by R. D. Hunter
“The needle,” I croaked, my voice all but spent from crying and yelling. “Get the needle.” I pointed in the corner and my boyfriend wasted no time in scooping it up and putting it safely up on one of the shelves.
It was over. Gary was still on the floor, sobbing and begging for death. Once again, I’d come a hair’s breadth from not making it home alive. And once again, I’d come out on top by a fluke of luck and the very thing I’d hated all my life.
Michael came over and put his arm around me. His warmth flowed into me and I closed my eyes and accepted it all.
Hunter / Nightingale / 198
Chapter Twenty Nine
The investigation lasted all of two days and was little more than a farce. Gary admitted to everything, when he wasn’t crying and blubbering. After his second suicide attempt in as many days, he was moved to a psychiatric hospital up north. Shortly after that, he dissolved into a vegetative state, totally unresponsive to outside stimuli. I doubted he’d ever leave. Something had broken inside him and I’d felt it when it happen.
I tried to muster some sympathy for him, but came up short. Sure, it wasn’t his fault he was a certified sociopath. But he consciously chose to feed the craving inside him for emotional stimulation. And that choice cost lives, very nearly mine.
I finished packing up the last of my things and looked around at the director’s office I’d occupied for only a week. My tenure had been the shortest one in the history of Sunny Pines, but I think some good came out of it. The new director would be here soon and Jenny was waiting downstairs, cleaning out my locker. After my last little adventure, I never wanted to see the inside of that room again. In fact, just being back at Sunny Pines made me jumpy. I knew what lurked in the background if I let my guard down.
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I closed the door behind me and slid my nameplate out of the wall. Someone else’s name would be up there soon. Someone a lot more deserving than me.
Jenny met me excitedly at the elevator. “Hey, this was in your locker.” It was hand addressed from Sebastian King. She bounced up and down. “Open it. Open it. Open it.”
I had to admit, I was curious too and ripped into it. Inside was a check. I assumed it was for my first and only week as director, but my jaw dropped when I saw how many zeroes it contained. In the memo part he’d written, “For services rendered.”
Jenny glanced over my shoulder and gave a low whistle. “Wow. What kind of services is he talking about?” she asked suggestively.
I nudged her with my shoulder. “Probably going under cover to expose corruption and nearly getting killed…three times.”
“Sign me up for the next spy mission. Hey, there’s a note too. What does it say?”
Give me a call when you graduate. I may have some other work for you if you’re interested. Underneath it was his phone number. His personal phone number.
“Oh my God,” Jenny said. “He didn’t even have the common decency to say thanks. You’re not going to call him, are you?”
“Of course not…probably.” I slipped the card in my pocket. Hey, ya never know.
We took the elevator down to the second floor and I got off. “Someone I have to say bye to,” I explained to Jenny. “You go on down. I’ll be there in a sec.”
She looked uncomfortable. “Seems like every time I leave you alone in this place you end up almost dead. Promise me you won’t get into trouble.”
I rolled my eyes. “I promise, Mom.” The doors slid closed and I walked down the
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hall. Jonah opened the door to his room before I even knocked.
“Well, leaving us so soon,” he said, a smile forming underneath his bushy beard.
“I can’t imagine why. A few brushes with death and you run for the hills.”
I smiled back. “Must be getting soft. I just wanted to say thank you.”
“For what?”
“For helping me with my abilities. All my life I’d thought of them as a curse. But, because of you, they saved my life.”
He waved me off. “I just showed you what you already knew. You got a good head on your shoulders, Kid. And better yet, a good heart in your chest. Use both of ‘em and don’t be a stranger.”
Before he could stop me, I reached down and gave him a hug. I felt his surprise for a split second before he returned it warmly.
“One thing,” I said. “How do you do it? How do you live so long feeling so much around you?”
He studied me for a long time before answering. “Girly, let me tell you something. We aren’t so different from regular people. Nobody chooses what to feel or when. All any of us can do is deal with it as it comes along. You remember that.” I nodded, gave him another hug and took my leave.
On the first floor, I was met with a party. Virtually everyone who could get out of their beds was in attendance. There was cake, punch and a huge banner that said “GOOD
LUCK NURSE FOSTER.” It was the first time I’d seen that title before my last name. It felt good.
“You knew about this,” I accused Jenny who handed me a huge slice of cake.
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She shrugged. “It was my idea, but they went along with it.”
The party lasted for the better part of an hour. It was filled with stories, tears and laughter. I ignored the part when the punch took on a distinctive alcohol flavor, or the residents in the corner giggling as they tried to hide a silver flask. The sun was going down by the time Jenny and I finally said the last of our goodbyes and went outside just as the new director was pulling in. We waved and then went and helped her unload some of her boxes.
“Thanks,” Nancy said breathlessly. “I had a hell of a time getting these in the car.”
“No problem,” I said. I gestured to the building behind us. “She’s all yours now.”
Nancy looked at me wistfully and I felt a twinge of apprehension come off her. I stifled it as best I could.
“Are you sure you can’t stick around for a bit?” she pleaded. “Just to show me the ropes?”
I laughed. “Thanks, but I think you know the ropes just fine. Besides, my final exams are coming up in less than a month and I have to get some study time in. Sunny Pines deserves someone who can devote their full attention to this place. And that’s you.
Besides, you’ve earned it. For blowing the whistle on this place in that letter you sent, if nothing else.”
Her eyes grew wide. “How’d you know it was me?”
I shrugged. “Just a hunch. Here are a few things to get you started. Sometimes John up in accounting likes to stay late to watch porn on his computer. Watch out for that. Some of the residents are talking about setting up a moonshine still in the woods out
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back, so there’s that to deal with. And the contractor I hired to fix the roof is three days overdue. Dock his rate accordingly. That’s it.”
Nancy chewed her lip nervously. “You really think I’ll do all right?”
“I’m sure of it.”
“But how do you know?”
I grinned, remembering Jonah‘s words. “I just have a feeling.”