The Hidden

“But aren’t you going to help us at all? You should be there.”

“I can’t. I’m sorry, but he won’t listen to me.”

Uri caught sight of me, and the conversation stopped abruptly. “Ready to go?” he asked me.

“Ready, like, an hour ago. You never came and got me.”

“I was going to as soon as I was done here.”

“How much longer were you going to be? You took a really long time. I had a slight run-in with one of the patients. But it’s cool, I’m fine.”

Something caught my attention, and from the corner of my eye I saw a male aide come to fetch the girl from the nurse. He was wearing leather pants underneath a scrub top uniform, and he looked like he could have been Johnny Depp’s brother.

The male nurses wear leather pants here? This place is really weird.

“I guess we can leave, then,” Uri said, drawing my attention back to him. “We’ve said all there is to say.”

The man in the white suit didn’t say good-bye to either of us but instead turned and walked down another hallway. I watched him go, wondering what exactly was going on.

“Did you find anything out?” I asked Uri.

He led me outside to the golf cart. The expression on his face was angry. “Yeah. I found out that we’re on our own. The person I need isn’t here.”

Chapter Twelve. ADVICE

From his half-itinerant life, also, he was a kind of traveling gazette, carrying the whole budget of local gossip from house to house …

– “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”

Cacey was waiting for us when we got back to the guesthouse. She looked like she still felt pretty awful, but after a short exchange with Uri in which he told her only that he was unsuccessful, we got in the car and drove away from the asylum without looking back.

All I could think about on the ride home was that girl. What had her life been like before she’d gone in there? Does she have any friends that miss her? A best friend? That could have been me. …

Uri’s phone rang when we were almost to the house, and he answered it. He spoke briefly, then hung up. “Slight detour,” he told Cacey. “We need to stop at the cemetery.”

“Are we going to Nikolas and Katy’s house?” I asked. I should have guessed that was where they’d take Caspian.

He nodded, and we drove through the open cemetery gates and headed for the far side. When we got to the trees, Nikolas and Katy were there, waiting for us. And so was Caspian.

I put my fingers on the door handle, ready to jump out and grab him.

“We’ll go get him and bring him to you,” Cacey said. “There are still people around.”

“Yeah, okay. Just hurry.” I would have agreed to just about anything as long as they went and got him right now.

Cacey and Uri got out, somehow managing to look effortlessly cool, like they were just taking a stroll, and wandered over to the trees. Uri pointed something out, making Cacey laugh, and then they came back with Caspian following them. Nikolas and Katy waved to me, and I smiled at them through the window.

When Cacey and Uri got back to the car, Cacey opened the rear door and leaned in to me, like she was saying something. “Get in,” she told Caspian. He slid beside me, and I couldn’t stop smiling.

“You’re back!” I said. “What happened? You wouldn’t wake up-”

“Are you okay? Did anything happen? Did Vincent hurt you?” he said at the same time.

He laughed and moved one hand closer, across the seat. I moved my hand closer to his, too, and felt the buzzing sensation.

“Were you with Cacey and Uri?” he asked.

“Yes. They took me with them to look for someone. But he wasn’t there. Were you with Nikolas and Katy again?”

“Yeah.”

“How long did it take for you to wake up?”

“I don’t know.” He glanced down.

Uri put the car into gear. “Okay,” he said. “Let’s get you guys back home.” Then he grinned at me. “You didn’t mind our little detour, did you, Abbey?”

“Nope. Not at all.”

We shared a smile, and he actually looked a bit bashful.

“So, what do we do if this happens again?” I said as we drove. “Do I just call one of you?”

“We’re going to be around more,” Uri said. “All of us.”

“That sounds more like a threat than a promise,” Caspian whispered after they dropped us off at home and we walked up to the front door.

I laughed. “I think it’s a little bit of both.”

We went inside, and I called out, “Hi. I’m home.”

I knew Mom was doing something in the kitchen because I heard her banging around. She caught up to me when I was almost all the way up the stairs. “How was your girls’ weekend?” she asked.

“It was okay. Cacey got sick, so we didn’t do much.” Technically almost true.

“That’s too bad. You’ll have to plan another one soon.” She turned away, then turned back. “Oh! Aunt Marjorie called while you were gone.”

“She did? Why didn’t you have her call my cell?”

“I didn’t want to interrupt you guys. Just call her back when you get the chance.”

“I will.”

Crossing into my room, I tossed my overnight bag onto the floor. My bed looked super comfy, and it was calling my name. “Nap time?” I said suggestively to Caspian. “The bed I slept in last night was pretty crappy.” He followed me over and I flopped down, rolling to one side. He lay down too, facing me.

We both lay there for a while, communicating silently. I love you, I wanted to say. I missed you. Eventually I settled for “Hi.”

“Hi.” He put out a finger and went to trace my arm. I felt the slow hum all the way down.

“That was pretty scary when you went to sleep like that,” I said.

“I know. For me, too.”

“What was it like this time? Was it different?”

“Not really. Just deeper.”

“Like you couldn’t wake up?”

“Yeah. Like I wouldn’t ever wake up.”

“What are we going to do?” I asked, looking deeply into his eyes. “About this. About us …” I put one hand up and made a frustrated gesture.

“I don’t know. Wait? See what happens?”

“How long can we wait? How long can we go on like this?” I closed my eyes. “I’m scared of something changing. I’m scared of what it means when you fall into this sleep that feels like you’ll never wake up from.”

“Are you scared of me?”

“No!” My eyes flew open. “Why would I be scared of you?”

“Because of me.” He moved his hand, and it went through mine. “Who I am. What I am.”