She spoke each word slowly. “Where . . . is . . . Cici?”
“I don’t know. Did you hear me, Mama? Luca’s at Col?ea Hospital and Liliana’s in danger at a facility on Aaron Florian. Please, Mama. You have to send help to Liliana. Did you hear me?”
“Yes. And now you hear me. Come home this instant. Is that clear? Your father has been out all night, risking his life to find you both. This is not a movie. They’re killing people. And the protesters, they’ll all be punished. How can you do this to me? How can you do this to our family?”
“No! The military has turned. Ceau?escu’s gone! We’ve won, Mama.”
“No, Cristian. You’re wrong. There is no ‘winning.’ Come home. Immediately.”
And then she hung up.
I stood in the blood-spattered phone box, looking at the corded handset. What did Mama mean? Did she know something I didn’t?
Fists pounded on the glass of the phone booth. “If you’re done, leave!”
I stepped out, suddenly feeling warm and woozy. Was it the pain meds?
A helicopter buzzed overhead and small blue particles began descending from the sky.
“What are those?” shrieked a girl in line for the phone. “Are they explosives?”
Pieces of paper floated and fluttered down like snow, magically settling on the pavement.
I grabbed one of the blue squares. “It’s a message.” I looked at the words and could barely breathe.
Romani, nu v? fie fric?. Ve?i fi liberi!
I stared at the sentences, trying to swallow through the emotion.
“What does it say?” she asked.
“It says, ‘Romanians: Do not be afraid. You will be free.’？”
Free.
We would be . . . free.
76
?APTEZECI ?I ?ASE
The street battles raged on. If victory and freedom were ours, why did the violence continue? Was Mama right? Would we all be punished?
Mama had ordered me to come home. Instead, I made my way back to Col?ea Hospital.
The hospital pulsed with rumors and desperation. Kents—they were my only hope to find Luca. I pushed my way up to an orderly. His uniform was painted with blood.
“Please. A young man, Luca Oprea, was shot last night. He was in the critical care unit earlier. Two packs of Kents if you can tell me where he is now.”
The orderly looked over his shoulder. “What’s the name?” he whispered.
“Luca Oprea.”
“You’re family?”
I nodded.
“Wait over there.”
Children. Teens. Adults. Old people. They walked, ran, crawled, or were carried into the hive of chaos at the hospital. Now that Ceau?escu was gone, who were we really fighting?
The orderly finally reappeared. “Second floor ward. Stairs are at the end of the hall.”
We exchanged the Kents in plain view and I headed for the staircase. Each step sucked breath and energy from my diminishing reserve.
Col?ea Hospital was the size of a small city. What if I couldn’t find Luca? What if they threw me out? A nurse yelled down the stairwell to no one I could see, “Catch the truck before it leaves for the morgue!”
I exited the stairs on the second floor, deciding which way to go.
She saw me before I saw her. Her long legs cycled toward me, hair swinging behind her like a silky, black horse tail.
“Pui!”
Cici.
Alarm bells and caution flags flickered through my brain. My sister was waiting for me. My own sister was going to turn me in.
“Oh, thank god, Pui. I knew if I found Luca I would find you.”
“Get out of my way.”
“No, listen, Pui. You have to listen.”
“I don’t have to do anything.”
“I’m sorry! I never meant for this to happen. I can help.”
“You want to help? Then help me rescue Liliana. They’ve got her locked up at a detention center on Aaron Florian. Find Alex or go there yourself. Hurry!”
“It’s probably safer here. And we need to talk.”
“There’s nothing to say. If you want to help me, go save Liliana, now! Do you hear me? It’s going to take a huge bribe to get her out. Use some of your dirty money.”
Cici began to cry, “Pui, please wait. Please . . . it’s safer here.”
“Go!”
I left my sister standing in the hallway, crying and begging. The image and sounds still live like ghosts in my mind.
I reached the ward. Dozens of beds rowed tightly together, side by side. I saw Luca’s father. And then I saw him.