“Bobby!” Cassie’s mind went blank. She fell to her knees and touched Bobby’s cool, clammy face. Bobby grabbed at Cassie’s hand, her eyes wide with fear.
“I’m here now, okay? I’ll get you help! Stay with me!” Cassie snatched the phone off the nightstand and dialed 911 with fumbling fingers. After giving them the information, she called her mom.
“I’m on my way!” Anna snapped into the phone.
“You should go straight to the hospital. You’ll get there quicker, and you can meet the ambulance.” Cassie’s hand rhythmically squeezed Bobby’s as she talked. “They should be here in two minutes.”
“I’ll come get you first. I don’t want you driving when you’re upset like this.”
“I’ll be okay,” Cassie lied. Her body shook uncontrollably, and she still hadn’t decided how she would shield Birdie from seeing Bobby like this. She hoped the little girl didn’t wake up now and walk in on them.
The doorbell sounded, and she jumped up.
“They’re here. I’ve got to go!” Cassie dropped the phone and hurried to the front door.
Two paramedics barreled into the house. As Cassie directed them toward Bobby’s room, Nick, hair mussed like he’d just rolled out of bed, ran in the door.
She threw her arms around him in a fierce hug, her need for comfort in this moment outweighing any of the things she’d told him the night before.
“I had my radio on my nightstand. When I heard the address, I came right over.” He pressed his cheek against her hair as he held her close.
“Thank you.” Her voice broke.
“Cassie”—he pulled back and gripped her shoulders—”where’s Birdie?”
“She’s still sleeping,” Cassie replied, focusing on Nick’s face. His calm eyes stared back into hers and the racing thoughts in her mind slowed. She wrung her hands. “I don’t want her to see Bobby like this.”
“Do you want to go to her room and stay with her? I’ll help Bobby get in the ambulance, then drive you both to the hospital.”
Cassie let his soothing voice roll over her, and she nodded mutely.
Nick glanced past her. “All right. They’re coming out with her now. Go on into Birdie’s room so she doesn’t walk out.”
Cassie, afraid to break contact with Nick’s steady presence, faltered for a moment as he nudged her down the hall and went in to talk to the other medics. She pulled herself together and tiptoed into Birdie’s room. Somehow, the girl slept on through all the commotion.
“Birdie.” Cassie shook the small shoulder. “Birdie, it’s time to wake up. Nick’s here, and he’s going to take us to the hospital. Maybe he’ll take you to the park while I go talk with Bobby and her doctor.”
At the sound of Nick’s name, the little girl’s eyes flew open. “Nick’s here?” She jumped out of bed and ran to her toy table. “I’m going to bring a bag with crayons and books, okay, Mommy?”
“That’s a great idea.” Cassie moved to stand near the door. As the medics carried Bobby out the front door on a stretcher, she clamped a hand over her mouth to hold back her cry.
Nick closed the front door, then turned and locked eyes with her. “Just a few more minutes to get them going down the street,” he said in a low voice.
Cassie nodded, pushed the door shut, and turned to her little girl. “Tell me what you’re packing, Birdie.” They were the same words she’d uttered to Bobby to soothe her. She mustered up a tremulous smile for her daughter as the ambulance sirens screeched outside the house.
28
KATYA
Ukraine, February 1933
Katya curled around Halya’s body, trying her best to keep the baby warm under their stack of blankets. The cold, an ever-present force, couldn’t be kept at bay by their small fire, and Katya missed the warmth of her sister or Pavlo curled behind her.
Katya talked to Halya as she held up the picture of her and Alina from Olha and Boryslav’s wedding. “See, Halya, this is your mother. She was the prettiest girl in the village, and you look just like her.”
The picture shook in Katya’s hand. Sisters forever. When she closed her eyes, she could hear her sister’s clear voice uttering those words.
“Sisters forever,” Katya whispered.
Halya’s big eyes stared at the photograph. She was almost fourteen months now, though she didn’t look it. Katya sang songs, told stories, counted, and did everything she could to brighten Halya’s world, but still she worried it wasn’t enough. Halya couldn’t crawl or walk, and she only babbled a few nonsensical words, but sometimes, when Halya smiled, tiny glimpses of Alina appeared in her face. Katya lived for the joy of those moments, and she knew Kolya felt the same. His love for Halya, evident in the way he rocked her to sleep and tickled her to make her laugh, was what kept him going. The state had taken so much from them, but their love survived, even in the darkest times.