Witch Ball - BK 3 (20 page)

"But it is. He's reaching out for you."

"Yes ... yes! I can see him." Hortense's face
glowed and slowly she held out her arms. Then she moved forward. I stood aside, watching her transform; the wrinkles faded to soft luminous skin.
Even her drab skirt seemed brighter and her gray
hair darkened to a lovely chestnut brown. Light
and love enveloped her like a sweet fog. And the
last thing I saw was her arms upraised and a child's
voice calling out, "Mama!"

Then Opal was by my side and I was overcome by dizziness. She held me tight, whispering
that I had a choice, too. When I looked down I
saw the mangled truck, the wheels still spinning.
There was a strong smell of diesel. And I thought
of everyone I loved-Nona, my mother, father, sisters, and friends.

Light faded and I was being sucked into a tornado. There was heaviness, enormous pain, and
everything was black.

"Hold on," I heard a voice above me.

Warm hands grasped me gently, lifting my head.
I felt warm lips on mine. Blowing air, expanding my
chest.

"Breathe, damn it!"

Dominic. I thought. Its Dominic.

More pressure on my mouth and a pressure on
my chest. The pain was so severe, I backed off and
started to float away.

"Sabine!" I saw Dominic's face over mine. "Stay
with me ... I won't let you go!"

He held tighter, the mouth-to-mouth he'd been
using to save me deepening into a warm kiss. He caressed my hair, his touch gentle, not letting go. I
clung to him, kissing him back, giving into tingling
desire. Sinking into him, floating in sweet emotions.

I whispered his name, other sensations heightened-cold gravel underneath me on hard ground,
stinging, cuts on my skin, and a growing ache in
my head. Everything blurred and I trembled. Except for the warmth on my lips, the rest of my body
exploded with pain.

There was the sound of sirens and I saw red and
blue flashing lights. I thought wistfully of the bright
lights I left behind, the homecoming I didn't join.

Then I blacked out.

"Saturday," the nurse told me when I woke up and
asked what day it was.

"What?" I thought I was yelling, but the sound
that came from my throat was only a small frog
croak. My vision was foggy, but after blinking, I
could see I was in a hospital room: white walls, white
sheets, and a garden of brilliant flowers on a nearby
shelf.

"Sabine honey," I heard my grandmother's
voice. She stood up from a corner chair and rushed
over to my bedside. "You're back."

"Was I ... I gone?" I whispered.

She gave me an odd look. "Don't you remember?"

It seemed strange, this question coming from
her. But I knew what she meant, although my memory of Opal, Hortense, and the others was already
fading; like a dream slipping away upon waking. I
just nodded.

She told me it was very early on Saturday, so she
was my only visitor. "But it's been crowded with
everyone who cares about you. Your doctor joked
about selling tickets. Your parents and sisters had to
go back home but will return later. And your friends
should show up soon."

I had so many questions but Nona had moved
over to the shelf with flowers and was reading off the
"get well soons" and other messages. When she came
to a small, glass vase with wildflowers, she withdrew
an attached envelope and handed it to me.

"This came from Dominic. He acted quite
mysterious, telling me not to open it until you were
awake, and said it was a surprise for both of us."

I pushed myself farther up against the pillow
and weakly ran my thumbnail against the sealed
flap. I lifted out a folded paper. It said: Thirds is a
charm. And it was signed simply "D."

I was puzzled, until I realized there was something else in the envelope. When I looked inside, I
gave an excited cry. Then I lifted up a tiny, silver
charm-very old, finely hand-crafted-and shaped
like a tiny fish.

Nona was thrilled, full of hope that the remedy book would be found soon. And I was thrilled,
too, for many reasons.

I wanted to ask which friends had come, flashing back to that kiss with Dominic. I couldn't pretend nothing was between us. He'd breathed life
into me; a deep kiss that told me more than I
wanted to know. Yet it filled me with joy, too. And
I had to admit, finally to myself, that I enjoyed it.

So what did it all mean? Was there something
serious between us? We were different, but he understood about my gift and I couldn't deny the
chemistry beween us. My relationship with josh was
over anyway. He'd been angry with me for standing
him up and Evan would have told him about my
weirdness by now, so he wouldn't want anything to do with me. Without Josh, school would be lonely.
But with Dominic, after school could prove very
interesting.

My head started to throb again, and soon a
nurse appeared with pain pills. I sipped some juice,
swallowed the pills, then fell back asleep.

When I woke again, Nona was gone. But I had
another visitor-the last person I expected to see.

"Josh! You ... here?" I said hoarsely, surely I
must've been hallucinating.

He stood up from the uncomfortable-looking
plastic chair, and came over to my side. "Sabine!
I've been so worried."

"You have?"

"What do you expect? You're my girl." He
reached out to squeeze my hand. "I freaked when I
heard about the accident. And I felt terrible for
treating you so rough. I didn't know about your
sister running away. I should have trusted that you
wouldn't have ditched me without a good reason.
Can you forgive me?"

"Me? Forgive you?"

"I jumped to the wrong conclusion. Thank God
you're okay." He reached out to squeeze my hand.
"And we're together. That's all that matters."

"But ..." My throat tightened, so I took a sip
of water. "But Evan ... didn't he ... tell you?"

"Oh, that." Josh rolled his eyes. "Yeah, he
showed me a newspaper clipping and told me some
stuff about you."

"Are you mad?"

"You bet I am! At all those stupid people at your
school-and at Evan. No wonder you kept this a secret. It must have hurt."

"You don't ... mind?"

"It's not your fault that other people are ignorant. I know what it's like to lose someone closeyou want to blame someone. But those people had
no right making up those lies about you."

"Lies?"

"Yeah, sure. Only an idiot would believe you
have the power to predict the future."

"Yeah." I laughed shakily. "It's crazy."

"Although right now I can predict a great future for us." He looked down at me with such a
tender expression, my heart swelled with gratitude.

Then the door opened and Manny and Thorn
burst in.

Josh said he'd leave so they could visit for a
while, but he promised to come back later. Then he bent down to gently kiss me. A very sweet kiss
that should have made me feel wonderful. Instead
I ached with guilt for betraying him ... and an uncertain longing.

I laid back against my pillow, weary yet glad to
be alive and surrounded by friends.

I listened while Manny and Thorn filled me
in on everything that happened since my accident.
Thorn had indeed found K.C.'s car, only it had been
stripped and most of his stuff was gone. So Thorn
had taken him home to her minister mother-and
he was staying with them while he sorted out his life.

Penny-Love and Nona showed up next. PennyLove was excited to start working with Nona, and I
could tell Nona was relieved to have someone help
with her business. Nona didn't say much, just held
my hand, while Penny-Love went on with school
gossip and the newest on her latest love. I didn't
have the heart to tell her Jacques was really plain
Jack and might be dealing drugs. Maybe later ...

By the time they left, I was so exhausted, I only
ate part of my bland hospital lunch, then sank into
a deep sleep.

It was almost dark out my window when my
eyes opened. The visitor chairs were empty. I was alone. And I found myself wondering why Dominic hadn't come to see me. Thinking about him
brought a sudden insight. When he thought I was
dying, he'd told me he loved me. In fact, according
to the doctor, I had died for a few seconds. All the
predictions had come true.

But now what would happen? Josh was still
my boyfriend-then there was Dominic. I couldn't
believe two great guys cared about me-and I had
absolutely no idea what to do about it.

There was a knock on my door, and I was surprised since visiting hours had ended. I called out
a weak "come in." It was my mother.

"Good evening, Sabine," she said, her words
formal but there was a warmth in her tone that
was new.

"Hi, Mom. Are Dad and the girls here?"

She shook her head. "Not this time, but they'll
be here tomorrow."

"Good."

She pulled a chair close to my bed. "I purposely
came alone, because there's something important I
want to tell you."

"What?"

"I've done some soul-searching lately. The shock
of Amy running away, and then your accident, made
me rethink a lot of things."

"I'm fine now," I told her. "I'm bruised and cut
up, but nothing serious. You don't have to worry
about me."

"But I do worry. I'm sorry for everything,
Sabine. I realize now that I made a horrible mistake."

"Mistake?" I asked, puzzled by the anguish in
her voice.

"Yes, dear." She reached out and grasped my
hand. "That's why I've made a serious decision about
you."

"What decision?"

"I was wrong to make you leave home. It's time
I made amends." She peered close into my face and
tightened her hold on my hand. "Sabine, as soon as
you're well enough to travel, you're moving back to
San Jose."

The following is an unedited excerpt
from The Seer 4, Sword Play by Linda
Joy Singleton.