“Ronald,” Dr. Adam said. “Can you hear me?”
The elf stirred. “Yes.” His reply was nearly inaudible.
“Can you open your eyes for me?”
Ronald’s eyelids fluttered open. “Only for a moment. I need to close my eyes to see her,” he murmured, his eyelids growing heavy again.
“See who?” I asked.
Slowly, he turned his head to face the stack of sketches on the bedside table. He couldn’t possibly mean his childlike drawings.
“This woman?” I held up one of the Picasso-style sketches.
“Isn’t she beautiful?” he whispered.
Sure, if you were partial to a triangle nose and an alien-shaped head. “You dream about her?”
A smile ghosted his chapped lips. “All the time.”
I thought of Bernice’s admission last night, about dream visits from her mother. Was it possible that Ronald’s dream woman was real and not a figment of his imagination?
“Ronald, do you know this woman? Have you met her in real life?”
“Leanne,” he whispered, then began to snore.
Dr. Adam looked at me. “You seem to have an idea.”
I shook the sketch. “What if he didn’t make her up? What if he only thinks he did?”
“You think he’s experiencing memory loss too?”
“No, I mean what if his dream woman is real, and she’s the one responsible for his condition?”
“Because he wants to spend all his time with her, which means he has to be asleep?”
“Something like that.” I had another theory, but I needed to test it. “If you have no objection, I’d like to enter Ronald’s subconscious.”
Dr. Adam’s mouth split into a grin, as though I’d made a joke.
“I’m serious.”
His smile faltered. “You can do that?”
“Yes.” I realized I sounded too confident and quickly tempered it. “I believe so.”
“Is this something you learned from your mage father?”
“Yes.” Gods, I hated how easy it was to lie.
“Interesting. How can I help?”
“Just watch over us both. Make sure Ronald’s vitals don’t go berserk. If they do, wake me up, even if you have to throw cold water on me.”
“I can do that.”
“It’ll be faster if I’m touching him. Is that weird?”
“You’re trying to save his life, Maya. Permission to board granted.”
