I gave him a quick grin as recognition registered on his swollen face. After a nod of affirmation, I tossed him a wink, then placed an index finger over my mouth as discreetly as I could. Dustin nodded with a wince, but couldn’t seem to hold back a mischievous grin.
My lungs seized and tears flowed freely now. Had I done it? Did I actually save a child’s life?
Before anyone could ask questions, I excused myself and wound through people to the exit. The nurses, as astonished as anyone, were kicking everyone but the mother and grandmother out anyway, so I blended in as the crowd, now hopeful, was ushered out of the tiny cubicle.
As I passed Dustin’s chair, I rejoiced that he was no longer in it. I didn’t know what happened, but I didn’t care. I beamed as we were led to the huge metal doors, but I was brought up short by a soft, feminine voice.
“Charley?”
I stopped as everyone else kept going. Turning around, I smiled sadly at Willa. “Hi. Um, I was just visiting an old friend when I saw you in there. I’m so sorry I —”
“Stop,” she said, her voice cracked, her cheeks flush. “It was you. Mom saw you pick up Dustin’s hand. She saw what you did.”
“What?” I asked, backing away from her. “I didn’t do anything.”
She caught my shoulders in her hands. “I know what you are. I was listening that night when you told Jessica.” Her sadness returned with the thought of her departed sister. “She was just scared, Charley. She was just, I don’t know, a stupid kid.”
“Willa, I was kidding that night. You know how kids joke around about those things.”
“Five minutes ago, I would have believed you.” She put a hand on my face and looked at me with such awe, such regard. “Not anymore. I know what you did. How can I ever repay you?”
Jessica put a cool hand on my shoulder. “Tell her I love her. Please, Charley. I will never ask anything of you again. We were not on the best of terms when I passed. I just want her to know that I love her.”
I crossed my arms and put my hands on Willa’s. “She sent me here, you know. She’s the one who saved Dustin. If not for her, I would never have known about him.”
She covered her mouth with both her hands as a sob racked her slender body. She looked like a pixie with short brown hair and big brown eyes. She was always so stunning.
“Oh, my god,” she said, her voice hitching.
“She wants you to know that despite your differences, she loved you beyond measure. She always has.”
Willa collapsed into my arms, holding on to me as though her life depended on it. Her mother walked up behind her and put her hands on her shoulders as they shook. Willa leaned back.
“I will never forget this,” she said, kissing my cheek and then picking up my hands and kissing them, too. “I will never forget this. Please tell her I love her, too.”
“You just did.”
Jessica was sobbing from behind me, her head on my shoulder. “And my mom. Please, Charley.”
“And you, Mrs. Guinn. Jessica loves you very much.”
She hiccupped with every breath she took and could only manage to nod her head. “He’s asking for you,” she said at last, squeezing Willa’s shoulders.
Willa nodded, gave me one more quick hug, then rushed to her son’s side. Jessica hurried after them.
I walked out dazed and confused. Reyes was right there.
“Did that really just happen?”
“You’re Val-Eeth,” he said, reminding me. “You’re a god on your plane. I told you. You’re capable of anything.”
“Yes, there. But here? On this plane? In this world? It already has a God, in case you’ve forgotten. Do you think he’ll be upset that I’ve done this? That I’ve invaded his turf?”
“I think that he’s glad to have you. I just wouldn’t make a habit of it.”
As we left the hospital and headed for Misery, I picked up a rock in the tread of my left boot. I stopped and leaned against the building to pick up my foot. As Reyes surveyed our domain, I squeezed my lids together and practiced my Latin before removing my hand from the brick building.
“Race you,” I said, running past him for a head start.
The exuberance of being in the lead, the sweet scent of victory, lasted approximately 0.7 seconds. It was the boots. And the fact that he had the prowess and strength of a freaking panther.
We finally made it back to the office. Reyes went to check on things at the bar while I hurried upstairs to check on my wayward assistant. I like to surprise-attack her sometimes. Keep her on her toes. I wasn’t paying her to play spider solitaire. Unless I was playing spider solitaire. Then we were good.
I opened the door to my office slowly. Cookie was at her desk, so I tiptoed across my office floor.
“I hate you with the force of a thousand suns,” she said. I hadn’t even scared her yet.
“Why do you hate me today?”
She sat at her desk with an ice pack on her head. “It’s hit. The caffeine withdrawal. I think I need a morphine drip.”
“That’s weird,” I said, picking up her stapler. Hers was much cooler than mine. “My head is fine today.”
She whirled toward me, then reeled in agony. “What?” she asked, fire blazing behind the depths of her killer blues.
“Yeah. I’m fine. I thought you said it was going to last two weeks.”
“It should have. It’s your supernatural crap.” She waved an index finger at me. “Why did I do this? I don’t even like you anymore.”