My Soul to Take
Page 27

While I appreciated my uncle standing up for me, even if he didnt believe in my premonitions either, I seriously doubted Dr. Nelson would consider himself bothered by a phone call about a patient. Not considering what he was probably getting paid.
I dont know what else to do. Aunt Val sighed, and a chair scraped the floor as my uncles shadow stood. Shes really upset, and I think I made it worse. She knows somethings going on. I tried to get her to take a sedative, but she busted the bottle on the refrigerator.
Uncle Brendon chuckled, from across the kitchen now. She knows she doesnt need those damn pills.
Yeah! I was starting to wonder if my uncle wore chain mail beneath his clothes, because he sounded eager to slay the dragon Skepticism. And I was ready to ride into battle with him.
Of course she doesnt, Aunt Val conceded wearily, and her shadow folded its arms across its chest. The pills are a temporary solution, like sticking your finger in a crack in a dam. What she really needs is your brother, and if youre not going to call him, I will.
My father? Aunt Val wanted him to call my dad? Not Dr. Nelson?
My uncle sighed. I hate to start all this now if we could possibly put it off a while longer. The refrigerator door squealed open, and a soda can popped, then hissed. It was just coincidence that this happened twice in one week. It may not happen for another year, or even longer.
Aunt Val huffed in exasperation. Brendon, you didnt see her. Didnt hear her. She thinks shes losing her mind. Shes already living on borrowed time, and she should not have to spend whatever she has left of it thinking shes crazy.
Borrowed time?
A jolt of shock shot through me, settling finally into my heart, which seemed reluctant to beat again for a moment. What did that mean? I was sick? Dying? How could they not have told me? And how could I be dying if I felt fine? Except for knowing when other people are going to die
And if that were true, wouldnt I know if I were going to die?
Uncle Brendon sighed, and a chair scraped across the floor again, then groaned as he sank into it. Fine. Call him if you want to. Youre probably right. I just really hoped wed have another year or two. At least until shes out of high school.
That was never a certainty. Aunt Vals silhouette shrank as it came closer, and I scuttled toward my room, my spine still pressed against the cold wall. But then she stopped, and her shadow turned around. Wheres the number?
Here, use my phone. Hes second in the contacts list.
My aunts shadow elongated as she moved farther away, presumably taking the phone from my uncle. You sure you dont want to do it?
Positive.
Another chair scraped the tiles as my aunt sat, and her shadow became an amorphous blob on the wall. A series of high-pitched beeps told me she was already pressing buttons. A moment later she spoke, and I held my breath, desperate to hear every single word of whatever theyd been keeping from me.
Aiden? Its Valerie. She paused, but I couldnt hear my fathers response. Were fine. Brendons right here. Listen, though, Im calling about Kaylee. Another pause, and this time I heard a low-pitched, indistinct rumble, barely recognizable as my fathers voice.
Aunt Val sighed again, and her shadow shifted as she slumped in her chair. I know, but its happening again. Pause. Of course Im sure. Twice in the last three days. She didnt tell us the first time, or I would have called sooner. Im not sure how shes kept quiet about it, as it is.
My father said something else I couldnt make out.
I did, but she wont take them, and Im not going to force her. I think weve moved beyond the pills, Aiden. Its time to tell her the truth. You owe her that much.
He owed me? Of course he owed me the truthwhatever that was. They all owed me.
Yes, but I really think it should come from her father. She sounded angry now.
My father spoke again, and this time it sounded like he was arguing. But I could have told him how futile it was to argue with Aunt Val. Once shed made up her mind, nothing could change it.
Aiden Cavanaugh, you put your butt on a plane today, or Ill send your daughter to you. She deserves the truth, and youre going to give it to her, one way or another.
I SNUCK BACK TO MY room, shocked, confused, and more than a little proud of my aunt. Whatever this mysterious truth was, she wanted me to have it. And she didnt think I was losing my mind. Neither of them did.
Though they apparently thought I was dying.
I think Id rather be crazy.
Id never really contemplated my own death before, but I would have thought the very idea would leave me too frightened to function. Especially having very nearly witnessed someone elses death only hours earlier. Instead, however, I found myself more numb than terrified.
There was a substantial fear building inside me, tightening my throat and making my heart pound almost audibly inside my chest. But it was a very distant fear, as if I couldnt quite wrap my mind around the concept of my own demise. Of simply not existing one day.
Maybe the news just hadnt sunk in yet. Or maybe I couldnt quite believe it. Either way, I desperately needed to talk it through with someone who wasnt busy keeping vital secrets from me. So I texted Emma, in case her mother had lifted the cell phone ban.