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But when I tried to wake her from her trance, to get her to stop, I felt like I was hit with lightning. I was thrown off of her with so much force it knocked the wind out of me. Pocus had to grab me to keep me from trying again. Then it all stopped, and she collapsed. I couldn’t tell if it worked or not, and I didn’t care. I prayed that she was still alive.
Now I hold her to me and wait impatiently as the man gets his car. I hear Pocus call him Gator, and I’ve never been so thankful to a man with a more unusual name. In just a few minutes, he pulls into the dirt driveway and gets out. He and the other man, I think his name is Bones, lift Graveyard and arrange him gently in the backseat.
Pocus comes to me and holds his hands out to take Charlie, but I don’t want to let her go. I’m terrified that if I let her go, I’ll never see her again.
“Meredith,” Pocus says gently.
“She can’t go back to the hospital,” I say in a raspy voice. “They’ll take her away. I know she needs help, but…”
“Take her to the clubhouse,” Seer says, approaching us. “Tory will look after her. There’s very little my wife can’t do.”
I look between the two of them and nod gratefully. Pocus lifts her gently and puts her in the front seat of the car, buckling her in. I stay on the ground, unable to move. The two people I care about the most in the world are being driven away from me, and I don’t know what to do. It’s like my heart goes with them.
Pocus closes the door and I watch numbly as Gator drives away. I move from my kneeling position to sit and pull my knees against my chest. It’s all I can do to hold myself together right now.
“What do we do about him?” Pocus asks Seer.
In all the excitement, I had forgotten all about Damien. He’s knocked out cold on the trailer's living room floor. After he shot Graveyard, Seer tackled him. When Damien decided to get mouthy, Seer knocked him out hard with the butt of his gun. I look inside the trailer where I see his slumped body on the floor.
“Kill him,” I say, fury rising in me. “You have no idea what he’s done. What he’s capable of.”
I watch the two men seriously, but they exchange a look of trepidation.
“Do it!” I yell. “I’ll do it myself if I have to.”
I stand and charge toward Seer, intending to grab the gun in his hand. He puts both hands up and backs away from me, and Pocus grabs me again.
“Be smart, Meredith,” he says in my ear. “This man framed you for kidnapping and child trafficking. If he dies, no one can clear your name. Let us deal with him. We’ll make sure he tells the truth.”
I turn on him, ready to tell him off, but I see that he’s earnest. I don’t know how they’ll do it, but I see how scary Pocus can appear to others. For the first time in a long time, I trust them completely. Pocus is right, of course. Not that I’ll ever admit that to his face.
“I’ll take care of it,” Seer says, looking at Pocus meaningfully. “He’s my problem to deal with.”
I feel a swell of emotion at his words. All these years, I felt like Damien was a monster, a boogeyman I would spend my whole life running from. But Seer sees him as a simple problem with a simple solution, and he’s right. I’m finally free.
CHAPTERTHIRTY
I’m surrounded by familiar sounds and smells. There’s a constant, steady beeping next to me. The room smells like floor cleaner. I open my eyes slowly, and sure enough, I’m looking up at the familiar tiles of a hospital room. Oddly, they look the same in this room as the ones in the on-call lounge.
I turn my head to the side with some effort. An IV is in my arm and several other wires are hooked up to my chest. I start to chuckle, but the effort stings against my chest. I haven’t been on this side of the hospital since I became a doctor. It’s such a strange shift of perspective.
I turn my head slowly to the other side, expecting to see Pocus or Seer by my side. Hell, I even expect Hex to be there. But none of my friends are sitting in the chair beside me. But she is. She’s curled into a ball, sound asleep.
“Meredith,” I try to say, but the word is strangled in my throat. My throat is raw and the sound is hoarse. I cough a few times to clear out the mucus.
“Meredith,” I try again, my voice steadier this time.
Her eyes open immediately, the bright blue staring deeply into mine. “You’re awake.” Her eyes now swim in a puddle of tears.
“How long was I asleep?” I ask lamely, having no sense of time or place. Behind her, the sky is dark in the window. For all I know, it’s only been a few hours, but it could be more.
“You were in a coma,” she says softly. “About a week.”
My brain feels fuzzy. I try to reconcile the fact that I’ve lost an entire week. So much must have happened since then. For one thing, she’s not in a jumpsuit and handcuffs.
“Want to fill me in?” I ask, feeling tired.
Frankly, I don’t want to ever sleep again. I’ve heard about patients coming out of comas and what a mind fuck it can be, but I certainly never thought I’d be the one experiencing it. It’s a lot to process. My whole body feels like lead. Now that I’m awake, I’m more aware of the pain in my chest. Right. I was shot.
