mouth.
"They are so lovely together." The smile disappeared, a bitter
frown taking its place. "He hurt my little girl."
Erin's mother, he realized.
"Why did he hurt my daughter,
Gaelen?"
"I don't know, Susan. But I do know he
never meant to hurt her." The degree of trust Susan showed gave him
the heart to ask her, "Can you help me find Lucas? He's in trouble.
If I don't find him soon, he may be hurt before he can tell Erin
he's sorry."
Susan shook her head. "No. I don't know
where he is. Erin has been waiting for him since the aliens took
him away."
Gaelen stifled a chuckle. Such a tale
would go a long way to keeping this whole disaster quiet. Sensible
people would laugh off any story smacking of things that couldn't
be explained. In the privacy of her own conscious mind, Susan
probably didn't think she believed it.
"Did Erin see where the aliens took
Lucas?"
"No. They disappeared in a flash of
light."
"Where is Erin?"
Susan sniffled again. "The hospital." A
single tear slid from the corner of her eye.
Sensing her starting to waken, Gaelen
withdrew from her mind, careful to place the suggestion that she'd
had a lovely dream of a conversation with an incredibly handsome
man about... He paused, trying to get just the right thing to leave
with her.
Ah, he thought, perfect.
"Fireflies, Susan. The little point of
light is a firefly flickering around in the dark."
She smiled. "I love
fireflies."
"Yes, my sweet, I know you do." He
raised her hand to his lips and kissed the back tenderly. "Goodbye,
Susan."
"Goodbye, Gaelen."
Gaelen stood by the window and
squooshed.
Next stop, the hospital.
Chapter Five
Annabelle sat at Erin's bedside, her
sister finally asleep. Lucas's visit had calmed Erin more than all
the Prozac in the joint.
Now that he was gone, though, Annabelle
didn't know if she'd made the right decision. Helping Lucas was the
same as supporting Erin in her delusion about him.
With a long sigh, Annabelle rose from
the chair and went to the window. The hospital was on the southern
edge of the university campus, but what had been a wide boulevard
lined with important-looking brick buildings housing the pharmacy
and public health schools on one side and the hospital and medical
library on the other, Cameron Street had become overbuilt as the
hospital complex had spread. Even so, Erin loved it here, even
hoping to work in the UNC hospital itself when she graduated next
spring.
Daddy would be happy, Annabelle
thought. Vern was a Tarheel born and a Tarheel bred, and had stayed
on at the university as an administrator in the athletics
department after his own graduation some thirty years ago. "Uncle
Jumbo" they had called him, for his size and his appetite-both
prodigious-and his memory, which never forgot a name or a
face.
He was as tender as he was large,
though. Never did one of Jumbo Tinker's athletes spend a holiday in
their dorm room if they couldn't get home. The Tinker home was
open. He played Santa Claus for children in the hospital, often
buying the gifts himself. And people weren't the only recipients of
Daddy's generosity. Annabelle thought of the dishes of milk he
always left out. "For the fairies," he'd said, but she'd known it
was for the stray cats in the neighborhood.
Annabelle turned from the window, arms
wrapped around herself. Even a year after his death, she missed him
so much, his droopy brown eyes, his ever-present smile, and his
childlike wonder with everything.
Wonder Annabelle had once
shared.
"Ummm."
Erin's muttered moan and smile as she
twisted in her narrow bed caught Annabelle's attention.
"Lucas," she said, her eyes popping
open. "Where is he?"
"He left." Annabelle sat down in the
chair beside the bed. "He's waiting in my car, and I'm going to
take him to the house when Mom comes back to stay with
you."
"Oh. That's right." Erin glanced
around. "I'm still in the hospital." She flicked her eyes to
Annabelle. "I dreamed I was at home. Well, in my home, with Lucas.
And two of
"They are so lovely together." The smile disappeared, a bitter
frown taking its place. "He hurt my little girl."
Erin's mother, he realized.
"Why did he hurt my daughter,
Gaelen?"
"I don't know, Susan. But I do know he
never meant to hurt her." The degree of trust Susan showed gave him
the heart to ask her, "Can you help me find Lucas? He's in trouble.
If I don't find him soon, he may be hurt before he can tell Erin
he's sorry."
Susan shook her head. "No. I don't know
where he is. Erin has been waiting for him since the aliens took
him away."
Gaelen stifled a chuckle. Such a tale
would go a long way to keeping this whole disaster quiet. Sensible
people would laugh off any story smacking of things that couldn't
be explained. In the privacy of her own conscious mind, Susan
probably didn't think she believed it.
"Did Erin see where the aliens took
Lucas?"
"No. They disappeared in a flash of
light."
"Where is Erin?"
Susan sniffled again. "The hospital." A
single tear slid from the corner of her eye.
Sensing her starting to waken, Gaelen
withdrew from her mind, careful to place the suggestion that she'd
had a lovely dream of a conversation with an incredibly handsome
man about... He paused, trying to get just the right thing to leave
with her.
Ah, he thought, perfect.
"Fireflies, Susan. The little point of
light is a firefly flickering around in the dark."
She smiled. "I love
fireflies."
"Yes, my sweet, I know you do." He
raised her hand to his lips and kissed the back tenderly. "Goodbye,
Susan."
"Goodbye, Gaelen."
Gaelen stood by the window and
squooshed.
Next stop, the hospital.
Chapter Five
Annabelle sat at Erin's bedside, her
sister finally asleep. Lucas's visit had calmed Erin more than all
the Prozac in the joint.
Now that he was gone, though, Annabelle
didn't know if she'd made the right decision. Helping Lucas was the
same as supporting Erin in her delusion about him.
With a long sigh, Annabelle rose from
the chair and went to the window. The hospital was on the southern
edge of the university campus, but what had been a wide boulevard
lined with important-looking brick buildings housing the pharmacy
and public health schools on one side and the hospital and medical
library on the other, Cameron Street had become overbuilt as the
hospital complex had spread. Even so, Erin loved it here, even
hoping to work in the UNC hospital itself when she graduated next
spring.
Daddy would be happy, Annabelle
thought. Vern was a Tarheel born and a Tarheel bred, and had stayed
on at the university as an administrator in the athletics
department after his own graduation some thirty years ago. "Uncle
Jumbo" they had called him, for his size and his appetite-both
prodigious-and his memory, which never forgot a name or a
face.
He was as tender as he was large,
though. Never did one of Jumbo Tinker's athletes spend a holiday in
their dorm room if they couldn't get home. The Tinker home was
open. He played Santa Claus for children in the hospital, often
buying the gifts himself. And people weren't the only recipients of
Daddy's generosity. Annabelle thought of the dishes of milk he
always left out. "For the fairies," he'd said, but she'd known it
was for the stray cats in the neighborhood.
Annabelle turned from the window, arms
wrapped around herself. Even a year after his death, she missed him
so much, his droopy brown eyes, his ever-present smile, and his
childlike wonder with everything.
Wonder Annabelle had once
shared.
"Ummm."
Erin's muttered moan and smile as she
twisted in her narrow bed caught Annabelle's attention.
"Lucas," she said, her eyes popping
open. "Where is he?"
"He left." Annabelle sat down in the
chair beside the bed. "He's waiting in my car, and I'm going to
take him to the house when Mom comes back to stay with
you."
"Oh. That's right." Erin glanced
around. "I'm still in the hospital." She flicked her eyes to
Annabelle. "I dreamed I was at home. Well, in my home, with Lucas.
And two of
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