Page 84 of Threat of Danger
“You’re a good friend.”
“I think we have a link too, just a different kind of link.”
“Yes.”
“You call me if you need me for anything?”
“I’ll call you as soon as I know how long I’ll need to stay.”
They talked for a few seconds, then said goodbye.
Jess turned down the hospital hallway, hoping her mother would be awake.
Need to remember to ask about the diary.She’d kept the journal on and off from the third grade on—short notes, sometimes once a week, sometimes once a month.
For the past decade, when she’d thought about Taylorville, she thought only about her abduction. But there had been a whole childhood before that. Happy times. She wanted to read her diary to remind herself, to claim that part of her life back. She needed to find balance.
Find your balancehad been her first stunt instructor’s mantra, said a hundred times during each training session. Like so many other things Jess had learned from stunts, the advice applied in real life as well.
She walked into her mother’s room and found her sleeping. A frown marred her forehead, as if something troubled her. Probably sugaring, now that Chuck too was in the hospital. Jess made a silent promise to try harder to reconnect.
She came to see her every day, but she rarely stayed longer than twenty minutes, thirty at top. She could do better than that.
She’d barely set a muffin and a cup of tea on the over-the-bed hospital tray when a nurse popped her head in, a new one Jess hadn’t met yet. Her pink hair caught up in a tidy ponytail, her scrubs freshly pressed, as if she’d recently come on shift. Her brown eyes swam in sympathy.
“Miss Taylor?”
“That’s me.” Premonition sent a cold chill down Jess’s spine.
“They called up from the third floor, said you might be here,” she said in a lilting Eastern European accent.
Jess waited, cold spreading in her chest.
“I think they need you down there, ma’am,” the nurse told her before hurrying away.
Jess’s heart lurched.
“What is it?” Her mother asked from behind her in a sleepy tone.
“I’ll call as soon as I know. They said I’m needed downstairs.” Jess squeezed her mother’s hand, then hurried out.
Chuck is fine. He’s been fine all this time, recovering well from surgery. It’s probably just Zelda’s blood pressure acting up. Maybe she’s dizzy and they need somebody to sit with her.
It’s not an emergency. If it was an emergency, wouldn’t the nurse have said that? She would have.
Instead of waiting for an elevator, Jess ran down the stairs.
Of all people, she ran into Principal Crane. He was coming up, carrying a bouquet of flowers.
His smile was instant. “Stairs are good exercise, am I right? I sit behind a desk all day. I have to move when I can. How are you, Jess?”
The idea of him going up to her mother made Jess want to growl, but she let it go. “I’m sorry. I’m in a hurry.”
“Is Rose OK?”
None of your business, she wanted to say. Instead, she nodded and kept going.
“Will you let me know if there’s anything I can do to help?” he called after her.
