I swallowed hard and dropped to my knees. “Is she going to be all right?”
“Who are you?” one of the EMTs demanded.
I sent her a withering look. “I’m her friend. I’m the one who called this in. Is she going to be all right?”
One of Esmer’s eyes cracked open at the sound of my voice. Her lips were bulging; she could only open them a hair. “Char…boy?”
I gripped her hand in both of mine, almost choking on my relief.
“If you called us, why weren’t you with the victim?” the imposing EMT demanded.
Thankfully, my uncle caught up and flashed his badge. “I’m Detective Victor Campbell and you will answer my nephew’s questions.”
“He’s the one with the psychic niece,” the other EMT muttered to his partner.
She gave me the once-over, seemingly unimpressed. “If you stand back and let us do our jobs, we might be able to keep her alive.”
A third EMT moved in to place an oxygen mask over Esmer’s face. I jumped up and stepped back. If all they needed was some space in order to save her, I’d give them that. If they needed my blood for a transfusion, I’d give them that too.
Uncle Victor gripped my shoulder. “Come on, Charlie. We can meet them at the hospital.”
I stood there a second longer, watching multiple hands work together to move Esmer onto the stretcher. Then I let him pull me away.
◆◆◆
My uncle stayed with me just long enough to hear that Esmer was going to live. Then he left to find the bastards who’d done this to her. I hadn’t seen any faces in my vision but I knew who it had to be. Allan Kieding, Winston Singer, Cole Shearman, and Randi Figueredo were the only ones who had reasons to hurt her. I told him to question Karen Arber too, just in case. I was sure Esmer had put up a fight before she’d been thrown to the ground and overpowered. It would be easy for Uncle Victor to tell whether they’d been involved or not.
While I waited for Esmer to wake up, I texted Anthony to ask about my sister. In all the chaos, I’d completely forgotten that Jasmine had gotten beaten up too. In a way.
I was resting my head against the wall when the door to Esmer’s room was thrown open. I lurched to my feet. My ball cap landed on the plastic chair with a soft thunk. Great Aunt Dinah marched in with the same rage-infused stride I’d seen on the night I’d walked Esmer home. She didn’t even glance at me. She walked right up to Esmer’s bed and towered above her unconscious niece. A nurse loitered by the door, watching the old woman with a concerned crease on her forehead.
“Who did this?” Dinah asked at last. Her voice was as rough as sandpaper.
“We don’t know yet,” the nurse said hesitantly, “but the police are—”
“Not you.” The old woman turned her steely glare on me.
“I think it was the same guys who picked a fight with her yesterday,” I said after a moment of awkward silence. “My uncle, Detective Campbell, is questioning them now.”
She turned back to Esmer and reached out with a liver-spotted hand as if to touch her face. But then she dropped it and turned away. Squeezing her beaded coin purse in her fist, the old woman asked, “What is the extent of her injuries?”
The nurse inhaled and opened her mouth to respond, but a murderous look from Dinah had her backing away.
“Esmer has a dislocated kneecap, a broken nose, finger, and several teeth, and a mild concussion,” I said. “Two ribs were cracked. They punctured her lungs, which then began to fill with fluid.” That’s what would’ve killed her if the ambulance hadn’t shown up in the nick of time. I cleared my throat. “The surgeon told me he and his team fixed the damaged tissue and drained all the fluid from her lungs. He expects Esmer to recover in the next eight to nine weeks. Her knee is in a splint. It’ll take up to six weeks to heal. She’s on heavy pain medication, but the doctor thinks she’ll wake up within the hour.”
Dinah gave a curt nod. “You’ll stay with her?”
“Sure,” I said, scratching the top of my head. It felt oddly exposed without my hat. “Won’t you?”
“No. I think...” The old woman pulled her shoulders back, frowning down her nose at Esmer. “I’m too upset. I’ll just end up scolding her. She doesn’t need that. She needs to see a friendly face when she comes to.” Dinah swiveled sharply in my direction, pinning me down with those dark eyes again. “I’ll return in the morning when I have better control of my emotions. You’ll tell her for me?”
I bobbed my head in a nod.
“Good boy.” It didn’t sound like a compliment, just a fact. Still, it was surprising to hear considering how she’d treated me the first time we’d met.
With one last glance at her niece, the old lady left. The nurse shied away when Dinah walked through the doorway. The younger woman gave a little shudder at Dinah’s back and then scurried off.
A jingle from my phone told me Anthony had answered my text. I fished my phone out of my pocket and swiped a finger across the screen. Jasmine was sleeping. Her bruises were already fading. She was going to be fine. Of course she was. The curse always left her good as new, ready to experience another death.
Gritting my teeth, I shoved the phone back into my pocket. Then I snatched the ball cap from my chair and pressed it to the top of my head. I paced the room, muttering to myself about the injustice of this stupid life. My clothes and hair were still damp because the hospital was kept below freezing. My sneakers squeaked and squelched with every step I took, leaving crumbs of
