Page 72 of Dark Shadows
If you're dead, I'm bringing you back just to kill you myself.
“She okay?” Savanah asked.
“Yeah.” Mason smiled slightly. “Just hormonal.”
Before Savanah could respond, commotion erupted in the hallway. Catherine's voice carried over the hospital noise. “My daughter! Where's my daughter?”
Savanah looked up just as her mom rushed in. Catherine reached her first, pulling her into a fierce embrace. Then Richard wrapped his arms around them both, and Savanah broke.
“I shot him,” she sobbed into her mother's shoulder. “I shot Wesley.”
“Shh.” Catherine stroked her hair. “You're alive. That's all that matters.”
“You’re going to be okay,” Richard murmured, his voice thick. “We're all going to be okay.”
Savanah felt her mother's hand find Richard's across her back, their fingers intertwining. Some bonds, it seemed, never truly broke.
Jacob cleared his throat. “They found more audio recordings and pictures at Wesley’s house. He's been watching and planning for years.”
“Through the heating vent,” Savanah whispered. “He heard everything in his father's office. All the therapy sessions.”
A shiver slithered down her spine.
A nurse appeared with discharge papers for Mason. “Twenty-four-hour observation for the concussion. Someone needs to stay with him.”
“I've got him,” Savanah said. No one argued.
Catherine touched her cheek. “We'll come by tomorrow.” She glanced at Richard. “Maybe we can try that dinner again?”
Richard's hand found Catherine's again. “I'd like that.”
In the parking lot, Jacob helped Mason to the car while Savanah hung back with her parents. Through the emergency room windows, she could see Tina and Mark in the waiting area. Some wounds wouldn't heal tonight. Maybe never.
“Savanah.” Mason held out his hand. “Let's go.”
She took it, letting him pull her close. His heartbeat against her cheek promised tomorrow, promised healing, promised time.
Behind them, her parents walked hand in hand to their car.
Mason's phone buzzed.
Hurry up and heal and get your ass back here. I’m dying to meet her.
Some endings were really beginnings in disguise.
The ghosts still followed her; only now, she listened.
30
Sunlight streamed through motel curtains as Savanah balanced a coffee carrier and a bag from the diner, nudging the motel door open with her hip. Mason lay propped against pillows, already reaching for his phone despite doctor's orders.
“Nope.” She set the tray down and snatched the phone. “The world can survive without you for twenty-four hours.”
“I'm just checking on Cree.”
“I’m sure she’s resting and probably already knows that we’re fine.” Savanah opened the Styrofoam container full of eggs, bacon, and toast and gave him a fork. “Eat up. You’re going to need your strength.”
She grabbed her own and doctored it with salt and pepper before she settled in a chair across the room.
