Dream Phantom

FINAL CHAPTER

Omar stared at the online group that had brought him to Roane. His face still throbbed from where Roberto had hit him. Perhaps, coming here wasn't the brightest idea. He deleted his profile and shut down his laptop. Tonight would be his last in the city that held a human dream catcher. It was time to move on.

"No, there's something I have to do first," Omar whispered. He grabbed a hat and placed it on, lowering the visor in a weak attempt to hide his black eye. He would do one last thing before leaving town.

XXX

Dolores was eyeing the handsome man in the corner booth when Helen flagged her over. Helen and her son Calvin were at the diner pretty late and Dolores sauntered over, carrying a pitcher of hot coffee.

"Hi, Helen. It's pretty late for you two to be here," Dolores smiled. She winked at Calvin, "Did you miss me?"

Calvin smiled and shook his head, "Actually, we were looking for Dani. I thought she was supposed to be working tonight."

"I had a strange dream about her and I tried calling her but she wouldn't pick up. Neither would Jax," Helen said. "I'm worried about them."

"Oh, don't worry. They're both fine. Dani was supposed to work but she asked if she could have the evening off to spend the night at the hospital. She said she wanted to stay with Oliver. As for Jax, he left a long time ago because of another body they found. He's probably working overnight."

"Dani said she was going to the hospital?" Calvin asked.

Dolores nodded, "Yes. She said she just suddenly had an overwhelming need to see him."

The handsome customer called out to Dolores and she giggled. She nodded towards the good-looking customer, "Doesn't he look like my future husband? As for you two, don't worry. Everyone is fine. If you're that worried, you can always call Oliver's hospital room. Maybe her phone died."

After Dolores left them, Helen and Calvin quickly stood up, put a twenty on the table, and exited the diner.

XXX

She wasn't answering her phone. Jax cursed under his breath before waiting for her answering machine to click on.

"Panda Eyes, I'm on my way home. I know you're usually up at this time. Dolores said you called in. I'm going to guess you went back to bed. I'm working through the night. Call me if anything comes up. I love you. You know that, right?"

He disconnected the call and pressed the button to start his car. Things were so complicated. He should be happy right now. His wife was pregnant and his partner was coming back to work with him. He needed to catch this murderer. He didn't want to think about what Lilah was up to. He had a feeling she was going to press charges against her step-father but that wouldn't be possible unless her sister wanted to admit he was abusing her. He was about to call Lilah to make sure she didn't cause any trouble when his phone dinged, alerting him of a message.

He quickly read it and felt a tightening in his stomach before tossing his phone onto the passenger seat and pressing on the gas.

XXX

The hospital was buzzing with movement as Dani entered and passed the nurses that were talking with one another at the main desk. An orderly passed Dani, pushing a hospital bed from an empty room. She looked around before grabbing the cold handle of Oliver's hospital room. She slowly pushed it open and was greeted by the soft beeping of his heart monitor and the light scraping of a metal against the metal tray it had been placed on. Hovering over Oliver was a male wearing green hospital scrubs, his back towards her. The fluorescent light above Oliver's bed glowed softly above him.