Chapter 8 #4
“Yeah. Sorry I ruined your dress,” Cole said.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m never going to wear it again anyway. Would you mind?” She pointed to her nightgown where she’d
left it on a chair, even though she had half a mind to turn around and face him and drop the dress.
“Of course,” Cole said, flustered, and as if he might have been hoping for the same thing. “I’ll wait outside.”
He left her alone in her office to change back into her invisible nightie. She took a few moments to regain her composure
before joining him in the hall.
Jason still lingered, thumbing his phone. Dell approached him and swiped at his arm. As soon as it broke out in goose bumps, he jerked and curled his arms to his chest.
“Okay, there you are.” He glanced around like he wasn’t sure where to look.
She touched his arm again to let him know she was standing to his left.
“Got it. This isn’t weird at all; I’m just talking to empty air that is my best friend’s invisible ghost, no big deal,” he
muttered, and Dell couldn’t help but giggle. “So, good news first: You’re not dead. You’re in a coma. On the way to the hospital,
I googled all these stories on near-death experiences where people weren’t actually dead even though they had no heartbeat and then miraculously came back to life. Turns out between my hysterics and your family’s
name—mainly your dad, Papa Rodgers doesn’t mess around—they agreed to hook you up to some monitors, and, what do you know,
you were still alive, but barely.”
“Yes!” Dell cheered, and threw herself at him. “I knew you could do it, Jay.” She wrapped him in a hug, forgetting the rules.
He shrieked and jumped back. “Too much! Too cold!”
“Sorry! Sorry, sorry. I forgot. But thank you,” she said with a cringe.
“I assume that was you trying to hug me in thanks, so, you’re welcome,” Jason said.
Cole exhaled his own sigh of relief. “My supervisor said she put a pause on your transition while we correct your wrong turn.
This must be what she meant,” he said when Dell looked at him in question.
“Well, here’s hoping this was my wrong turn and this will all be over soon,” she said.
Cole gave her a soft smile and nodded.
“So, I know you can’t talk to me, but I’d really like to know what the hell that whole Bride of Frankenstein scene I just
witnessed was,” Jason said. “Were you haunting Tommy?”
“Yes!” Dell blurted, not surprised he figured it out. She had so much to tell him. So much had happened since they’d last
seen each other in the park. “First off, my marriage is off, obviously—”
“He can’t hear you, Dell,” Cole reminded her. “You seem to have some kind of best friend telepathy already, but I think this
is going to take more than a few hand signals.”
Dell grumbled in frustration, feeling like the Little Mermaid who sold her soul and voice for a pair of legs. “We need Robbie,”
she said.
Cole grimaced. “That kid is probably locked in his parents’ basement burning sage and saying the rosary after what you did
to him.”
“Yeah, well, he’s our best bet.” She thought for a minute and then reached out for Jason’s hand. “Come here, Jay,” she said.
Jason looked down when he felt the cold, and blinked a few times. She kept her hand on his, sending signal she wanted him
to take it. Slowly, Jason extended his arm and held his hand palm up.
“Is this what you want?” he asked.
Dell said yes by keeping her hand hovering on his.
Jason took a hesitant step forward.
“Yes! That’s it,” Dell cheered. She kept her hand on his, telling him to keep going.
He took a few more steps down the hall, eyes peeled for signs of what came next. “This is so creeeeepy,” he quietly sang,
but kept walking.
She led him to her office and left him in the middle of the room.
“Is this where the haunting began?” Jason asked, and nodded at the shattered picture of her and Tommy on the floor.
“Yes,” she said aloud, and squatted down near the dirt. She thought about Tommy confirming his devious plan and used her anger
to erase the word nuts and scoop the dirt back into her hand. She poured out enough from her fist to shape the letter R.
“Smart,” Cole commended.
“Yeah, too bad I can’t tell him the whole story in potting soil,” Dell said, and added an o and b to her artwork.
“Rob?” Jason guessed. “Don’t tell me that bastard was going to rob you somehow too.”
“No,” Dell said. “Well, I guess yes, because he was going to steal my trust fund, but that’s not where this is going.” She added another b, and Jason gasped.
“Robbie! You want to use Robbie again!”
“Yes!” Dell said with a clap of her hands.
“Well, good thing I had Mariana look up his address in case we needed him,” Jason said. “I doubt that kid is ever coming to
the park again after this morning. He’ll probably run screaming at the sight of me, but it’s worth a shot.”
“You are brilliant,” Dell said, and swiped his arm.
“You’re welcome. You’ve got some explaining to do. Let’s go out the back door in case the vultures aren’t done devouring Tommy
out front yet. I hope they pick his bones clean,” Jason said as he headed down the hall.