Page 34 of Emma on Fire

Hastings hazards a sentence. “Emma doesn’t seem very happy either.”

“Of course not!” Blake yells. “Her mother and sisterare dead! She’s a young girl and she’s grieving.” There’s a moment of near silence, when all Hastings can hear is Blake’s controlled breathing.

“But she is strong,” Blake finally continues. “Unlike Claire, she’s stable. And she is not going to set herself on fire.”

“With all due respect—”

“With all duerespect,” Blake interrupts, “I know my daughter much better than you do. If I believed Emma was actually in danger, I’d be there by lunchtime. Emma is only testing boundaries. She’s dealing with her grief in her own way, and you need to let her do that.”

Hastings mimes smashing the phone into the polished surface of his desk. “Mr. Blake, we cannot have students proclaiming their intention to burn themselves to death! Emma needs to take a break from school and—”

“Emma is just like me, Hastings. Work is what makes her happy. Work is what makes her keep going. Having a purpose, fulfilling a function—that’s why we’re here, all of us. Maybe the real problem is thatyou’renot fulfilling your function. Maybe Ridgemont isn’t giving Emma enough purpose. Maybe it’s all too easy for her and she’s bored, so she’s finding ways to keep herself busy.”

Hastings bristles. “Ridgemont remains one of the top schools in the state, sir, and we are handling this situation as best we can. However, it seems clear that Emma needs more support than we can provide for her here.”

Sweat drips down his nose as stress raises his body temperature. He pulls his tie loose, opening his collar, a heat wave passing over him. He tries not to think about Emma’s essay, her description of fire consuming human flesh. “We want to ensure that she’s safe, and that she gets the help she needs. We can arrange for her to receive all her class assignments while she’s focusing on—”

“Are you threatening to suspend my daughter?” Blake’s voice has gone icy. “Because that’s what it sounds like. But I’m sure you wouldn’t be so stupid. For the last time, my daughter is fine. I know what she’s doing.Sheknows what she’s doing. Don’t ruin her life by acting like this is something it isn’t.”

Hastings thinks about all those Marcus Aurelius quotes he’s read, just in case they might help him with Blake. One in particular springs to mind:Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.

Blake thinks his perspectiveistruth.

“Mr. Blake,” Hastings begins. “My intent is not to ruin Emma’s life. I’m trying to save it. If you would consider—” But Blake doesn’t let him get one syllable further.

“Be very careful about any action you’re thinking about taking. It’s one kind of pain to lose a donor. But lawsuits, Mr. Hastings, are a different thing altogether. They are very expensive. And they areverybad publicity.”

Hastings swallows with difficulty. The last thing he wants is a lawsuit.

Actually—take that back.

The last thing he wants is for Emma Blake to die in a wave of flames.

“Sir,” he says, “don’t think of it as a suspension. Think of it as a leave of absence. We may need to insist—”

But Byron Blake has hung up.

CHAPTER 22

WITH BLAKE’S THREAT still ringing in his ears, Hastings dials the law offices of Forbes, Miller, and Rumswell. George Forbes—Ridgemont class of ’89, Yale Law ’95—picks up directly and says, “I’ve been meaning to call. Can we push the match to ten?”

“I’m not calling about tennis, George,” Hastings says. “We have a situation.”

“You know how I feel about that word,” George says cheerfully.

Actually, Hastings doesn’t know. Is George happy for the potential business or concerned about his alma mater? He doesn’t ask. And George quickly sounds less cheerful as the headmaster fills him in on Emma Blake’s threats and the conversation with Byron Blake.

Thankfully George is better at situations than he is at returning a flat serve. Calmly he lays out the plan for Emma Blake’s immediate future at Ridgemont.

“Emma Blake should probably be admitted to a psychiatric hospital,” George says. “But she doesn’t want to go, and her father doesn’t want her to go, and I doubt you could have her committed. You could take her to the ER and file an Involuntary Emergency Admission petition, but it sounds like she’d present to any attending doc as fully in her right mind.”

“Yes,” Hastings says grimly. “She’s very well spoken and reasonable, unfortunately. That’s about the long and short of it. So what do you recommend?”

“We have to ensure Emma’s safety above all else,” George goes on. “She needs careful supervision. Is there somewhere she can stay that’s not her dorm? A place that can be monitored more closely?”

Hastings thinks for a moment. “There’s a room we sometimes use for visiting lecturers. It’s right near the counselor’s office, and we could have someone outside all night if we needed to.”

“You need to,” George says decisively. “Make sure she’s comfortable and looked after. And document everything, Perry. Every precaution you take. Every call you make. You need to do everything you can to ensure Emma’s safety—but you have to ensure your own too.”

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