Final Target(16)
Jessica moistened her lips. “Cassie?”
“She’s a strong little girl. She had no trouble pulling me into the tunnel with her. Not like Donny Benjamin. He tried, but I was able to stay outside his little cave, even though he was so desperately lonely and I wanted to go in and keep him company.” She took a deep breath. “If I’d gone in, he might never have come back. But he did come back. You brought him back. Just like you brought me back.” She paused. “Only you brought something else back with me, didn’t you?”
“You think you joined minds with Cassie?”
“I know I did.” She wiped her wet cheeks with the back of her hand. “You don’t want to believe it, like you didn’t want to believe it about Donny. It scares you.”
“Hell, yes. Doesn’t it scare you?”
“Not most of the time. Tonight it did. I want to live.”
“And Cassie doesn’t?”
“When the nightmares are going on, she’s scared and confused and wants only to get away. There’s just one place safer and further away than her tunnel.”
“Mellie.”
“I’m sorry. I know this upsets you.” She got out of bed and moved toward the bathroom. “I’m going to wash my face. Then, maybe, we’ll go downstairs, get a glass of lemonade, and sit on the front porch and forget all this. Okay?”
How could she forget it? Jessica thought. When she’d been treating Donny Benjamin, she had been able to dismiss the idea that Melissa was able to join minds with the little boy. She had chalked it up to imagination and the fact that Melissa had only recently been brought back herself. After all, Jessica had talked with Melissa about Donny and his progress. Just as she had discussed Cassie with her sister.
But the dreams of Donny had not been laced with terror and sorrow. Melissa had just talked calmly and sympathetically about the boy and then retreated when she faced Jessica’s bewilderment and distress.
“Stop fretting,” Melissa said as she came out of the bathroom. “That’s not why I came home. If you hadn’t barged into my private sanctum and caught me at a weak moment, you’d never have had to face my little hallucinations.”
“But you don’t think they’re hallucinations.”
“Sure I do. If they’re anything else, you’ll worry yourself into a nervous breakdown. After six years in never-never land, it would be weird if I didn’t have a few hallucinations.”
“You’re lying.”
“Maybe.” She headed for the door. “But not about wanting that glass of lemonade. Coming?”
“Nice night. I like this. I remember doing this when we were kids.” The swing moved slowly. “Do you sit out here much, Jessica?”
“I don’t have time.” Jessica sipped her lemonade. “If I’m not working with a particular patient, I’m usually at the learning clinic for autistic children.”
“So you’ve told me. Now, that’s major depressing. Compared with working with the autistic, your six years with me must have been a party.”
“There are certain similarities in treatment, and we’ve made breakthroughs.”
“And you spend your life looking for them.” Melissa was silent for a moment. “Was it me? Was I the one to blame?”
“Blame? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I remember how you were when I was a kid, before Mom and Dad died.” She smiled. “Miss Popularity, a cheerleader. Everyone’s best friend. With a healthy dose of selfishness thrown in.”
“I was young.”
“You’re still young, and there’s nothing wrong with selfishness. I think you’ve forgotten that.” She sipped her lemonade. “And I probably am to blame. You were saddled with taking care of a zombie and you turned into Saint Jessica.”
“Don’t be silly. Was it your fault you were in that car with Mom and Dad when they died? Life happens, and we just have to face it and choose our path.”
Melissa lifted her glass. “Like I said, Saint Jessica. In your place, I’d have been kicking and screaming and would have tossed me into a home.”
“No, you wouldn’t. You just like to talk tough. You’d have done the same thing.”
“Good God, you mean I’d have turned into Saint Melissa?” She shook her head. “Nah, it doesn’t have the same ring.”
“Well, you’ve decided to study medicine. That’s not exactly the most selfish career you could have picked.”
“You think I’m following in your footsteps?”