Chapter 46

“Dave! Dave, get in here!”

Through the unraveling black haze, my mother’s voice cut deep into the blurring swirl that was my awakening mind. After rolling my head and blinking, I found my mother, now clad in a thick terrycloth robe. While clinging to the doorhandle, she was yelling down the hallway. Along with the powerful vibrations wracking my body, my hands and feet were thumping against the chariot.

“Hang in there, sweetheart. I’m so sorry.”

It took an extra second of haze-clearing to spot her again. She’d turned to gaze down at me. In the wavering doorway, she trembled as tears dripped from her eyes. No glittering gold; only red-rimmed blue. When dad flew into their bedroom, she stepped back, arms shaking at her sides.

While his fingers went to the side of my neck, he stared at my chest. The room was silent but for my mother’s sobbing. And the thundering of my heart. It was working again. So, there was that. At last, he straightened and turned to her.

“He’s okay, Wendy.” As dad forced a tight grin at her, his shaky fingers tussled my hair. “It was another of those attacks. The doctors said to expect more of them as he ... As time goes on. Kyle’s tired, is all. Mrs. Cameron ... Well, she looked pretty exhausted. I’m guessing they got deep into the bible.”

Yeh, I know. I was feeling well enough to bite my tongue at how deep I’d gotten. And not into the bible. With her emerald eyes twinkling and open muzzle panting, Shayna sat along the hallway wall. She also thought it was funny.

“I’ll sponge him down and get him into bed.” Dad stood and held my mother by the shoulders. Although he stared at her, she remained focused on me. With her eyes shadowed by dark dangling strands, fear flickered behind her watery irises. “Don’t you worry, dear.”

After running a warm sponge over me, dad got me into bed by himself. In my blurring flip-flopping room, it took longer since, as much as I tried, I couldn’t help. At last, I found myself tucked in tight.

“Get some sleep, son. We’ll see how you are in the morning. It’s only the last week of school, so I doubt you’ll miss much.”

“Finals,” I croaked.

“Yeh. Well, don’t worry about those.” His eyes became distant. Dulled. When he returned to me, a narrow grin struggled onto his face. “If you’re not up to it...”

Rather than complete his sentence, dad exhaled and stepped to the doorway. “They don’t matter anymore,” is what he didn’t say.

Yeh, I was getting a strange feeling. All across my body. The drums? No. This was a lower thrumming. Almost a tingle, but not quite.

Just as my eyelids drooped, hair tickled my face. In a cloud of perfume that sent my pulse skyrocketing, my mother’s soft, full lips pressed into my cheek.

She said words. They were pleasant.

I nodded.

Bottomless blackness devoured me.

In the night, my phantom snuggled into me, except this time her naked little form straddled my torso. While her tiny fingers roamed through my hair or caressed my face, her dark eyes bored into mine. Worry-lines creased her gleaming olive-skinned forehead.

That inky tide ate me once more.

In the morning, my dad got me up, dressed and fed. A deeper voice. Muffled by—muffling stuff. Like my mother the night before, he spoke—words. About something. Sad. Low. Murmuring. But I nodded, and that got a smile to appear on his face. I tried a grin. Perhaps.

When my mother drifted in, again covered to the neck in a pink terry robe, she bent to give me a quick peck. More dulled words went between her and dad. All the while, the room sorta ... Well, inverted and shuddered. I’m pretty sure the grin left me at some point during its spinning.

Somehow, I was at school.

By the time Shayna pushed into me after I’d halted before Jeri’s classroom, at least sounds were sharper. But with my mind whirling, I’d meandered through the halls and was late. Well, I’d arrived on time, but too late for any alone time with Jeri. And as Shayna tugged open the door, the jangling bell reminded me by driving immense waves of pain deep into my skull.

After glancing at her behind the desk in a form-fitting chestnut and orange dress, I rolled into my place. The room continued to spin, and I jolted at her appearance beside me. As her alluring perfume ignited synapses across my cotton-filled brain, her delicate fingers roamed along my arm.

“Are you okay, Kyle? You, uh ... You don’t look so good.”

As I raised my eyes, lingering on each soft curve until I found her face, my pulse increased. After cracking a smile, I gestured her closer. Yes, I caught Haley, again in her bulky proto-Goth black sweater and jeans, watching, but I didn’t care. Not anymore.

“I want you,” I whispered. “You’ll make me better.”

At the sudden tremor in her frame, Jeri’s nails sank into my arm. After a quick scan of the class, missing Haley’s reddening face behind her, she bit into her lower lip and nodded. After pushing her hip into my shoulder, she sighed and stepped to the front of the room. With my old, reliable heart thumping, I enjoyed every sultry swing of her sleek form.

After a few minutes, the world kinda sharpened. And that low thrumming disappeared or was muted by the louder normal sounds. And, yes, I felt better. Although trying to hide it, Haley was watching me while I stared at our teacher. When I faced her, she didn’t turn from me. With her chin set and the tiniest thrust of her ample chest, she didn’t flinch at all.

“Good morning, uh, Haley.” God, my voice sounded like pure sandpaper.

When I flashed her a wide smile, it seemed as if every molecule of air hissed from between her clenched teeth. But she remained silent, even as my brows tightened.

No, it was pretty obvious by then that not only didn’t I have any spare juice, but the little I had was fading. But damn it, there was something about Haley. She was intriguing. I held in a chuckle.

My days were numbered. Anyone could see that. At that point, what was one more challenge?

But to what end? Would Jeri accept Haley? Would Beth? Was that even what Haley wanted? If not, what did she need? Why? Questions continued to tumble inside my dulled mind as the class wandered onwards, leaving me far behind.

Because what did school matter in the grand scheme of things?

At lunch, I’d only just slowed to a halt before a shadowy blur dropped into a chair closest to me.

“Hi, Haley,” I said without looking up. With slow rhythmic “whops,” Shayna’s tail thumped against the chariot’s side. Even as Haley’s tight black jeans shifted nearer, I swallowed. “Before you say anything. I’m seeing Beth Winston. And yes, Miss Richardson and I are in a relationship. Also, both know about each other.”

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