The List

Lorna and Laci

"I wonder what's wrong with my mom." Regan murmured, not looking up from her hands.

"She probably just misses us." Jamysen replied, trying to lift the mood.

"But why would they send an ambulance?" She began chipping off her old pink nail polish.

"It's a hospital. What other vehicle would they have?"

"They could have sent a doctor's car!" Regan stared at Jamysen, signaling she was in no mood for jokes.

"They are not about to let two strange teenage girls in a doctor's car. Now shut up and wait."

"Delinquent." Regan whispered to herself, focusing her attention back to her nails.

"Brat." Jamysen whispered back.

"Loser." She looked up and stared at her cousin as the word escaped her lips.

"Coccydynia!"

"Do you even know what that means, Idiot?"

"Yes, it means I know what. Do you, hmm?"

"What are you? Yoda?" Regan scoffed at her cousin.

"Oh, sorry. I thought I would try to speak your language. Let me try again." Jamysen tapped a finger on her chin and looked up thoughtfully.

"You're so stupid!"

"I got it! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrgh!" Jamysen replied, doing her best Chewbacca immitation.

"Just shut up! You idiot!" Regan crossed her arms and looked in the opposite direction from her cousin.

"Gahr?" Jamysen murmured a sad soft tone of Chewbacca.

*****

Regan and Jamysen entered the hospital room and saw the woman lying on the bed. "Hi, Sweethearts!" Her voice rang throughout the room. The smile on her face spread to the cousins's as well. "Hey, Mom. What's up?" Regan sat on the foot of the bed.

"I missed you." She replied happily.

"Told you." Jamysen snapped slowly making her way to the bed.

"Mom, you can't just ask for us because you miss us. Did you really need us? Or did you just want to see us?"

"Oh! Yes, I need you. I need more players for my Jenga game! Dr. Rose doesn't want to play with me and Jeremy." Regan smacked her hand on her forehead and sighed deeply.

"It's okay, Aunt Lorna. Dr. Rose is a loser. I'll play with you and nurse Jeremy." Jamysen pat her aunt's arm.

"Oh thank you. I'll call in Jeremy so we can begin." Jamysen turned to sit in a chair across the room, when Regan grabbed her arm. Regan dragged her cousin to the chair and whispered to her.

"We don't have time to go back to school, and I'm not playing Jenga with my dillusional mother."

"Well, you can be like Dr. Rose. A loser. I'm going to play Jenga." Jamysen was about to sit in the chair, when her cousin tugged on her arm again.

"How did you know how to handle that?"

"My mother was a drug addict and so was my father. I played Jenga about forty times a day with two dillusional people. You just deal with it." She plopped down on the chair and waited for nurse Jeremy to enter to play Jenga.

*****

Regan changed from her teal tank top, caramel flowy T-shirt, dark jeans, and cowboy boots to grey short shorts and a black tank top, when she got home. Jamysen sat on the couch, still in her school clothes, and watched a movie when she saw Regan jog down the stairs. "I need a snack." She told her cousin, who didn't seem to care, and made her way to the fridge. "There is like no food here." She said aloud. She tapped her finger on her chin and noticed the large yellow bag sitting on the counter. She grabbed the bag and ripped it open to unleash the aroma of the salty goodness. As she shoved a large chip in her mouth, the white house phone on the counter began to ring. "Herro?" Regan answered, her mouth still full of food.