by Ann M. Noser
“Well, I’m not letting Steve take over. You can’t see him unless I’m near a mirror. Here, look at this.” I bend the rearview mirror so that Kevin can see the double reflection.
Steve waves, a wide, fake grin on his face. Again, I spot the faint outlines of the other spirits-Eva, Jennifer, and Dominic-but their images are so faint, and Kevin’s freaked out enough as it is that I don’t point them out. For some reason, Shadow is nowhere to be seen. That’s a relief, anyway.
Kevin’s eyes bug. “This is bizarre. When did you start with all this witching stuff, anyway? Phoebe said you’re the real thing. She read your whole Book of Shadows.”
“What?” Fury flares inside me. “Where is it?” My hands ache for its soft cover.
“She said it disappeared when Mike left again—this time forever, I suppose.” Kevin’s voice catches.
I hesitate. “Are you glad you got to see him one more time, or does it make things even worse than before?”
Kevin flushes. “You’re asking me if I’m still mad at you, right?”
“Yeah. I guess so.”
“No, Emma. I’m not mad anymore. And I am sorry about how I treated you.” He smiles at my sharp glance. “Don’t worry. Your mind control thing worked, but this time it’s just me.”
“Good.” I release a pent-up breath.
Kevin taps the steering wheel. “But where’d you get that Book of Shadows in the first place? Seems like a pretty dangerous book.”
I hesitate before answering. “I got it from Angie. You know, Chrissy’s younger sister?”
His eyes widen. “Chrissy, my ex-girlfriend?”
“You see—”
Kevin holds up a hand. “I don’t want to hear the rest. I’ll take you to the hospital, all right? But I’ve had enough witchcraft for a lifetime, I think.”
I only wish I could say the same.
evin pulls into the hospital parking lot. “We’re here. Now what?”
“What I really want to do is to see my dad, but I know Mom’s going to haul me off to the nearest doctor and watch the whole time I’m being examined. I’d better find a doctor on my own first and get them to sign off on me.”
“Okay.” He grabs the door handle. “Let’s go.”
We exit the car and whoosh through the automatic doors of the hospital, greeted by the smell of antiseptic.
“Who do you think we should ask?” I scan the lobby.
“How about that nurse over there?” Kevin gestures toward a pretty woman with long red hair.
“I can’t manipulate her out here in front of everyone,” I whisper.
“Maybe you can’t… but I can.” Kevin heads for the front desk.
He smiles wide and leans in. “Hi. I’m Kevin Carlson. I’ve brought back your escapee.” He nods at me. “You know, the one you’ve seen on TV.”
The pretty nurse stares with wide eyes.
“I caught her myself.” He winks. “She couldn’t resist me.”
She giggles. “I’ll let her doctor know.”
I can’t believe what a schmooze Kevin is-not that it doesn’t make him useful. “No, I want a different doctor. Someone young.” Someone easier to confuse.
“What?” Her finger hovers over the phone. Her eyes cloud over. The mind control is working. I’m getting faster. Kind of scary.
Kevin puts his arm around me. I try not to cringe. “Emma just means she wants to hurry up and get this over with. She’s tired. She’s been through a lot.”
“It’s sweet of you to help her.” The cute nurse bats her sympathetic eyes.
“Yeah. Thanks, Kevin,” I mumble. “You’re the best.”
“No problem.” He tightens his hold on my shoulders.
I freeze in place, forcing myself not to pull away. Even after the apology, I have a hard time believing he really wants to help me.
“Let’s see who’s available.” She turns to speak into a black phone.
Soon she leads us upstairs into an exam room on the second floor. Forty-five minutes (and three out-of-date magazines) later, a frazzled, young doctor bursts in, a stethoscope looped around his neck, and an armload of charts clutched to his chest.
“Good morning,” he musters, setting down his load. “My name is Dr. Martin. I was the head resident working on your case.”
“Good afternoon, Dr. Martin,” I reply.
He types into a computer. “I hear you checked yourself out this morning.”
I squirm. “Not officially.”
“And how do you feel after your…” Dr. Martin peeks into the top chart. “…prostate surgery? No, that’s wrong. Wait a minute.”
I smile. This is going to be so easy.
“Don’t worry about the chart,” I speak slowly and deliberately, all the better to numb his overactive thoughts. “All I need is a note for my mom saying I have a clean bill of health.”
“What?” His eyes scan the first page of my record. “That’s unlikely. You sustained serious injuries. You shouldn’t even be out of bed yet.”
“I’m fine.” I catch his gaze and hold it.
“Let’s examine you first and then decide, okay?” He grabs his stethoscope.
I take a deep breath. “I said ‘I’m fine.’“
“Wh-what?” His eyelids droop.
I will my heart rate to slow and close my eyes. My limbs begin to buzz. Warm breezes brush across my face. I’m floating above the sand, in a cross-legged position. A tan cloak flutters around me, tied at my neck. I open my eyes back on the Healing Islands. The young doctor stands in front of me, his stethoscope still slung around his neck. He wears a red polo, tan cargo shorts, and a shiny black plastic Darth Vader mask.
“Breathe deeply while I listen to your chest,” he instructs in Darth Vader’s computer voice.
I obey.
“Interesting. You have two separate heart beats.”
“That’s normal for me,” I reply in an even monotone.
“No, wait.” He moves the stethoscope around my chest and back, all the way down to my waistline. “Make that five different heart beats. They’re all over the place.”
“Five, not six?” I ask.
He listens again, then shakes his head. “Nope. Just five.”
Then Shadow is gone, but the rest of them are still with me. They’ve been so quiet. I wonder why. God only got rid of the worst one. That’s fine, but why’d he leave the rest?
A young boy shuffles up, a sand pail in one hand and a white Storm Trooper mask over his face. “Daddy, are five heartbeats normal?”
“Well, son, an octopus has three hearts and earthworms have five. This isn’t that unusual.”
“I wish I had five hearts.” The little boy waves his blue plastic shovel in the air.
“Go play now,” the good doctor says. “I have to write out a clean bill of health.”
I take a deep breath and open my eyes.
Back in the doctor’s office, the doctor leans against a wall, breathing heavily. “I feel strange.”
“Do you need to sit back down a moment?” I ask innocently. “You look pale.” Like your legs in those shorts. Time to spend a few more days on the beach with your son.
“No, I’d better go home. I want to see my family right away. Here you go.” He scribbles across a piece of paper, shoves it in my hands, then rushes out of the room, ditching his charts behind.
I glance at the sheet. In chicken scratch he wrote: Emma Roberts is a very healthy girl-Dr. Martin.
“I hope this works.” I show it to Kevin.
He chuckles. “Your mom’s gonna love this. And I’ve got to say, you’re the best looking Emperor I’ve ever seen. You weren’t all wrinkled and gross.”
Steve chimes in. “I can’t believe Kevin’s hitting on you. That Speedo trick you pulled must have turned him on.”
Shut up, Steve, I gripe internally. Don’t be disgusting.
“What?” I say out loud to Kevin, pretending I didn’t hear him.
“Didn’t you notice that
cloak you were wearing?”
“Oh, yeah. I guess I did.” I pause a moment. “But I wasn’t wearing a swimsuit last time.”
“No, you weren’t. That was just me.” Kevin grimaces, handing back the doctor’s note. “Let’s get out of here.”
We duck out of the room and hurry through the hallways.
I glance down a hospital wing. “Kevin, do you know where my dad is?”
He tenses. “Yeah, follow me. I visited him with your mom.”
“Wow,” Steve remarks. “The Carlson family really goes the whole nine yards, don’t they?”
I follow Kevin up three flights of steps and through a few more hallways until he pauses outside a hospital room.
“You should prepare yourself.” He catches my eye, and pauses before he pushes the glossy white door open.
Mom looks up from her metal chair beside Dad’s bed. She discreetly wipes her eyes as I enter the room. My hands start to tremble and my arms feel a chill. Dad’s shriveled form doesn’t take up much space at all in the hospital bed. The hospital gown swallows him. His cross necklace overpowers his collarbones. I touch my own neck, remembering the same cross hanging from Grandma’s throat.
His eyes flutters open. “Emma. You’re here.” Both his welcoming smile and voice are so weak. His hand reaches for me.
“Yes, Dad.” I grab his hand and squeeze it. How did his skin get so paper thin?
“But not for long.” Mom stands up, still blotting with a tissue at her running mascara. “Emma’s going back to her doctor to get checked out right away.”
“No, I already did that. See?” I hand her the sheet.
“What’s this?” She scans the note then glares at me. “Some kind of joke?”
“No, he was the head resident working on my case. Don’t you remember him?”
Dad coughs. It sounds wet, like he has the river in his lungs and can’t get it out. Mom tosses the paper aside and pours him a glass of water.
“Cheryl, don’t fuss so.” He sputters between ragged breaths. “Why don’t you get a coffee or something? Now that Emma’s here, she can keep me company.”
“I’ll join you, if you want,” Kevin offers.
“I’m not leaving,” she replies in her don’t-mess-with-me voice. As Mom tucks the sheets around him, Dad stares at me so intently I know he wants to tell me something.
Alone.
And I have a few questions for him myself.
Starting with that necklace.
om, you should really take a break and go get some coffee. I’m here now.” Please don’t make me use mind control on my own mom. It’s probably a sin.
She scowls. “Why is everybody always trying to get rid of me? First Kevin at the police station, and now you.”
The door bumps against the supper tray as a nurse enters. “Sorry, folks, it’s time for visitors to leave. Mr. Roberts needs his rest.”
“Hello, Mary.” Dad winks at her. “Have you got more ‘magic pills’ for me?” His valiant effort to act normal defies the depressing backdrop of the white hospital sheets and beeping monitors.
The nurse hands Dad a cupful of medication and a glass of water. “Now take these and wave good-bye to your visitors.”
“Fine. I’ll go.” Mom kisses Dad on the head and hooks a purse over her shoulder.
I squeeze Dad’s hand good-bye, not wanting to leave.
“Come back soon,” he says.
“I will.” I try to smile, but it’s like I’ve forgotten how. “I promise.”
My heart drops as we leave the room. I keep looking back at Dad’s ashen face. We regroup in the hallway, Kevin texting furiously.
“Can’t we tell them I just woke up?” I ask. “I want to talk to Dad.”
“You heard the nurse. Your father needs his rest.” Mom sighs, her shoulders drooping in exhaustion. “Should we go out somewhere for dinner or grab take out and head back to your apartment?”
Kevin glances up from his phone. “Sorry, Cheryl, but Phoebe says you’ll have to find some other place to sleep. There are news vans surrounding the apartment building.”
“Emma, you’re famous!” Steve mocks. “Must be your good looks.”
“Where should we go?” I ask.
“We could check into a hotel,” Mom offers. “I’ve been sleeping here in a chair, but you might want something more comfortable.”
Kevin shakes his head. “The press will find you there. What about Claire’s house?”
Steve chants in my head. “Yes! Go to Claire’s! Go to Claire’s!”
“Sounds good to me,” I agree, then mutter to Steve, Don’t think I’m doing this just for you. I don’t owe you any more favors, remember?
Mom digs the car keys out of her purse. “Kevin, are you coming with us?”
He slips the cell into his back pocket. “No. I’d better go home to my mother. She’s waiting for me.”
“Of course.” Mom smiles. “You’ve done too much for us already. I can’t thank you enough.”
“It’s been my pleasure.” Kevin glances at me, a sudden sadness in his eyes. Then his tall form disappears down the long hallway.
A wave of remorse hits me. Is he going home to mourn Mike for the second time?
Mom stifles a yawn. “I parked the car out back.”
“Do you want me to drive?” I ask. “You look tired.”
“Are you kidding?” She throws me a scathing glance, holding the keys far out of my reach. “I’m not letting you drive. You shouldn’t even be walking right now.”
Honestly, she’s difficult. “But the doctor said I was okay, and I feel fine.”
She exhales, blowing a curl of hair away from her face. “Do you now?”
“Yes, I’m back to normal.” I dance around in the hallway, to show her all my limbs work. “No worries.”
Mom eyeballs me. “Emma, do you even recognize the meaning of the word ‘normal?’“
I feign innocence. “Why don’t you believe the doctor?”
“You may have tricked him, but you can’t con me,” she huffs. “After all that’s happened, I won’t be shocked by anything anymore.”
Hmmm. I seriously doubt that.
She taps my chest with her finger. “At least I finally got to know some of your friends. They’re very nice. Kevin, Phoebe, and Laura-“
“Laura Cunningham?” I glance down the hallway, as if Jake’s sister is hiding around the next corner. “How did you meet her?”
“What a sweet girl.” She cocks her head to the side. “Why haven’t you mentioned her before?”
Tricky question. “We’re just pen pals, Mom.”
“Well, she’s lovely.” Mom gestures for me to follow, and we head down the hallway. “She sat by me for hours, watching over you.”
“Why was she here?” I ask. This is getting strange. And that’s saying something.
“She drove up because you were supposed to give her a campus tour. When she found out about your accident, she stayed on to help.”
“What did you two talk about?” Laura knows too much.
“Oh, this and that. Nothing special. She’s not one to dwell on herself.”
That’s good to hear.
The closer we get to Claire’s house, the more agitated Steve becomes. He moves so much it gives me indigestion. I squirm in my seat, trying to get comfortable.
Mom eyes me. “Are you in pain? That’s it. I’m taking you back to the hospital.”
“No! I told you-I’m fine,” I speak through gritted teeth.
Steve, I’m going to kill you if you don’t knock it off! I warn him.
He chuckles. “You’re too late. I’m dead already, remember?”
Mom’s phone rings and she passes her purse to me. “Can you answer it?”
I bring the phone to my ear. “Hello?”
“Emma?” Phoebe squeals like she’s at a rock concert. “Is it really you?”
After turning the volume down, I answer. “Yes, Phoebe. How are you?”
&n
bsp; “I’m great! I’m at Claire’s. Kevin asked me to bring some clothes from your apartment.”
“Are you staying at Claire’s, too?” I inquire. And how much have you nosed through my apartment?
“I’ve been here on and off the past few days.” Phoebe lowers her voice. “I’ve got tons to tell you. See you soon.”
My eyes narrow. There’s only one thing I want to know. Where is my Book? I hang up and watch the houses pass by until Mom pulls into the driveway.
Claire meets us at the door. “Come on in. Abby’s still at work and little Stevie’s down for a nap.”
“I can’t wait to see him!” Steve’s impatience hangs heavy around my neck.
You’re just going to have to wait, I scold.
Claire ushers my mom into the nearest chair. “Sorry I don’t have dinner ready. But I’ll whip it together, lickety-split.”
“Thank you.” Mom sinks into the chair and closes her eyes. “This has been the most exhausting day.”
“How are you feeling, Emma?” Claire asks.
“Physically, I’m fine.” Mentally, I’m not so sure. “Thanks for taking us in.”
“You know I love company,” Claire reassures me. “As does Bernie. Even though I’m the one who feeds him, I suspect you’re his favorite human. He lights up when you come over.”
Claire’s cat turns and twists around my feet. All of a sudden, he backs up and hisses, then goes back to purring. Has he developed a split personality? Both Bernie and I trail behind Claire as she bustles from closet to closet, pulling down extra pillows and sheets. She hands me an armful of cedar-scented pillows.
“Your mother looks beat,” Claire whispers. “After supper, I’ll give her the spare room. Then you can talk with Phoebe in private.”
“Did I hear my name?” Phoebe pops her head around the corner. “Don’t worry. Cheryl’s already asleep. We can chat now.”
“Poor thing,” clucks Claire. “Why don’t you two use the living room and shut the pocket doors? I’ll watch over Cheryl in the kitchen.”
Phoebe and I settle on the sofa. At first, she perches too close, overwhelming me with the smell of incense. I reposition myself at the far end of the couch. Bernie jumps on the loveseat across the room to groom.
“Kevin told me what happened at the police station,” Phoebe says, her brown eyes wide. “You were brave.”