Chapter 21

Despite several tons of blankets pinning me to a strange bed, my teeth chattered. No matter how much I struggled, my eyes simply wouldn’t open. With a wet hitching sigh, I stopped trying. Somewhere in the darkness, a rhythmic beeping echoed.

Again, the deepest of blacks devoured me.

Muffled voices. Serious.

Almost pried a single eye open. Glimpse of gray. Lots of grayness. My lashes fluttered, then eased closed.

More gloom engulfed me.

Several new beeps had joined the original one. These were more strident. Mechanical wheezing. With every labored breath, bubbles shifted in my lungs. A tube in my nose. And deep in my throat.

Blackness. Absolute silence returned.

Once again, gray. Shadowy motions. At last, a single eye was open. Kinda. Blurry and thick, my eyelashes cross-hatched its vision. After a trillion years, I managed to adjust my view. Clear, flexible tubing dripped twinkling bluish fluid into the back of my hand. To keep it attached to a board, my forearm had been wrapped in white tape. My mouth was so dry.

Darkness.

Through my fluttering lashes, the shadows solidified. Blonde brows knitted. Glittering eyes—focused. Pretty. Nurse? Not noticing my eyelids moving, she enclosed my biceps in a cuff. Blood—yeh, blood pressure.

Teeth chattering. Loud. Mine. One after another, chills raced through me. After a swift inhale, one of those beautiful eyebrows raised.

Blackness.

After prying open an eye, I smacked my desiccated lips. At the warmth on my arm, I used every ounce of energy to move my head.

My dad! With a hand across my forearm, he’d collapsed along the side of the bed. He’d buried his face in his shirt sleeve.

After pulling apart my sticky, cracking lips, I was about to ask him—something. Something kinda important.

Blackness once more.

Again, those mechanical machines beeped.

More serious voices. Lifted an eyelid. In the gray, I only saw a horizontal slice. Men. Women. Clipboards. Long white coats. Masked faces. Serious men and women, nodding seriously, talking seriously, and writing seriously.

Once again with the blackness. I managed a quasi-chuckle; serious blackness.

As if shooting to the surface from deep in the ocean, I awoke with a start. While licking my dry lips, I looked around a white and blue hospital room. The only light came from a dim yellow nightlight in a wide tiled bathroom. Nighttime? As my gaze roamed, my heart stuttered.

In a chair pulled next to the bed, Jeri sat slumped over me. Beneath a swathe of disheveled, wavy dark hair, her head rose and fell atop my chest. Crystalized tear streaks marred the drawn skin around her black-ringed, closed eyes. In her sleep, they twitched. What was she dreaming? Orange tinted in the low lighting, her sleek brown face and outstretched muscled arm were so pretty.

Pretty? No, so much more than that. To me.

With a sigh, I lifted my hand. Or tried to.

Although darkness swallowed me, it was lighter than black.

And speaking of swallowing, where was my dream girl?

At that, the rest of the blackness appeared and ate my soul.

Even as my eyes fluttered, bright light through sheer blue curtains over a small window forced me to squint. At the aching in my bones, a moan pulled from my desiccated lips. Despite the tube absent from my nose, the other remained embedded in my hand. When I rolled my head, I met my dad’s beaming smile.

“Welcome back to the world, kiddo.”

Despite trying in vain to smile, my eyelids drooped.

Again darkness, although lighter.

Voices, concerned and low. A stifled sob brought my eyes open. It was my mother; her visage covered by both a thick, white surgical mask and a clear shield. Wrapped in crinkled blue plastic from neck to foot, the bulge in her belly was far more prominent. As her widespread hands cradled the swell, her eyes met mine. They weren’t gleaming. Not at all. Surrounded by puffy, blackened circles, they were narrow. Fear filled them.

My dad’s face, paler and gaunt, leaned in between us.

“Your mother wanted to see you, Kyle.” He swallowed and peered up at her with a forced grin before looking at me. “She’s been okay. The, uh ... The babies ... We, um ... We didn’t want to risk them, is all.”

I nodded, maybe.

Darkness.

A light appeared, then dad, still there, hanging in space.

No, it was darker. Much darker outside. He wasn’t still there. He’d returned. Also, my mother had disappeared. So, another day had passed. Or it was much later in the same day.

“You had us all scared to dea—” As his eyes widened, dad stopped in mid-word. After a gulp, he ran his shaky fingers through my matted hair. “How’re you doing, kiddo?”

“Okay, I guess. Not as cold, that’s for sure.” I scanned the bed. Most of the blankets had been removed. “How’s, uh, mom?”

“She’s doin’ alright. Scared for you and...” Dad flashed a look at the closed door before returning to me and leaning closer. “Your mother’s getting pretty close now.”

Our eyes met. His narrowed as he nodded. Dad knew I wasn’t an idiot. Unless I’d been in a coma for seven months, there was no way in heck my mother should be due anytime soon.

“Shayna?” I changed the topic. No point in picking a scab his heavy eyes said didn’t need picking.

“Home with your mom. She’s been wonderful company, but she’s slept by the front door the whole time. I, uh, gave up trying to keep her away and moved her bed out there.”

“She’s a great dog, dad.” With a chuckle at the image of dad struggling with her, I nodded and managed a grin. “A very special animal.”

“Yeh, we know.” He leaned in close again. “Look, Kyle. Your mother and I ... I realize you’re still growing stronger, but just be prepared, okay? In a couple of weeks, we’re um ... We’re gonna have to return to the desert. Only until ... Well, until your mom delivers.”

Something. Or someone. His eyes met and held mine; he’d had the exact thought. As he swallowed, he lifted to his feet.

“I’m gonna head home. It’s getting late.”

While rolling my dry lips, I focused into the darkness. At least it was outside the room instead of inside my skull. I managed a slow nod, because fast ones hurt.

“Tell mommy I miss her.”

“Okay, I’ll do that, kiddo.” After striding to the door, he halted with his hand on the knob and looked over his shoulder. “Uh, one of the neighbor girls, Beth. Kinda cute. She, uh, stopped by the house a couple of times to check on you. Every time she showed up, Shayna would perk up and get the girl to pet her. Anyway, I told Beth you’d be home soon. She said to tell you she missed you.”

After tugging open the door, he halted again and flashed me a smile and an overdone wink.

“Good on you, kiddo.”

Before I could reply, he stepped out and pulled the door shut behind him.

Beth?

Oh, Jeri? My mind swirled back to the other night. Had Jeri actually risked a visit? Or had I been hallucinating? With my heart whizzing faster, I lay back and sighed. Beth, though? Really? Nah, despite dad’s misplaced belief, she was simply a caring person. She’d loved Shayna. And Shayna liked her. But she had Jimmy Devlin’s thick, wavy hair and perfect physique to keep her company.

And Jeri? No, that must’ve been a fantasy. How would she have explained being in my hospital room alone at night? Concerned teacher? Nope. Just a dream. Though it was a pleasant dream. My subconscious must’ve figured she cared about me. And that too was—pleasant.

As I yawned, sleepiness eased over me. That was the first time in a long while I hadn’t simply blacked out.

The high point of feeling better was when a cute blonde nurse’s aide took me into the shower. My first since arriving. Because the universe sucked, that was also the day I was to be released.

Though she remained professional, there was no way I could avoid glimpsing into her scrubs as she bent to wash my legs. She was partial to thin red lace, and a bra strained under her impressive chest. When I finally wandered up to meet her blue eyes, they shimmered. So, at least I wasn’t in trouble.

As her gentle fist glided all the way along my soapy shaft, she bit into her lower lip. Nope, not in trouble at all. I’d like to say that I had any other physical reaction besides a heart murmur, but nothing swelled—anywhere.

Once she’d given me a lengthy rinse, she helped me dress. With an older man, who spoke with a heavy Haitian patois, she got me into a hospital wheelchair. After a final lingering gaze at her, and receiving a beaming grin in return, the attendant wheeled me to the elevators.

At the bright sunlight sending shafts of pain into my eyes, I squinted as I was rolled from the front entrance. In the hazy blur, I spotted movement. Dad! The van. And...

No sooner had I caught sight of her, than Shayna ripped free of my dad to dash towards me. As she ran, the trailing leather leash bounced along the concrete. That was the first time I’d seen her on a leash.

A sudden tingle raced up my sore spine. Would Jeri enjoy being leashed? As I gulped, I swallowed a grin. Heck, I’d yet to find her a collar. And, oh, by the way, was she even still interested? Now that I was both a cripple—and sick. My “pity me” moment disappeared in a frantic thump of warm fluff as Shayna leaped into my lap, rocking the wheelchair back in its stops. As her hot, panting breath seared my skin, her velvety tongue lashed at my face. In a frenzy, she coated me with her wondrous, dripping slobber.

“Okay, okay. I missed you too, girl.” While laughing, I ran my shaking hands along her heaving furry flanks, sinking my fingertips into her silken coat. “So much, pretty girl.”

With a forceful shove, Shayna pushed into me, driving my fingertips beneath her collar. As she gazed at me, I gripped it tight. At my gentle tug, golden flecks appeared to swirl in her wondrous emerald pools. Yeh, she’d missed me as much as I’d missed her.

After dad tugged her from me, Shayna stayed close enough I could run my fingers through the smooth fur of her neck. As he talked with a doctor, I glanced at the cab of our van. Through the passenger side window, my mother peered at me. Her face was a swirl of emotions. Relief. Sadness. Guilt. Worry. When a wince appeared, she doubled up and gaped through the windshield at the distant mountains.

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