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  I turned and looked at myself in the mirror. The face that stared back at me, I didn’t even recognize. My cheeks were flushed and my eyes looked overly bright. I splashed cold water on my face and ran my brush through my hair. I swished some mouthwash around and spit it into the sink. Knowing I couldn’t prolong the inevitable any longer, I left the bathroom.

  When I descended the stairs, Viktor was making small talk, saying something about football with Mom and Ken. When I didn’t see Vincent, I expected to feel relief that he was gone, but I didn’t.

  “Are you ready?” Viktor asked.

  “Yep, just need to put on my jacket.”

  “Where are you kids off to?” Ken asked, stepping aside so I could grab my jacket off the hook behind where he stood.

  “We’re going to visit Glinda.” I grabbed my jacket off the hook and pulled it on.

  “That’s nice,” Ken said absently and pulled out his little book from his pocket. “Before you go, did either of you see a red convertible at the tour on Saturday?”

  Immediately, I recalled the girls Viktor had been talking with. I stared at him, waiting for his answer. Maybe I would finally find out if he had hooked up with them.

  “No, I don’t think so, but there were a lot of people there.” Viktor shrugged.

  “I know.” Ken crossed something off in his book.

  “Why do you ask?” Viktor shifted his position, angling his body in my line of vision.

  “Oh, nothing,” Ken sighed and shook his head. “It was a long shot, anyway.”

  I couldn’t help wondering why Viktor didn’t say anything. Maybe he didn’t remember them, which would indicate he didn’t leave with them like I had thought.

  “What about you Amber?” Ken gave me a pointed look, his pencil poised.

  “Um, not really,” I lied, not sure why I was even doing it. “Did something happen to them?” I asked glancing over at Viktor, his expression bereft of emotion.

  “Them?” Ken gleaned onto that one word. “How’d you know there were two people?”

  “Ah, didn’t you say that?” I flustered.

  “No, I didn’t.” Ken’s baby blues narrowed.

  “Yes, you did,” Viktor interjected, saving me.

  Ken rubbed the crease between his brows. “Well, if either of you remember anything, let me know.”

  “Sure,” said Viktor, opening the door, putting an end to any further questions. “You ready, Amber, we really need to get going.”

  “Kay,” I said. I waffled in place. Not sure what to do. Part of me wanted to go but the other part felt like I should confess. But I didn’t even know what there was to confess to, so instead of saying anything, I followed Viktor out the door.

  “See you kids later,” Ken said nicely enough but I felt like I heard an underlying accusatory tone. I was sure it was just guilt making me feel this way.

  “I won’t be too late,” I told my mom, who was surprisingly silent during the entire exchange. I glanced back at her to see she was staring at Viktor with the strangest look on her face. A shiver of unease crept over me. I ignored it and walked outside into the fog-ridden night.

  twenty four

  Climbing into his Escalade and situating myself on the soft leather seat, I hooked up my seatbelt. “So did you get stuck in traffic?”

  Viktor turned and glared at me. A shiver of unease swept over me. Without saying a word, he turned and looked out the back window, backing out of the driveway. Once the tires hit pavement, he threw his SUV into gear and stomped on the gas. My neck jerked back from the action.

  “All righty then,” I muttered, irritated, rubbing my neck. “Donkeyhole!”

  His lip tilted upward and he reached forward, cranking the volume on the stereo. The Cult blared out of the speakers and the bass thumped so loudly I could feel it in my chest. Turning, I looked out the window at the blurring landscape.

  With the Mario Andretti way Viktor was driving, it was no wonder we arrived at the hospital quickly. Turning the wheel, he swung into the parking space. The wheels made a slight squealing noise. He killed the ignition and opened his door.

  “Viktor…”

  “What?” He turned, his eyes locked with mine and suddenly I wished I didn’t bother.

  “Aren’t you going to talk to me?” I asked.

  “I am talking to you.” He shook his head and let out a heavy sigh. Light slanted into the window basking his face in the fluorescent glow. “What do you want me to say?”

  “I don’t know.” My stomach clenched.

  “It’s getting late,” he said and pushed open the door. “We better get inside before visiting hours end.” He jumped out and slammed the door.

  “Oh—kay,” I muttered and grabbed the handle, jumping out. I slammed the door with a bit more force than necessary, but it did feel good.

  Viktor didn’t bother waiting for me, which irked me even more. Sprinting across the lot, I tried to catch up. Once I was at his side, we silently walked into the hospital. As soon as I stepped through the sliding glass doors, the strong smell of antiseptic and someone recently being sick hung in the air. My stomach lurched, protesting against the gross odor. I covered my nose but it did little to buffer the putrid smell. To make matters worse, I really detested hospitals. Couldn’t stand them, which was ridiculous. If there weren’t hospitals, I would already have died from an acute case of appendicitis in sixth grade. I had to have an emergency appendectomy. The doctor even asked me if I wanted to see it, which was just wrong—like what eleven-year-old wants to see that. Gross.

  We paused at the L shaped sitting area with burnt orange chairs and ugly brownish carpet. There was a big wet spot in the corner with a little plastic t-pee propped up in front. Taped to the front was a piece of paper that said, “Do not move.” A girl that looked to be in her mid-twenties sat behind a glass partition, talking on the phone. A hot pink highlighter stuck out the side of her loose bun and wispy pieces floated down over her eyes, giving peekaboo glimpses of her iridescent blue eye shadow through her white blonde hair.

  She glanced up at me and narrowed her eyes. I shivered and stuck my hands in my pockets. I wanted to leave. There was a sign on the far wall beside a pair of dingy white doubled doors that said “No Visitors beyond this point.”

  Viktor came up behind me and pressed his hand against my back. “Wait here for a minute.” He walked up to the girl behind the glass and said something that I couldn’t hear.

  A moment later a buzzer sounded and the doors creaked open.

  Viktor stood between the doors, stopping them from shutting. “Come on.” He signaled me over.

  Hurrying across the room, I walked through the doors and waited for him on the other side. Again, the strong smell of antiseptic and sickness glutted the air. If I had eaten something more substantial, I was sure I would have lost my cookies on the floor too, just like the person in the waiting room.

  “You ready?” Viktor looked down at me as if he was reading my thoughts—his expression seemingly sympathetic to my plight.

  “Yeah,” I lied, trying to be strong.

  “Stay close to me.” He walked past me down a long hall and I followed him closely. I wanted to bury my face in the back of his jacket, he smelled really good. At the last door on the left, at the end of the hall, he stopped in front of a gray door. A fluorescent light flickered off above my head. “She’s in here.” He pushed open the door.

  A blue chair with metal legs partially blocked the door, and I stepped around it into the room. Pulled halfway shut, blocking the top of the bed was a patterned curtain in muted colors, and the faint yellow glow of lamplight barely illuminated the corner near the bed. A cream-colored heater was in front of a window, whirling warmish air into the room. It smelled better in here from all the flowers set about the room but there was still an underlying smell of disinfectant.

  A lump formed in my throat when I saw Glinda. She looked so helpless and small. Metal guards were up on the sides of the bed, to stop her fro
m rolling out on the floor. Tubes snaked down into her arms from a bag filled with clear liquid, dripping steadily. There were purple and yellow bruises on her face. Her skin looked see through, and I could see every vein in her translucent skin. A huge bandage was on the side of her neck and large scratches were sticking out from under bandages on her arms. The constant beep, beep, beep of the monitor made me feel strangely unsettled. I knew it was only a machine tracking her heart rate but I was afraid the beeping would stop and turn into one long beep –a flat line.

  The door flew open and a heavyset nurse in flowered scrubs bustled into the room carrying a tray filled with more flowers and a stuffed animal with a balloon, which she set on the table near the bed. The little teddy bear had a bandage on its arm and held a balloon that said, “Get well soon.” It was ridiculous. A gurgle of hysterical laughter slipped out from the absurdity of it all. I faked coughed to cover up my outburst. “Scratchy throat,” I lied. The nurse gave me a nasty glare “How is she doing?” Viktor asked the nurse, speaking for the first time since we entered the room. The nurse turned from me and perched her hip on the edge of the bed. “Her condition really hasn’t changed since the last time you were here, I’m afraid.” She lifted her hand and smoothed the covers over Glinda’s little feet.

  What? I looked over at Viktor, wide eyed. When had he come by? “Has she woken up?” I managed, finally.

  All pleasantries went by the wayside when the nurse turned her head and her beady eyes bore into my own. “No,” she snipped and shook her head.

  “Do you think she will?” Viktor asked, shoving his hands in his pockets, his eyes never leaving Glinda’s face.

  The nurse stood up and placed her hands on her ample hips. “We just don’t know.” She glanced over at Glinda. “We are hopeful though.”

  “What does that mean?” I asked, my voice coming out surprisingly calm even though I felt like I might need to throw up now.

  “It means we don’t know,” she said in a condescending tone, then turned and adjusted something on the monitor.

  “I don’t understand,” I plodded onward. “I thought she was doing better.”

  “It’s too soon to tell if she has any permanent damage to her brain.” The nurse gave Viktor a sympathetic look and then looked down her hawkish nose at me.

  “I’m sorry,” I flustered. “I thought she was recovering.”

  “She is.” The nurse rolled her eyes and mumbled something under her breath that I was sure was an insult directed at my intelligence.

  “An officer stopped by earlier to check on her condition.”

  “Really?” Viktor asked, lifting his brow. “Do you remember who it was?”

  “Oh…” She crossed her arms and pressed her finger on her lips. It looked like she was propping up her nose. “What was his name again? Good-looking guy though…blonde hair, built…” She waved her hand. “It’ll come to me.”

  “What did he say?”

  “Oh, he said that Glinda was fortunate that boy came by with his dog or else she may not have survived.”

  “What boy?” I asked before I could stop myself.

  “The one that found her,” she snipped, adding an eye roll that was unnecessary. “I guess it was one of the boys over at the reservation.” She bustled over to the opposite side of the bed and fluffed the pillows. “That boy and his dog probably saved her life.” The nurse nodded in my direction and tucked the blankets around Glinda tighter, making her appear even smaller.

  “Where was she attacked,” I asked, immediately thinking of Lucky.

  “Not sure.”

  “Why would someone want to attack Glinda?”

  “Who knows, but I’m sure by the way her neck was tore up it was another one of those crazy copycat attacks.”

  “What does that mean?” I asked.

  The nurse gave Viktor a cursory glance and then lifted up the tray. “I’ll give you five more minutes but then I’m afraid you will have to leave until tomorrow.” She stopped beside Viktor. “We are already bending the rules for you.”

  “I appreciate that Nancy,” he said, calling her by name.

  Nancy wobbled toward the door with her tray, her orthopedic shoes squeaking on the linoleum tiles as she made her way out of the room.

  Relieved she was finally gone, I let out a pent up breath. Viktor was still looking at Glinda. I cleared my throat trying to get his attention but he didn’t even flinch. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore and just spit out what was on my mind. “You were here before?”

  “Yeah,” he murmured and smoothed Glinda’s hair back from her face.

  It was an endearing gesture and made me uncomfortable watching it. I felt a twinge of hurt from the action even though I didn’t have any right to feel that way. Nothing made sense.

  “You came by after you left my house?”

  “Yeah,” he said and glanced up at me, his light gray eyes flashed with something I didn’t understand.

  “Wasn’t it was too late though?” I asked. “I mean for her to have visitors?”

  “Not for me.” He lifted his shoulders, like this explained everything. He looked back down at Glinda, a small smile playing on his lips. I wasn’t sure if it was for me or her. “We better go.”

  Reaching out, I touched a part of her arm that wasn’t bandaged and immediately snatched my hand back. “Why is she so cold?” I rubbed my fingers on my jeans.

  “I don’t think she feels cold.” He gave me a strange look and stepped away from the bed, heading out the door.

  “Maybe it’s just me,” I covered and slowly followed. I turned to glance at Glinda. She was staring right at me, her eyes swimming with hatred. I tripped, and my body flew forward. All I could see was a sharp metal object headed right for my face. Whether by sheer luck or God’s Grace, I hit the wall instead.

  Pushing off the wall, I turned to the bed fully expecting Glinda to say, “Gotcha, back!” But her eyes were shut now and she looked exactly as she did before.

  “Guilt must be making me see things,” I muttered and pushed a blue metal chair out of the way. I walked out into the hall, looking for the other chair…but it was gone. Only then did I realize the chair that almost had taken me out must have been the one that was in the hall earlier… but how did it get into Glinda’s room?

  twenty five

  “Where to now?” Viktor asked after we were back in his SUV. His entire mood had switched from pensive to almost exuberant. I blinked a few times not quite sure what to make of the sudden one eighty in his demeanor. “What’s with the face?” His brows drew together forming a line.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I pulled on my seatbelt, trying hard to ignore him.

  “I don’t get you.” He sighed and started his SUV. It rumbled to life. He hit the gas a few times—revving the engine.

  “What’s there to get?” I asked, getting miffed all over again. I felt like a yo-yo. One moment he was pushing me away and the next he was pulling me back.

  “Nothing,” he brooded and flipped on the heat.

  “If it’s nothing why aren’t you saying anything again?” I held up my hands, warming them in front of the vent.

  “I don’t know.” He shrugged. “It kind-of seems pointless at this juncture.”

  My brows creased. “What is that supposed to mean?”

  He turned and gave me a heated look. “You’re all over the place.”

  Was I? “Yeah, well, so are you.”

  He laughed and put his arm across the seat. “I guess I am, but it’s your fault.” His fingers were almost touching my shoulder.

  “What?” My mouth dropped open in astonishment. “How so?” I finally managed.

  “You run hot and cold.”

  Do I? “I do not.”

  “Yes you do.”

  “This is a pointless conversation,” I muttered.

  “I don’t think so.” His fingers inched closer.

  “Well…let me…” My eyes locked with his and for on
e breathless moment I lost all coherent thought. A door slammed beside me and I turned. A man in a tan work coat was limping toward the hospital entrance. I turned back toward Viktor but now he was staring out the windshield at a car that just pulled into the parking lot across from where we were. “We should get out of here.” He put the SUV in gear, backed out of the parking space, and headed out toward the main road. Turning on his blinker, he stopped and made a right.

  “Where are we going?” My house was in the other direction.

  “I want to show you something.”

  My stomach flipped nervously. “I can’t stay out late.”

  “This won’t take long,” he assured me and kept driving further away from town. I recognized the road at once. I had come out this way with Vincent too “So, what grade do you think we got on our paper?” I asked. There wasn’t much to look at—just trees lined on either side that seemed to want to overtake the road.

  “Can’t say.” He lifted his shoulders. “You never know with the turtle.”

  I gaped at him.

  “What?” he asked and lifted his brow.

  “That’s what I call her.” I gaped at him.

  “I guess we think alike.” He winked at me and laughed.

  “Yeah,” I said. “I guess.”

  “You don’t sound very sure.” He turned on his signal again, making another right.

  All I could see was trees. “Where are we going?” My stomach clenched.

  “You’ll see.” He made a sharp right between two trees onto a small graveled path and suddenly I realized where we were. It was the same place I had pulled over when I had a flat tire with Vincent. The very place the weird glowing eyed thing had been and he made me leave. “Why are we here?” I pressed my palms on the dash, holding on as we bounced down the driveway. Branches scrapped the sides of his SUV, making an eerie scraping sound.

  “It’s a surprise.”

  “You know, I really should get home,” I said, feeling strangely unsettled by his evasiveness. “I forgot I have some homework to do and I’m sure my mom is wondering where I am. I mean she knows I’m with you and so does Ken… I mean Deputy Warren.”