Along came Avery

3 4 . d r u g s a n d d r i p s

"She will be fine." Mr Naidoo, the kind doctor who kindly decided to give us information after another hour waiting, gives us a tight smile and rubs his hands. "We managed to flush all of it out her system and stabilise her. Right now she's is quite hazy, so it may be hard to communicate with her, but any two of you can go in. She will be knocked out again in a bit, but she should be fully awake anytime from two hours to tomorrow morning. You're more than welcome to stay, or you may come tomorrow morning. Again, only two of you would be allowed to stay at a time."

"Let me go." I raise my hand, taking a step closer to the Indian handsome doctor. "I just need to speak to her."

Dr Naidoo nods. "Okay. Ma'am? Sir? Any one of you?"

"Can I go alone?" I speak up right after him, sparing both parents a glance. "I need to speak to her before you go in. It won't take long. But I have to see her first. Alone."

My father frowns at me, my mother tilts her head in confusion, yet none of them object or even say anything. I take their silence as my answer, nodding and then looking back at Naidoo.

He glances at both of my parents once again, and this time he looks at Avery too, who remains quiet behind us all. Then, he nods and nudges his head for me to follow. Again, I glance at my parents and then follow the doctor to a room with a blue door.

He opens the door and steps in, then takes a step to the side and looks at me. "Approach her cautiously. She is still drugged up."

I nod at him. "Thank you."

I then slowly head towards my sister. There she lays on the single bed, hands on either sides of her and a thin tube connected from one hand right through to two big bags. One contains clear liquid so I can assume it's probably water, the other is a bit smaller and has red liquid. I slightly cringe at the blood but then look back at her.

She's staring up at the ceiling. The more and more I step closer to her, the more I notice how similar she looks like to my mum. She has my dad's round nose, his slightly elongated neck and his ears, but the hairline, the lips, the cheekbones. Her chin and long neck, she got that from her mother. Her hair is partially frizzed and her eyes are hooded, almost unfocused.

She seems out of it. I gulp. I can only spot two differences between Michaela and my sister; she has on a hospital gown, and she's in a hospital being treated.

"Zama." I mutter and take a step closer. She doesn't look at me. I'd almost think she can't even hear me, but she blinks and her ear perks a bit, so I know she acknowledges my presence. "Again?"

She keeps quiet.

"I'll take my leave."

I look at Naidoo and nod. He smiles softly and then closes the door behind him. My eyes shift back to my older sister, taking in how dull her face looks. "Zama. You... you can ignore me all you want, but you can't pretend. Here I am. I came as fast as I can because mama called. Zama... why? Why do this again?"

"I doubt you care." Her voice is hoarse, like she needs water to sooth her throat because hasn't spoken in a while.

I blink at her words. The hell does she mean? I drove — Avery drove — almost two hours to get here. Of course I care, otherwise I would have wasted my night on alcohol.

"Are you serious? I literally came all the way to see you. To be with you. What do you mean you doubt I care? If I didn't care, I wouldn't have came."

"It doesn't make a difference whether you came or didn't." She now turns her head to look at me. "It wouldn't have changed anything, Zinhle."

I stomp my foot lightly, pressing my lips before blinking up at the ceiling. There they are, the familiar stinging sensations at the corners of my eyes. "You're so stubborn. You have kids. A life! You have a family. You have what many people don't and you run to drugs? What about them? Your kids? What do you expect us to tell them? Zama, it's tiring. Your parents are out there fearful and filled with tears because they thought they were going to lose you. I thought I was going to lose you. The least you can do is be grateful—"