Never Say Goodbye

Chapter 26

I sit up, my whole body shaking. I stand up, and fall into Caleb, my balance a little off. He catches me, his hands hooked under my arms. My breath catches. I can't breathe. I look up into his eyes, and he looks back. He looks breathless. And nervous. Is he nervous? Why would he be nervous?

His face is so closed to mine; we share the same breaths.

"I love you," I wheeze.

"I love you, too," he answers. His thumb moves over my cheekbone, marking my bone with electricity. He leans in, but before his lips can touch mine, Dr. Mákastí pulls us apart.

"No, no, no!" she says.

I groan. "What?"

"Don't give that tone, young lady! We have a spirit to catch!" she says.

"A) you're not my moth-" My breath catches. Mom. I will always love you, Mom. I wipe the tears from my eyes. "B) we don't even know where the spirit went."

"We don't, do we?" Dr. Mákastí smiles mischievously. "Or do we?"

"We don't. That's what I just said. Listening is not your strong suit, is it?" I say.

"Oh, stop." She rolls her eyes. "I came from a different dimension. I came from his dimension. I know what spirits like. I know what can kill spirits. And I know where spirits go if and when they get kicked out." She pauses for effect. "They go to another human."

"Oh, so, wait. We just have to watch every human on the street to see if they are doing something irregular, and try to scare the spirit out. Then we just vacuum it up!" I say sarcastically, laughing as if it is a joke. Then I wait for Dr. Mákastí to contradict me. When she doesn't, I stare disbelieving at her. "Wait, you aren't serious, are you?"

"You aren't?" She smiles. "Come on; we're wasting time!" She takes Caleb's hand, and pulls him away. Caleb grabs my hand at the last second and pulls me along with him. I grudgingly let him.

I don't even know where we're going. Caleb is just pulling me so fast, maybe even too fast. I am a good runner, a fast runner. But Caleb runs faster. He almost pulls my arm out of my socket.

We run out of the hospital, and finally stand still. Dr. Mákastí turns to face us. "Okay, ready?" she asks, her hands on her hips.

I put up a finger. "What exactly are we looking for?" I ask.

Dr. Mákastí taps her chin, thinking. "Well, anything unusual. People walking around robotically. Anything unusual," she says after a while.

"Okay, thanks. That helps a lot," I say sarcastically.

"You're welcome!" she responds.

"Sarcasm!" I exclaim.

She looks me right in the eye as she responds, "I know."

I clench my hands into fists, desperately wanting to punch something. Or someone.

Caleb puts his hand on my shoulder, and looks me in the eye. He shakes his head. I unclench my hands and breathe out slowly.

"Alright!" Dr. Mákastí says. "Just watch everyone closely. Everyone. Okay? Just... get to it!"

I don't know where to start. So I just watch someone for a little bit. He acts normally, I think. I stare at him straight-on. I must look ridiculous, watching this random guy. The guy looks at me. His face tightens, and his eyes widen. Then he runs away. "I think I scared him," I tell Caleb.

He looks at me. "Don't look people straight-on. Just pretend like you aren't watching them."

"Okay."