“Yep,” Lisa answered with a slight wang. “We all grew up in the same area. Ellie and Luke were really close. It was Ellie that got him turned on to medicine in the first place.”
“That’s not entirely true,” Luke countered.
My suspicions had been confirmed. They were close. I knew I had sensed something between them. “Really?” I asked, trying to sound normal.
“We were friends,” Luke said, sounding very uncomfortable.
“Let’s go back to the blindness thing,” Lisa said. “Your blindness is temporary?”
“Lisa, leave it alone,” Luke warned.
“It’s fine,” I said, knowing one of us needed to have manners. “My blindness is not temporary according to all the other doctors. Ellis is the only one that says otherwise.”
“I would listen to Ellis.”
I offered a tight smile. “I am considering her proposed surgery. There are some risks and I need to decide whether I’m willing to take those risks.”
“Don’t you want to see?” she shot back.
I wanted to like his sister, I really did, but she was not making it easy. I took a deep breath. But, before I could answer, Luke intervened. “Come on, Lisa, I’ll show you the cottage. The Sullivan’s have been kind enough to allow you to stay with me for a couple days.”
“I am a little jet lagged,” Lisa said. “It was nice to meet you, Bree. I know you don’t know me from Adam, but seriously, consider what Ellie’s offering. Back in Texas, we used to say she had magic hands.”
“How would you know?” Luke snapped. “You haven’t e
ven been there in forever.”
“Relax little brother, your bitterness is showing.”
“I’ll be back in a bit,” Luke said, touching my shoulder.
“I’ll be in the living room,” I answered.
“You can find your way around that massive house without being able to see?” Lisa asked.
I smiled in her direction. “Yes,” I answered, before getting up and walking away.
His sister was a little much. I wasn’t sure what I felt about her. She seemed nice, but a little on the abrasive side. Normally, I would like that in a person. I could be blunt and Mel was definitely blunt. It was different when I couldn’t see the expression on the face of the person, especially since I didn’t know her. It was a lot like reading a text message, not entirely sure what the tone of the sender was.
I wondered what the story was with them. There was a lot of tension and he had never even mentioned a sister. He didn’t sound all that thrilled to be having her stay with him, either. I couldn’t help but wonder if she knew about us, about our very brief relationship. She was certainly very fond of Ellis, which only served to make me even more jealous.
Ellis was everything I was not. She was confident and strong and beautiful, I imagined. Of course, Luke would be attracted to her. She was a doctor. That was something special. I was me, the blind little rich girl. I wanted to be like Ellis. I wanted to go out and conquer the world, one patient at a time. I shook my head. I couldn’t even save myself, let alone the world.
I turned on some music to fill the empty space around me. I was becoming more used to being in the house alone, but there were still moments when I felt lost. The panic could rise in a flash if I wasn’t careful. I had to fill the void with something. Lately, it had been me going old school, back to my childhood faves, the Backstreet Boys.
Singing loud and out of key, like one tends to do when they are all alone with no one to critique or criticize, I let myself fade into the music, pushing away all thoughts of Ellis, surgery, and Luke with the doctor. One great thing about being blind was that the sound of music was so much more intense, I could truly get lost in it. Without being able to hear anything except for the music, and see nothing, it was all I had.
A tap on my shoulder nearly sent me into a heart attack. I spun around, shouting at Alexa to turn down the volume. “Hello?”
“It’s just me,” Luke said, with laughter in his voice. “I had no idea I was going to be treated to a concert.”
“Stop it. You shouldn’t sneak up on me like that.”
“I called your name, but you obviously didn’t hear me.”
“What are you doing back here?” I asked.
“She’s taking a nap, so I came to make sure you’re set up for dinner. Are you sure you don’t want me to stay in here with you tonight?”