Chapter 16
Sebbie
Alex, can I have Weird Things that Happen to Me for a thousand, please?
Although most of the weird things lately had involved the Smith brothers, so maybe they were actually the weird-luck magnets.
I wouldn’t say bad luck, because me happening upon that house with those two guys wasn’t bad—supposedly I’d performed CPR and saved the one guy’s life.
Still, it was weird luck. I was sure that was what the sheriff wanted to talk to me about, and I wasn’t sure why Corbin was all tense about it as we walked back to the house.
Unless he was just upset about Jude showing up in cuffs.
I didn’t know exactly what was going on there, but there was definitely something between Jude and the sheriff.
I would have thought that it was all Jude having a crush on the sheriff, but now I thought maybe it went both ways.
For whatever reason, the sheriff liked Jude, even if he found him annoying as heck sometimes.
He could have arrested Jude, fined him, and made his life a living hell.
Instead, he usually just returned him home and sent him off with warnings.
At this point, I almost felt like Jude could kill someone in front of him and he’d just roll his eyes and be on his way.
I really hoped Jude didn’t resort to that, however. Asking your crush out on a date would probably work better than committing a felony.
We all shuffled into the house, including Josh and Wilder.
I sat on the couch and Corbin sat next to me, and the sheriff sat on the coffee table facing us.
Jude sort of hovered next to him, and he still looked kind of aggravated, which I didn’t understand.
He acted like the guys would hurt the sheriff or something, and I knew that wasn’t true.
And he’d never been the jealous type before.
Whatever the case, his face made it clear he wasn’t leaving.
Dexter, Toby, Josh, Wilder, and Thea all stood around the kitchen, and everyone stared at me. Or actually, everyone stared at the sheriff.
It was kind of creepy.
“You guys, it’s fine. I’m sure he just wants to talk about the whole saving the guy’s life thing,” I said.
“You’ve saved a lot of lives, Sebbie—which one do you mean this time?” Josh asked.
Ohhh, that was kinda snarky for Josh. I wanted to turn around and give Josh a little golf clap for being that sassy to a law enforcement agent.
The sheriff didn’t look upset, though. “Sheriff McAllen from the next county over called and filled me in on what happened, and I wanted to check in. There’s no trouble or anything.”
I felt like the mood in the room relaxed a bit, then Toby piped in, “So do you often work between county lines with other departments, or is there a lot of interdepartmental animosity?”
I turned around, and sure enough, Toby had a pad and a pen out. I looked back at the sheriff and just rolled my eyes at Toby’s writer’s brain.
“I think I can answer questions on my own, you guys. It’s fine,” I told them. I grabbed onto Corbin’s hand, though, because I didn’t want him to think that meant that he should leave.
He seemed to take the hint, because he turned to look at Dexter and then Josh and Wilder. (Any look at Toby would have been lost on him, since he was busy writing stuff down.)
“Ok, we’ll head out. You call us if you need anything,” Wilder said.
He walked by and put a hand on my shoulder, which was sort of nice, in, like, a fatherly kind of way.
Josh gave my shoulder a squeeze as he walked by, too.
Aww, they were so cute together. Dexter was leading Toby out, and he looked up long enough to say, “Drinks soon!” before they all walked out the door.
Thea followed behind them. “Not my circus,” she muttered, waving a hand at Jude and the sheriff.
“Bye, bestie!” I yelled out. “We’ll catch up and watch a bunch of 80s movies soon! Maybe we can give each other perms!”
I heard her snort of amusement, and then the door shut, and it was just Jude, Corbin, the sheriff, and me.
The sheriff looked over at Jude, who was still standing next to him and sort of hovering over him. Jude crossed his arms.
“My house, Walrus,” he mumbled.
The sheriff sighed and looked at me.
“Oh!” I said, realizing he was probably trying to respect my privacy.
“I don’t mind if Corbin and Jude stay. I wouldn’t mind if they all stayed, but then Toby would ask a million questions, and Josh would get upset on my behalf because he’s a good friend like that, and I'd have to tease Thea about being besties, so we’d never stay on course.
You’re just lucky the rest of the crew wasn’t here, or else you’d have to hear a diatribe on pumpkin spice while getting stared down by Aiden’s big ass dog, Fluffy. ”
Corbin snorted a little laugh next to me, and I turned and smiled at him. Aww, I could make him laugh. He smiled at me, squeezing my hand again. Then I looked back at the sheriff.
“So, yeah, I don’t really remember what happened. Must have been low blood sugar or something, because it’s all kind of hazy. I left the shop because I didn’t feel well, and then I happened upon that house and must have heard yelling or something.” I shrugged.
The sheriff just stared at me. I could feel Corbin getting tense again.
“What exactly did you have questions about, or were you just checking in to see if Sebbie was doing alright?” Corbin asked.
“A little of both,” the sheriff admitted. “Have you had medical issues like that before?” he asked.
Awww, he was concerned about me. That was super sweet. I mean, I didn’t really know him that well, aside from his antics with Jude. He seemed like a really nice guy, though.
“I was sick a fair amount as a kid. Not like colds and stuff—I almost never got sick with that stuff. I’d sort of lose track of time, and I passed out a time or two. I was tired a lot, too. But I grew out of it, and we figured it was just being a kid or whatever.”
I’d had a fair number of health incidents as a child, but they weren’t regular or anything.
They just sometimes randomly happened. My pediatrician had thought maybe I had some kind of sleep disorder, but we’d never gotten around to doing a sleep study, because it would go away and I’d be fine for stretches of time.
And scheduling any pediatric specialty stuff was a nightmare—like, what good was an appointment a year away gonna do?
Anyway, it hadn’t really interfered with my life.
My mom just told me I was a lucid dreamer, and that seemed to be enough explanation for her.
And she said sometimes kids got tired, got random pains, or randomly felt dizzy or disoriented.
It didn’t interfere with my life and it wasn’t debilitating.
She told me it was just “growing pains” and I was fine, and that she’d know if there was something wrong with me.
The sheriff hummed.
“I feel fine now. I’m a nurse, and I can assure you that I’d take health issues seriously. If I have another incident, I’ll be sure to get checked,” I reassured him.
He nodded, hesitated a moment, then asked, “Do you know how you got to that house?”
“Umm, I walked?” I sort of made it a question, because hadn’t I just told him that?
“I only ask because it was about a mile and a half away, and you said you felt sick,” the sheriff answered.
“What?” I asked.
I looked at Corbin, but he just squeezed my hand reassuringly.
“How was it that far away?” I asked the sheriff. “I don’t remember walking for that long.”
I hadn’t felt well. Would I have walked a mile and a half not feeling well? But I knew I hadn’t gotten a ride or anything weird. I’d walked.
“That doesn’t make sense,” I told the sheriff. “Are you sure? Maybe they’re thinking of a different shop?”
The sheriff stared at me, his eyes kind of intense. Finally, he asked, “You don’t remember anything that happened?”
I shook my head. “I know that’s weird. My nurse instincts must have kicked in, because they think I performed CPR on the older guy.”
I suddenly had a thought, and guilt echoed through me. I looked at the sheriff, and I knew my face was stricken.
“Oh my god, do they think I could’ve saved the younger guy, too?
Like, if I had performed CPR or called an ambulance faster?
” I felt tears gather in my eyes. “Because I don’t even think I called 911—I think the guys did that when they got there, and I don’t know how long that took.
I just remember sitting on the couch and being all fuzzy brained. ”
I leaned forward, putting my head in my hands. Corbin’s hand immediately began running up and down my back soothingly. The sheriff reached out and put a hand on my knee.
“Sebbie,” he said, and he waited until I looked at him. “Sebbie, you did everything you could have. Do you understand? You saved that man’s life. There was no way you could’ve saved the younger guy. CPR or an ambulance wouldn’t have made a difference.”
“But how do you know?” I asked. “You can’t know that.” God, if I hadn’t been out of it, maybe two people would be alive instead of one.
“The other sheriff told me that between the level of drugs in his system, the injuries he’d sustained, and the fact that he appeared to have had a heart attack and a brain aneurysm, there’s no way he would have survived. The ME basically told him that the guy was a walking time bomb.”
“You did everything you could have,” Corbin reassured me, still rubbing my back. “You saved the right person.”
The sheriff agreed. “Yes, even in whatever confused state you were in, you triaged correctly. The hospital was amazed the older gentleman did survive, and they attribute that survival to the prompt medical attention he received. He should have been dead.”
I nodded my head slowly. A heart attack and a brain aneurysm?
Coupled with drugs? I was kind of amazed he’d been able to even get into an altercation.
Although maybe the altercation with his dad had been what triggered the medical emergencies.
Trauma, both emotional and physical, definitely had an effect on our bodies.
He’d been physically fighting with his father, but I was sure there was a lot of emotional fallout as well.
“Is that all you needed to know, sheriff?” Corbin asked.
There was a note of finality to his words, and the sheriff must have heard them, too, because he got up.
“Yes, that’s it, thank you. I can show myself out.”
“I’ll walk you out. It is, after all, my house,” Jude reminded the sheriff smugly. It wasn’t said in a mean way, but he was definitely teasing the sheriff.
The sheriff rolled his eyes and let Jude lead him out. When the door shut, I turned to Corbin.
“What is it with those two?” I asked.
“I just hope Jude doesn’t kidnap him and hold him hostage in the basement or something,” Corbin muttered.
I laughed a little, but Corbin looked serious.
Aww, Jude wasn’t that crazy. He just had a little crush on the guy. I was sure they would be fine, no locking in the basement required.
Although maybe Josh was right and his car keys should be taken away. Jude wouldn’t lock the sheriff up, but I was pretty sure one day he’d lead the sheriff to locking him up. It seemed to be his mission in life.
Corbin kissed the top of my head. “You really did do everything right. I hope you know that. You have no reason at all to feel guilt about what happened.”
I snuggled into Corbin, nodding my head.
If that’s what the doctors said, I guess that was right.
My dream about having the guy who died cross over made a lot more sense now, too.
I had probably felt some guilt, so I’d dreamed him up and reunited him with his ma.
(Who I could hear yelling at him before we even got to shore, which was pretty funny.
He had looked upset but also maybe slightly pleased.
Like he deserved to get yelled at, and maybe her forgiveness would make things okay.
And I could tell just from her tone that she was mad, but that she loved him and would forgive him.)
Corbin smoothed my hair back, giving me a kiss on the head.
It was super nice to cuddle in his arms, but it was way too early to fall asleep. And I kind of had a lot of energy. I heard a caw from outside, and it was as if Corbin could read my mind. Or maybe he could just read my hyperactivity, because I might have been bouncing my feet.
“You wanna go take a small hike on the property?” Corbin asked. “I can introduce you to the different plants and stones.”
I looked at him, and he blushed, almost like he knew that was kind of weird wording. I just smiled brightly.
“Yes! That sounds awesome! And I wanna know more about you being a witch, if that’s okay. I’m not Toby-level nosy… Well, sometimes I am,” I laughed.
He hugged me. “I’d love to share with you.”
I hopped up, ready to head out, unable to contain my excitement.
This was probably the best date that I knew was a date that I’d ever had.