Part 16: Crisis
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Elsa had no idea what time it was, or even if it was still the same day. All she knew was that she'd been at the hospital for hours. Most of the time, she stayed with Tammy Sue, while Helga looked after Cassandra and Britannia. At the rink, Tammy Sue was always so healthy and vibrant. But here, she didn't look like the same girl Elsa had known all these years. Even Tammy Sue's bright red hair seemed to have dulled considerably. And where had her freckles gone? It looked as if they'd just turned gray, along with the rest of her face.
But things were better than they'd been a few hours ago. Tammy Sue was asleep now. The vomiting and the muscle spasms had subsided. "She's going to pull through," the doctor reassured Elsa. "The antibiotics are working. In a week or so, she'll be as good as new."
The doctors had said pretty much the same thing about Bjorn and Jovani. But for little Britannia, it was far different.
Time and again, Elsa went to visit the child in the intensive care ward. How could those doctors attach so many tubes and needles to such a tiny girl? Britannia wasn't feeling any pain, though. She had slipped into a coma hours ago.
Cassandra was a wreck. She clutched the railing at the side of Britannia's bed and wept uncontrollably. "My baby," she kept whispering over and over again. "Oh dear God, please don't take my baby!"
And Helga... She was totally numb. In the beginning, when there were forms to fill out and phone calls to make, Helga displayed her usual, take- charge bravado. But now that there was nothing to do but wait, she couldn't cope. She sat in the corner of Britannia's hospital room, speechless and motionless. Elsa was painfully aware of the bad memories that were probably being stirred up inside her head.
"Did you ever get ahold of Britannia's father?" Elsa asked Helga, just to see if she could speak.
Helga stirred. It was almost as if Elsa had awakened her from a deep sleep, although her eyes remained open the entire time. "I never called him," she mumbled. "Cassandra doesn't want him here. Or those rotten parents of hers."
Elsa nodded. Cassandra's parents were the last people any of them would want to see at a time like this. The mere thought of them compelled Elsa to hold Cassandra close and plant a kiss on her damp forehead.
"She's not getting any better," Cassandra said hoarsely. "She's been like this for hours and hours..."
"Britannia will get better, " Elsa insisted, knowing she had to be the strong one now. "The others are starting to get better, and Britannia will, too."
"It was Jane Wang," Helga said blankly. "She's the one that did this. Don't ask me how I know, but I know."
"Joe talked to the police and the woman from the health department," said Elsa. "They both said it was food poisoning. Some kind of bacteria was in the chicken.
These things happen sometimes. It was an accident."
"It was no accident," Helga declared. "Our kitchen passed a health inspection back in September. Mark my words, Jane Wang was behind this one hundred percent."
"Fraulein, please!" Cassandra cried out. "Don't say things like that!"
Elsa decided to pull Helga out into the hallway. The nurse had come in to check on Britannia, anyhow, and she needed room to do her business. Once they were out of Britannia's room, Helga continued her crazy talk about Jane Wang. This type of paranoia was nothing new to Elsa-- she'd seen it countless times over the years. The best way to deal with it, she had learned, was to keep Helga busy.
"Let's face the facts," she told Helga firmly. "Tammy Sue won't recover in time to make it to Skate America. But we must decide what to do about Leroy." "Leroy?" Helga seemed to have forgotten his existence, but the poor boy was just a few feet away, trying to take a nap on the uncomfortable hospital sofa. Both he and Igor had been at the hospital all night-- or was it all day? Igor had stayed close to Tammy Sue's room, steering clear of Helga and Cassandra. But Leroy had alternated between the two rooms, also making regular stops to check on Bjorn and even Jovani.
"I spoke to Jacques LeBon on the phone," Elsa continued. "He offered to take Leroy to Skate America and look after him. I think it's a good idea. You and I can't go, and Astrid and Bjorn aren't going to make it, either. So Leroy's got no coach and no choreographers. Why don't I call Jacques and...?" "No!" Helga said adamantly. "Leroy is not going anywhere near Jane Wang! I will take him to Skate America!"
"Are you sure?" asked Elsa.
Helga checked her watch. "We can still make our flight. And you will take care of everything here, right?"
"Oh, yes," replied Elsa. "But I didn't think you'd want to leave Cassandra while we're still not sure if..."
Suddenly, a cry resonated from Britannia's room. A very weak little cry, followed by a child's plea.
"Mommy, no! Don't want a shot! Mommy, make that lady go away!" Elsa and Helga threw their arms around each other, relieved that the worst was finally over.
Leroy had watched the two women as they huddled together and chattered back and forth in their native German, occasionally mentioning his name. He knew they were trying to decide what to do about Skate America. What surprised Leroy was that Elsa appeared to be the one in control. He always assumed that if a crisis struck, it would be Fraulein who'd take charge, while Elsa would be so overcome with emotion that she couldn't function properly.
How strange that it turned out to be the exact opposite!
The doctors moved Britannia out of intensive care shortly before Leroy and Fraulein left for Skate America. Leroy was only allowed to see the child briefly. She was still sick, and extremely miserable, but she was no longer in danger. Her whining and whimpering were music to everyone's ears.
"I'll bring you back a stuffed animal from Skate America," Leroy promised her.
Unfortunately, he didn't get a chance to say goodbye to Tammy Sue. She was still asleep, with Igor by her side. For some reason, Fraulein didn't try to get rid of him. Maybe it was because she was grateful that Igor had helped Elsa earlier, when Tammy Sue needed to be transported to the hospital. Or, more likely, Fraulein probably figured that Tammy Sue was too sick for Igor to mess around with.
Jovani had already been released from the hospital, but Bjorn was still there. His ruddy complexion was starting to return, but he said he wasn't going to feel like eating anything for a long time. "I might be out of here by morning, " he told Fraulein and Leroy. "But Skate America? I don't know."
"It depends on what the doctor says," added his wife, Astrid. "Right now, we're just glad everyone is getting better. Oh, that poor little girl!"
Fraulein didn't mention Jane Wang while she and Leroy were in Bjorn's room, but she started talking about her in the parking lot. "Never in a million years will I believe that this was a simple case of food poisoning," Fraulein told Leroy as the two of them tried to clean out the mess Britannia had made in Fraulein's car.
"Jane Wang is the one who did this. Elsa won't believe me, but it's the truth. You'll see."
"But if Sonja's mother was going to plan something like this, why would she do it now?" Leroy asked. "The time to do it would be right before Nationals or the Olympics. Not Skate America."
"I don't think Jane Wang wanted Tammy Sue to live that long," Fraulein answered.
Leroy could see why Elsa had had to be the strong one during this crisis. Fraulein was so distraught that she'd utterly lost her mind! Or perhaps she was suffering from a lack of food or sleep. In any case, Leroy figured he'd better be the one to drive. Fraulein wasn't capable. Jacques LeBon folded up his cellular phone and placed it in his suitcase. Why was he smiling? He wasn't supposed to be happy! There wasn't supposed to be any good news-- just bad news! Jane Wang prepared herself for the worst. She waited for Jacques to inform her that Tamara Winchester was going to make it to Skate America after all.
But no, he started talking about Cassandra Rathbone's brat. Blah, blah, blah. So the kid was going to recover. What difference did that make? And Jane wasn't interested in hearing about that Swedish choreographer or Mitzi's muscle man, either.
Thankfully, Sonja asked about Tamara. "Is she getting better, too?"
"Yes, she's going to be fine," said Jacques.
Fine? What exactly did that mean? Fine enough to skate, or just plain not-going-to-die fine?
Jane had to know the whole truth. "She's not going to skate, is she?"
"Eventually, yes," Jacques replied. "At least, I hope so. "
"But not at Skate America?" Jane persisted.
Jacques shook his head. "No, not this year."
On the flight to Portland, Jacques tried to sleep. But he was disturbed about so many things. Dmitra-- well, he couldn't allow himself to think about her right now.
She hadn't eaten any tainted food and for that, Jacques was thankful. Later, he would have to have a long talk with her. They had so much to discuss, so many arrangements to make. For now, though, Jacques had to concentrate on Skate America.
What was it about Jane Wang that was bothering him? It was true that even under the best of circumstances, Jacques could barely tolerate the woman. This surely wasn't the first time her behavior had kept him awake, wondering what she was thinking and what she was planning to do next.
It was something about the food poisoning, something about the look on Jane's face when Jacques told her that Tamara Winchester was too sick to go to Skate America. Could it be that Jane was somehow responsible for Tamara's illness?
No, it couldn't be. Jacques was letting his imagination run wild. It had been a rough day for everyone, and now he wasn't thinking clearly. Jane wasn't the nicest human being in the world, but she wouldn't do something like this, something that would put people's lives in jeapordy.
Text Copyright © 1997-2004 Jennifer Lyon
