Read Jade for Free Online Page A

cotton balls, alcohol, and the steroids. I slide the case back and rush downstairs. The baby’s on the scale. I do the math, and give her the injection.   
    Then, I take her to the kitchen. The girl and Vieng Neun follow me. They’re whispering to each other. I fill the sink with lukewarm water: the baby needs a bath to bring her temperature down.
    While I hold her under the water as it fills the sink, I ask Vieng Neun “Is she the mother, or the sister of the baby?”
    Vieng Neun says, “She sister, mother gone.” 
    I wonder what “gone” means. Gone to work for the day? Moved to another city? Or gone for good?
    They keep talking and Vieng Neun says, “She alone at house with younger brother. Father works mine.”
    The baby stirs a bit. I’m holding her with a hand on her head, and her body rests on the bottom of the sink. Her breathing is improving. Oh, the miracles of steroids.
    “Father at mine with Mister Oliver. So he home soon.”
    She should be out of danger, by then. Vieng Neun leaves the room, and comes back with a towel. She’s followed by the cook who needs to find out what the “Pome Sii Dang” is up too in her kitchen.
    She’s an older lady, she looks ancient but she could be only in her fifties. I’ve been told she has an impossible name, something like ten syllables long that farangs cannot possibly pronounce, so everyone calls her Cook. 
    Cook gives me a quizzical look. I think she’s wondering if I know what I’m doing. Jeez, she’s not the only one. 
    I pull the baby out of the sink, wrap her in the towel, and give her back to her sister. I turn to Vieng Neun.
    “Please tell her to come back tomorrow?”
    “Tomorrow. Yes, I tell her.”
    “Good, thank-you. One more thing, Vieng Neun. Please keep this quiet. Don’t talk about it with anyone, okay?” 
    She nods her head in acquiescence, and I turn to Cook and put a finger to my lips, hoping that the gesture has the same meaning here. She just looks at me and frowns. 
    Somehow, I have a feeling that my request’s going to be ignored. I rush out, leaving them behind in a big discussion. I think I need a nap.
     
    ❦
     
    When I come back down for dinner everything’s normal, and no one says a word about me playing doctor today. I kick myself for being so suspicious. Vieng Neun and Cook are capable of keeping a secret… If not, then this is just the calm before the storm.
     
    ❦
     
    The next day, I go through my routine in the morning. I linger a bit in my pond and think about Oliver. 
    Vieng Neun said that he was coming back soon and it got me thinking about him again. I wonder if I’m going to become all fuzzy, and stuff. 
    All fuzzy, and stuff? I mentally slap myself. I don’t think like that. I have an extensive vocabulary, and I always find the right word to designate things or feelings. “Fuzzy, and stuff” is a far cry from my usual descriptive standard. 
    The fact of the matter is that I’m scared out of my skull. My reaction to this man unnerves me. I don’t even want to think about it, because I don’t do scary. Well, I kind of did yesterday, but that’s the exception to the rule. There’s no room for scary in my life.   
    Coming here to stay with Agatha is the first spontaneous thing I’ve done in my existence, and I’m starting to understand why Agatha wants to stay here-I mean, aside from her attraction to James. I think she wants to stay because at home, she would be just another scientist while, here, she can make a difference and change lives.   
    I come back from my bath, have my breakfast, and go to the lab. I’m about to start working on Agatha’s samples, when Cook comes and salutes me. It’s the first time that she’s been civil with me. I wai back at her, and I know I’m being drafted. I put the samples back in the fridge, and follow her through the kitchen to the back of the building. 
    Four boys are standing to attention. They’re all bruised and scratched on the left sides of