046: Basically invisible

"How are you feeling, sweetheart?" Maille whispered taking her hand and kissing her brow.

Myndee mumbled something, wanting to answer, but being too weak to do so. Maille sat at her side and began to talk again. She talked about Kell's dogs and Kiyah the monkey. She talked about Kell going on location, and how she would get to take care of the animals. She drifted into a reverie about Primary at church, about singing with her sisters, and about performing, and bow she would miss it.

Myndee squeezed her fingers every so often to let her know she was listening. Maille smoothed back her hair, feeling the coolness of the brow, as if the blood underneath the skin had already started its deathly spiral.

As she drove back over to the studio, Maille felt the tears prick her. She knew she had reserved reaction till another time, but there was something so forlorn and so pitiful about waiting to die. Her heart cried out in pain and sorrow, why her? Why this little girl?

Michael set her up with another young woman. She was to sing harmony, alto. She looked at the music, met the recording staff and then the singer came in. She recognized her at once from many trips to the studio. They greeted each other familiarly and Maille thought she would be able to get along. She was basically invisible to these kinds of people anyway; she'd been around them all her life.

She sang for three hours and then Michael told her that was enough for the day. Three hour sessions were Michael's norm. He gave her other music to learn, and then also told her the next day there would be two sessions.

She left for her appointment with her real estate agent.

The house she was shown this time was close to Kell's. Above his actually, on the hillside. It overlooked the city in much the same way his did, in fact had a gated entrance as his did, but it was much smaller. The piece of land was only a quarter what Kell's was. It wasn't a rental, it was for sale, but the agent had thought that maybe Maille would look at it, as it fit the description of what she was looking for, and indeed it did.

She walked through the small rooms, noting cream Berber carpet throughout, a small living room on one level by itself, stairs leading to the main floor with a kitchen, and two bedrooms, and a small dining room .There was a basement with a laundry room and an open office area, with a small family room.

Behind the house was a deck, and a hillside yard, nicely landscaped already. It was close to the studio where she would be working, and it had a garage for her car. Maille had never spent any of her money, and she'd been in a very popular band for four years. She had lots of money.

So, she bought the house.

There were papers to sign, the offer to be accepted, which was what they'd asked for so they were all pleased. Maille picked up keys and signed papers that afternoon and then went back over to see Myndee.

Myndee was still in intensive care, but she was sitting up now and watching TV. When she saw Maille her eyes lit up.

"Maille!" she croaked happily.

Maille hugged her. ''I am so glad to see your majesty sitting up today!" she joked and then sat on the edge of Myndee's bed.

"You'll never guess what I did?" she said.

"Om ... you saw Kell."

Maille's face fell. "Myn, you know I'm not ready to see Kell. I really botched that one."

Myndee lifted a thin shoulder. "You're all he talks about when he's here."

Maille's eyebrows arched. "Me?"

"He has been to your house. You weren't there. He was worried about you."

"Did you tell him I 've been here?"

Myndee smiled. "I told him you spent the night with me... twice." It was a pleased secret between them. Maille hugged her again.

"Myndee, I actually bought a house. I really bought it.  Look, here are the papers. I signed them and wrote them a check. I bought a house!"

"Maille! Where is it? What does it look like?"

"Hey, I'll get a video camera and takes pictures of it and you can see it yourself."

"Do you have stuff to put in it?"

"Nope. I'll have to go shopping."

"You can take the video camera with you and take pictures of all the stuff and then show them to me, and I--- I can help you pick out the stuff." She was out of breath.

"I'll do just that." Maille promised. "I need the opinion of this princess." she looked into Myndee's dancing dark eyes.

"Is there a room for me?"

"Oh my gosh, yes! There's a room for you. You tell me how to decorate it, and I'll do it." she laughed. "How would you like your room, Myn?"

"Like a princess castle... on one wall, you have to paint a castle in the clouds, and a rainbow over the top, and shimmery jewels in all the windows." she mused and caught her breath, "And then all the other walls should have meadows and trees and flowers, with unicorns dancing."

Maille's mother had painted murals on the walls of her children's rooms and Megan was a very talented artist. Maille thought about doing it, and even moving Myndee to the room ...

"We can do it, Myn. I'll call my sister right now and tell her to get the paint."

"Really?" Myndee coughed and then she gagged up some yellowish fluid and Maille held the trough for her, and then wiped her mouth.

Maille did call Megan who was patiently sitting at the studio with Steve, drawing pictures of the set and of the actors. Maille explained what she had done and what she wanted and Megan was enchanted. She promised to come right over and sketch the castle for Myndee. She didn't sound like she had any animosity at all toward Maille, and for that Maille was thankful. In her opinion Meg was the likelier twin to accept her decisions anyway.

The studio was an hour away in traffic and Myndee napped and Maille thought about Myndee.

Megan arrived and they embraced.

"Thank you for coming, Meg."

"It gets me out of there for sure. I don't even want to go on location right now. Movie production is not my thing at the moment. You want to know my secret?" At Maille's nod, Megan leaned forward and whispered in her ear. But Myndee had woken up and wanted to hear the secret too.

"Will it be a girl?" Myndee asked expectantly. Megan nodded. "I hope so, darling."

Maille knew that Megan's heart strings were being pulled by the sight of this sweet spirit so trapped in a dying body.

Maille watched as Megan began to sketch according to Myndee's direction. She told what colors she wanted and how the meadow looked, and in the middle of it all her voice stopped and she couldn't croak even one more syllable. The nurses came running and Myndee was wheeled off to have her lungs drained.

Megan sat still in fear.

"So this is where you and Kell have been coming to all this time." she finally said, and there were tears in her voice,

Maille nodded, her sister's tears bringing hers to the surface. "I don't want to think about it right now."

Megan watched her sister carefully. This was partly the old Maille. Her dark brown ponytail, her simple earth tone clothing. But there was something fiercely independent about Maille also, something held in reserve. Megan marveled at how much she had changed in such a short time, and wondered at Kell's' part in it all. But she didn't dare ask right now, as Maille seemed about to cry.

Where was Kell?

Well, she knew he had been on set. They had had several meetings, longer than the first, and then several sessions with costumes and makeup. Kell was subdued when offset, brilliant when on. But he never spoke to her either way, so she still didn't know what part be played in Maille's life.

The nurse came back in and told them that Myndee was in no immediate danger, her vitals were good, but that this sort of thing was simply going to happen till the end. Right now she would be in intensive for the rest of the night, and no visitors would be allowed.

*****