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But even as the medical officers separated them, he wasn’t entirely sure he’d spoken the truth.
“MADDIE, ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?”
Maddie jumped, then rubbed a hand across her eyes and smiled grimly. She hadn’t heard a word Jayne had said in the last five minutes, but she wasn’t about to admit that.
“How’s Evan coping?” she asked instead, tugging at the phone cord in an effort to gain a few extra inches so she could lean back against the pillows.
Jayne’s sigh was a sound of frustration. “You weren’t listening.”
She grimaced. “Sorry.”
“Evan’s fine … mostly. He’s still not talking to Steve, though.”
“I don’t really blame him.” Her stupid brother-in-law wanted to take Evan to a psychologist. He couldn’t accept the fact that his son was gifted, preferring to think there was something mentally wrong with him. He was so like their father it was scary. And in her case, the only winner had been the psychologist’s bank account.
“The police did recommend Evan see a therapist,” Jayne said softly. “He’s still having nightmares.”
“Nightmares are natural, Jayne. It’s only been three days since he escaped Eleanor’s clutches.”
Three days, she thought, in which she hadn’t seen Jon.
She bit her lip, letting her gaze move to the window. A sparrow scooted busily from one tree branch to another, chirping cheerfully. She wished she felt an eighth of its happiness.
“Still, it can’t hurt,” Jayne murmured.
Maddie’s anger flared. “Oh for God’s sake, Jayne, get real. You know as well as I do that visiting the psychologist only made everything worse for me. Here I was, a kid with this amazing ability to see the future and light fires with just a thought, and the psychologist and our father made me feel like an abomination. Do you really want that for Evan?”
The phone hummed with silence for several seconds, then Jayne sighed. “No.”
“Then get a backbone and stand up for your son. He has a gift, Jayne, a gift that saved his life. Make Steve see that. Because if he doesn’t, he’ll push Evan away, and you’ll both lose him.”
She’d seen it in her dreams. Had seen Evan walking away. It was a future that could be prevented only if Steve saw the error of his ways and stopped acting like such an ass.
“You’ve seen this?” There was a fearful edge in her sister’s voice. Jayne no longer questioned Maddie’s abilities, but she still feared them. And rightly so …
Maddie sighed. “Yes.”
“Oh God, I don’t want to lose him. I don’t want him to—”
Jayne stopped speaking, but what she’d meant was clear enough. Don’t want him to end up like you. Maddie smiled grimly. It wasn’t something she wanted, either.
Jayne cleared her throat. “When are you getting out of the hospital?”
“Today.”
“We’re heading home in a couple of days. I’ll call you when we get back.”
“Fine,” Maddie said and hung up.
The nurse bustled into the room, her smile as white as her uniform. “All dressed and ready to leave, I see.”
Maddie nodded. Three days spent under constant observation, with no one to talk to but the nursing staff and some cops asking far too many questions, was more than enough. It was time to escape and go back home.
And do what? It was a question that had nagged at her since she’d awakened in the hospital—alone. She no longer needed a retreat. She was willing to face her past, ready to accept responsibility for her gifts. She just didn’t want to do it alone.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes, then,” the nurse continued. “With the wheelchair.”
Maddie didn’t bother responding; the woman had already bustled out the door. She stared out the window again. Where was Jon? It hurt that he hadn’t bothered coming to see her, that he hadn’t kept his promise and let her say good-bye. He’d simply dropped her clothes and her bag near the bed when she was asleep and had left the hospital. No one had seen him since, not even Mack.
