Alice In Kavaland: Chapter 7
- Henry Livingston
- Jan 19
- 8 min read
Updated: Feb 18
THE COST OF PRETENDING
Walking through the hospital doors of Baptist South, Alice enters the main lobby and her past creeps effortlessly into her memories. The clock on the wall reads eleven fifty-eight, two minutes before noon. This triggers a predominant moment of her youth to become reality.
July 20th, 2002
An unconscious nine-year-old Doris Elizabeth Terry is being rushed into the emergency room of Baptist Hospital, under the name Jane Doe. Staff members gather at the side with the arriving paramedics to discuss her condition. She was found in a playground near a swing set surrounded by children. Every parent in the area knew who she was, but her actual parents were nowhere to be found, and all attempts to contact them have failed.
The initial paperwork reads the reason for her accident was from a broken chain on the swing she was on. The severely rusted chain had snapped when the tension increased, resulting in a non-impact absorbing surface landing by the patient. That is a very fancy way of saying she fell on the grass. Their initial assessment of the child began with momentary loss of consciousness, unequal pupil size, sensitivity to light and noise, but when she collapsed and was unresponsive, they moved her by ambulance to the emergency room without hesitation.
Sylvia runs into the hospital frantic and looks for her niece. After convincing the staff she is her relative, she is able to see Alice. Her niece is resting, but still unconscious. Sylvia begins to weep and she feels her niece will not fully recover from this.
“Ma’am,” a doctor quietly speaks to Sylvia, as he hands her a tissue.
“Thank you,” she says composing herself and drying her eyes, “is she going to be okay, doctor?”
“Only she can answer that I am afraid. She seems to have sustained a concussion after her fall. When they found her, she was semi-responsive and somewhat alert, but shortly after, she became unresponsive,” he lifts the chart up and looks at it, “her vitals look good, so it is a waiting game from here.”
Sylvia nods.
“We were unable to contact her parents. Do you have a number for them or are you able to reach them to inform them of Jane’s condition.”
“Her name is not Jane, doctor. Her name is Doris Terry, and I have no idea where her father or stepmother are currently. In addition, I do not have an updated contact number for either of them,” she pauses, “I heard she was here from one of the neighbors that knew my sister.”
The doctor nods, “I will have her chart updated. Feel free to stay as long as you need to. I will let the nurses know to check on you from time to time and to get some more updated information on your niece. Do you need anything? Water or a blanket?”
“A blanket and water would be nice. Thank you again, doctor.”
As he pulls the door closed, he responds, “Of course.”
Sylvia lays her head next to her nieces, prays a quick prayer for her well-being, and cries some more.
Eleven hours later Doris wakes to the beeping noise of her vitals monitor. She sees her aunt slumping over the hospital bed. Halfway in the chair and kind of on the bed, then smiles. Careful not to wake her, she lifts her hand slowly and places it onto her aunt’s arm.
Sylvia’s head pops up almost instantaneously and she sees Doris smiling, “hey pumpkin,” she whispers through her teary eyes.
“Hi, Aunt Sylvia,” Doris says weakly.
“How are you feeling?”
“I’m a little hungry and kinda thirsty.”
“Let me make sure that you eat first, okay?”
“Okay.”
Sylvia calls the nurse into the room and the nurse checks Doris’ condition, “everything looks good.”
“She says she is hungry, can she eat something,” Sylvia asks.
“I will contact the doctor to make sure that is okay. If he says yes, I will make sure she gets something.”
“Can she drink?”
“Again, let me make sure first. It won’t take long, promise,” the nurse speaks positively.
“Thanks,” Sylvia replies.
The nurse leaves.
Doris looks around the room, “where’s dad?”
“He is… at work, sweetie.”
“Where is my stepmom?”
“She is at home with your brother and sister.”
“She couldn’t come?”
Sylvia pauses because she knows everything being said is a coverup for her parents, but knew that her niece needed comfort, not worry. So, she did what any caring aunt would do, she omitted the truth, “they wouldn’t let the children come because he might make noise and wake the patients in the other rooms.”
“Yeah, I guess that makes sense,” Doris says looking at the IV in her hand.
Sylvia stands and kisses Doris on the forehead, “that’s why I am here.”
“Thank you for being here.”
“You scared me, baby girl. I thought I lost you,” Sylvia adds sadly.
“I was scared when I woke up too, but then I saw you, and I wasn’t scared anymore.
Sylvia smiles.
Doris smiles back.
Present Day
Upon hearing the elevator chime, Alice steps out onto the floor where her father's room is situated, “seven zero seven please,” she says quietly to the staff member at the nursing station. They point to his room and Alice continues to see her father for the first time in many, many years.
It is also the first time since she was nine years old that she has stepped back into any hospital. Now, at thirty-two, she seems to be doing it against her will. She arrives at the door of her father’s room, and she stands in front of it for several minutes before finally knocking on it.
“Come in,” she hears from a much younger male voice.
She opens the door and her half-siblings, William and Bailey are in the room with her sleeping father James in the bed near the window.
Bailey is happy to see Alice, but William is not happy seeing his big sister.
“Alice!”
“Hey, Bea. How are you?”
“Great!”
“Billy.”
“It’s William,” he retorts coldly, “why are you here?”
“Your mother asked me to come.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
“Believe what you want, William, I don’t give a shit.”
Bailey pipes up to lessen the tension, “let’s not fight here at the hospital,” she looks at William, “she came and that’s all that matters.
“Thank you, Bea,” Alice says softly, “Did you get the ITZY t-shirt I sent to the house?”
“I have it, but mother won’t let me wear it because it is Korean.”
“The shirt was made in California, not Korea.”
“It’s all the same to her,” Bailey says sadly.
Alice shrugs, “well, at least she let you keep it.”
“Mother doesn’t know she has it,” William interjects.
“Not true,” Bailey defends looking away.
“Is it true, Bailey?”
Bailey is silent.
“Bea!”
“Yes,” Bailey says tearing up, “she won’t let me have anything you send me.”
Did she do the same to you, William?”
“I donated everything to the Good-Will.”
“Everything? Even the PlayStation 5?”
“Nope, mom sold that and bought something else.”
“What did she buy?”
“Didn’t care to ask,” his cold responses made him hard to continue with any cordial conversation, “Let’s go Bailey, mom will be downstairs in a few minutes.”
Bailey hugs her big sister and whispers, “I love you.”
“I love you too, Bea,” Alice returns sincerely.
William brushes by the two of them in a huff.
“Bye William,” Alice says sarcastically.
William remains silent as he exits the room.
Alice sneaks some money into her little sister’s pocket and whispers, “shhh….”
Her sister is scared to take it and tries to give it back, but Alice will not take it, “you are thirty-one years old, spend it sparingly,” she says kissing her on the cheek.
Bailey nods and hurries to catch up with her brother.
James speaks up, “I thought you didn’t like your siblings.”
“Of all the people in your household, she is the only one that actually loves me.”
“I love you,” James says through a slight cough,
“The jury is still out on that one, Jimmy.”
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“You know what I am talking about.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Don’t call me by my any version of my first name.”
“I could call you Mr. Terry or just mister.”
“Still mad at me after all these years.”
“Not mad, Jim, angry.”
“I just said don’t call me –“
“What should I call you then? Huh? I am sure as hell not calling you dad, or father, because God knows you have not been either of them to me.”
“I raised you, fed you, clothed you, and kept a roof over your head.”
“Oh please, that is a cop-out disguised as genuine empathy.”
“Parents don’t have to explain their actions to their children.”
“Another back-peddle answer. Let me ask you then, if I had been a boy, would you have been different towards me? Aunt Sylvia said you wanted a boy, not me.”
“Your Aunt Sylvia is the problem. Filling your head with nonsense.”
“She loves me.”
“Oh, please. She is a bitter sibling and thinks I am the devil for moving on.”
“Moving on? You never once went to a Lamaze class with my real mother, did you?”
“I was working two jobs and –“
“After mom died giving birth to me, where were you?”
“She was having contractions, so I went to get a drink.”
“I think it was because you were more worried about your new girlfriend that was having a boy.”
“That is not true, Beth.”
Alice stops, “my name is Alice Tandy and if you call me Beth again, I will walk out this room and never speak to you again.”
James is silent.
“Why couldn’t you have the decency to wait until after mother was gone to start your new life with Ruth?”
“I did.”
“Then explain to me how William was born six months after mom died?”
James is silent once more.
Alice shakes her head in frustration with James, “one more question and please, don’t lie to me,” Alice breathes a long sigh, “did you know that mom would die at childbirth?”
There is a long pause and then a faint, “yes,” James lowers his head, “I was against her doing it, but she was convinced she was going to do it with or without my consent.”
Alice’s eyes fill with overwhelming sadness. She had hoped his answer was anything other than what it was, “all I ever wanted was for my family to love me, not curse the day that I was born. You knew, she would die if she had me, but instead of staying with her, you chose to go and get a drink.”
“Alice, I…”
“Don’t," Alice interrupts with a whispering tone, "that hole where your heart should be is evil, because you are evil. I don’t know why Ruth wanted me to come here, but I am glad I did. You never loved my mother; you only pretended to. Playing house and whatnot. At least now I finally know the truth. So, thank you for giving me that.”
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
“Me too,” Alice wipes a tear away and continues, “I will arrange for all you medical bills to be taken care of, and tomorrow, I will set up an account for Bailey so that she can escape her tyrannical mother and toxic father. If you do anything but support her leaving, I will do everything in my power to make your life a living hell.”
“Am I supposed to say thank you, Alice?”
“I really don’t care, one way or the other, but the one you should thank is Sophia. She is the only reason I am standing here today. She knew I would cost her everything, but she did it anyway, because, unlike you, she loved me unconditionally,” Alice starts to leave the room, but stops halfway, “after Bailey leaves, I will have nothing to do with you or your remaining family, James Terry. From here on out, we are strangers and we are done. Goodbye, Mr. Terry.”
Alice departs.
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