Between The Lines

18.

I turned back to Mrs. Sans, unsure of what to say except, "How are you?" Totally lame of me.

Her gaze on me never wavered, and I feared she hated me with a passion. "I'm doing fine. How're you feeling?"

"Fine." I guessed we were acting like robots because she probably really wanted to yell at me, blame me for her husband's condition. "Has there-?"

"Can I ask you something, Danity?" Her voice wavered. I nodded, terrified. "What did he do?" I noticed how she gripped Eli's hand harder. "What did he do... or try to do, last night?"

I didn't know why, but I glanced at the clock-it was almost eleven. I turned back to Bethany, somehow getting lost in her eyes. They were blue too, and I almost lost focus. Do I tell her the truth, or do I tell her the story I planned to tell police later in the morning?

I took a deep, shuddery breath. "I... was walking home, from the p-party, and I was crossing the street when... a car was speeding. I think he tried to push me out of the way... and...." I had no choice but to stop-she was shaking her head at me.

Her eyes never wavered as she shook her head at me. "You and I both know what he tried to do, Danity. I just.... Why are you lying to me about it?" Of course it would've seemed confusing.

I moved closer. "Mrs. Sans, I saw what he looked like when he tried to attack me. His voice shook when he demanded money. I-I could just tell he didn't want to be there. He didn't want to hurt me-he never planned to hurt me and I know it... well, I know it now. At the time, I-I didn't... but I-" I had to clear my throat, though it helped very little; my eyes still blurred and I couldn't stop staring at Eli's empty face. "I didn't mean for all this to happen-I was just scared. I didn't know what else to do, and-and the car was coming so fast....I-I didn't think it through.... I didn't know...."

Mrs. Sans had already come around the bed and hugged me; I could feel the baby bump against my side. We both looked at Eli. It was only a little reassuring in Bethany's arms, but it was nothing like Eli's. Even when Raff rarely hugged me, it felt more like we were friends, because that's what we were. But when I hugged Eli... he felt like a father, so much like a dad, maybe what my dad's hugs would've felt like, if I could remember them.

After a couple of minutes, she pulled away. "How did you know?" she asked quietly.

"What do you mean?"

Mrs. Sans glanced at Eli. "How did you know about Eli? You read him so easily at that moment.... How do you seem to know him?"

I could've told her everything, but she wouldn't believe me. Maybe the thought would've gotten lost in translation. "I just know, Mrs. Sans. I know he's not a bad person. He probably felt like he had no other choice."

She nodded, probably understanding. "What are you going to tell the police? You don't have to lie to them about what happened, Danity."

"But I want to.... Well, okay, I don't like to lie, but... he doesn't deserve that."

"I hope I don't look bad by not fighting you about it."

"Oh, no, no... of course not."

Mrs. Sans turned to her husband. "Ever since the store closed, he's been stressing himself out so much trying to find a job. At times... it looked like he was in so much pain... it nearly killed me." She glanced down at her stomach. "And now with the baby-"

Some machines started beeping. On Eli's monitor, the green letters started flashing red. Something was going wrong.

Gabriel had entered the room. "Danity-what's-?" He had to step aside as a doctor and two nurses rushed in. They moved Mrs. Sans to a corner as Gabriel pulled me out of the room, the door shutting behind me. "Eli's in trouble. Clapton's got him."

"Then let's go-what?"

He didn't let me get past him. "You're not going to be able to see them, Danity."

"So? What does it matter?"

"But you might get-" He turned to his left, like someone was standing next to him. "What? No, that's a terrible idea."

"What? Who is it?"

Gabriel sighed. "Kylie says that if you let her possess you, you'll be able to see them. But I'm saying that's a bad idea-you're hurt. You stay here while Kylie and I go deal with it-"

"I'm not staying here. And if you didn't want me around, why'd you come and tell me-why didn't you just go get Eli already?" I grabbed his arms and started pulling him towards to the stairs, not caring whether Kylie was following us, not even caring about my leg. "Did it happen just now? How do you know if you were up here?"

"I just looked out the window and saw them drag him into the alley," he said, keeping pace with me. "Not now, Kylie-once we're out of the hospital and out of sight."

"Move it, you two. Who knows what damage he's going through." I wished I was able to watch over the machines and go get Eli at the same time-or at least limp faster. "Why would Kylie need to possess me, anyway?"

"So that they won't," Gabriel answered.

"And how are we planning to stop them?"

"This is probably one of those 'we'll see when we get there' types of deals." In other words, no idea, and it was probably worse than we thought.

Gabriel led the way through the lobby, out the door, and then around to the alley. He didn't stop jogging; jogging, so I could keep up. I had assumed Clapton's ring and Eli were going to be there. Gabriel didn't hesitate as we moved all the way through the alley to the street behind the hospital.

This was where he stopped, turning to look around. "Where'd they go?" he panted.

"You probably shouldn't have... went and got me," I said, not liking feeling breathless. I did my best to seem like my leg wasn't bothering me. "How're we going to find them?"

"Get back to the hospital and keep an eye out, Danity," said Gabriel, "while Kylie and I-don't shake your head at me-what?"

"I'm not going anywhere." I crossed my arms. "So don't even try."

He sighed.