Secrets

Chapter One-2

“You know, I never felt comfortable in that position,” I commented as I walked into the room and set her chart on the tray by the bed.

Adaline gave a rough cackle, the laugh of a recovering smoker, and rose out of the position. “When you get to be my age, you look for any excuse to have your butt looked at.” She winked at me before breaking out into a little boogie as she crossed toward the chair beside me. “How are you, Miss Juliet?”

“Oh, I’m all right. How have you been?” I smiled at her, doing my best to keep my voice upbeat as a fresh wave of sadness hit me. I didn’t want anyone looking at my butt besides Tommy, but that wasn’t going to happen anymore.

“You don’t sound all right. I may be old, but I’m not deaf, you know.”

I chuckled softly, pushing some hair from my eyes before nodding to her. “I know you’re not deaf. You’re healthy as a horse. And, you look beautiful.”

Adaline gave me a penetrating gaze, as if trying to read the lies behind my words. Her pale blue eyes locked on mine and her lips pursed slightly as she stared at me.

I looked away first.

“So, umm, what brings you back to The Village?” I asked; I didn’t have to fake the concern in my tone. Adaline was one of my favorite residents at Rose Village. Her presence always made things brighter.

Adaline made a face as she lowered into the burgundy chair, crossing one leg over the other. “My daughter’s run off. She fancies herself in love. Again. Followed this one off to Vienna. I give it a month.”

“Vienna? Wow.” I shook my head, pulling out my blood pressure cuff. I’d never been out of the country before. Heck, I had only left the state once. “Well, that must be nice for her.”

Her brow furrowed. “Nice?” she repeated with a scoff. “It’s downright stupid, if you ask me. Men are nothing but trouble. And before I know it, she’ll come crying to me, begging me to come home again.” Adaline sighed and extended her arm toward me. “Enough to make a person go mad.”

I smirked as I read the numbers off the dial. “Well, at least your blood pressure is normal. Let’s listen to your heart and then I have to take your temperature.”

“Not rectally, I hope.”

I smiled at her as I stored my cuff away and noted her numbers in her chart. Slipping on my stethoscope, I listened as she rambled on, regaling me with tales of her daughter’s many failures at finding love—a trait she seemed to pick up from her mother—as well as some of her own adventures.

“He asked me to run off to Buenos Aires with him. But I turned him down,” Adaline reminisced after I pulled the thermometer from her lips.

“Why?”

“Well, he didn’t want to marry me and that wasn’t strictly proper in those days. He did have quite the butt, though.”

Laughing, I leaned in and kissed her cheek. “Miss Adaline, you always make me laugh.”

“That’s good. You need someone to make you laugh. You’ve got far too much sadness in your eyes.”

Her observation caught me off guard. I stared at her for a moment before forcing a small laugh and smile, quickly shaking my head as I busied myself with packing up my bag.

“I’m not sad, Adaline,” I insisted. “How can I be sad when I have friends like you?”

“You’re a terrible liar, Juliet.” She gave me a long look before waving her hand in my direction. “Go on and get. I’m feeling a nap coming on.”

The rest of the morning and afternoon passed by smoothly, but Adaline’s words stuck with me. I thought I was doing well, getting through each day and shoving down the pain and the hurt. But Adaline had seen right through it all. Maybe I wasn’t doing as well as I’d thought.

Before I knew it, I was clocking out and saying my farewells to my co-workers. Yawning, I stepped into the locker room to collect my things. I listened quietly to the conversation around me, others making plans for the night and the coming weekend. I didn’t join in. What did I have to offer? Adaline was right, I was sad. Even worse, I was mopey. And sad and mopey didn’t mix well with happy people. I lifted my phone to check my messages, my heart stuttering at the image on the screen.

You’ve got far too much sadness in your eyes.

Inhaling deeply. I slid my thumb over the slider and punched the photos icon, calling up my gallery. A few strokes and a tap, and it was done. My beautiful nieces smiled out at me from my lock screen.

“That’s better.”

Slipping my purse strap onto my shoulder, I started down the hall to leave. I had only gone a few steps when I paused and decided to go back to say goodnight to Adaline.

I knocked softly on her door, not wanting to wake her if she had already gone to bed. My eyes widened as the door swung inward. Biting my lower lip, I stepped inside.

“Adaline? I don’t want to wake you, but I wanted to tell you something.” I whispered, looking around the dim space. I jumped as I came eye to eye with her. “Adaline! You scared me!” I gave a small laugh, pressing my hand to my racing heart.

My smile died as the realization that something was wrong dawned on me. Adaline stood in the middle of the room, her arms rigidly held to her sides. Her pale blue eyes so wide that the whites seemed to glow in the darkened room. A white mist swirled around her feet, reaching out toward me as I moved into the room, chilling me.

“Adaline?” I asked my voice strained, my gaze dropping to the ground and the unnatural mist. What in the world? Fog? It hadn't seemed cold enough for fog. I glanced at the window, eyes widening as I found it shut.

Adaline's sharp gasp had my gaze jerking back toward her. Heart pounding in my chest, I stopped short. Something told me not to touch her. It was then I noticed her lips moving rapidly, though I couldn’t hear what she was saying. Taking a deep, steadying breath, I slipped closer and positioned my ear near her mouth.

Her breath was icy against my ear. I found that odd, but was distracted from the thought by her harsh whispering. Her words tumbled over one another, each racing to get out. Still, I couldn’t hear her. I shook my head and pulled back, unable to make sense of it. “Adaline, I can’t— I can’t understand you. Can you hear me?”

Her lips continued to move rapidly, giving no recognition that I had spoken. Inhaling deeply, I leaned in again and pressed my ear close to her lips, shivering as the coolness of her breath washed over my skin.

“Sinking. Water rushing in, consuming me. Filling me, over powering me with its icy grasp. Pulling me down, down below the surface. Blackness, my throat closing in. I can’t breathe. Oh, God. Oh God. I can’t breathe. I’m dying. I’m dying!” And all at once, her eyes cleared, a smile over taking her as those pale blue orbs locked onto mine. “They’re both coming. One to save, the other to damn.”

I jerked back as her words registered. What was she talking about? Who was coming? She wasn’t making any sense. “Adaline, who’s coming?”

Her smile widened seconds before she gave a sharp shudder and collapsed.

“Adaline!” I gasped, my arms shooting out to catch her, “Help!” I called over my shoulder. “Someone call EMS!”

I tried to keep the panic from my voice as she shook and writhed violently in my arms. As gently as I could, I guided her to the floor and shoved my purse beneath her head. Gripping her shoulders I rolled her to the side, sweeping my fingers across her lips to make sure her airway was clear before I glanced at the clock, whispering to her. “Stay with me, Adaline.”

I blinked rapidly as the lights came on and the on-call EMS team burst into the room. Strong hands gripped my shoulders, edging me away. I rose on shaking feet as I was moved aside, wrapping my arms around my body; I hugged myself tightly as I watched them cluster around Adaline.

The seizure had seemed to go on forever, but Adaline now lay unnaturally still. Heart in my throat, I watched as they lifted her from the floor and moved her onto a stretcher, calling for tests and an EKG.

“Excuse me, nurse? Can you tell me what happened?” a member of the EMS team asked me, pulling out a notepad and a pen. I jerked my gaze toward him, blinking in confusion. My eyes quickly dropped to the stitched lettering on his chest reading Ahlström.

“What? Oh, um, I came by to tell her goodnight and she was just standing there. I spoke to her, but she didn’t respond, and she was babbling, not making sense. And she was cold … then she started seizing.”

Guilt washed over me in an icy wave, clenching my gut. It had taken me too long to stabilize her. I had been a friend before a nurse. I swallowed and looked the man straight in the eye, aware of him writing down everything I had said.

“Will she be all right?” I asked. “Do you have to take her to the hospital?”

“We’ll know more soon. Why don’t you take a seat, and I’ll come get you in a second?” Ahlström replied, reaching out and squeezing my shoulder. His hand was warm, and his touch comforting. Blowing out a breath, I nodded, offering up a slight smile.

I sunk into the chair Adaline had occupied earlier in the day, watching as various people in different capacities entered and exited the room, each attentively tending to Adaline. Through the torrent of concern for Adaline’s health, I replayed her odd whisperings in the silence of my mind. Despite my best efforts, it still made no sense to me. And where had the fog gone? It had disappeared with the lights, but why had there been fog at all? Closing my eyes, I pressed my fingers to my temples and rubbed. Nothing was making any sense at all.

Dusk shifted to evening before things settled down. The man who had taken my statement approached me, offering an encouraging smile.

“Hi again. So, it appears she had a grand mal seizure, as I’m sure you guessed. We're going to take her to Providence Portland, keep her overnight for observation." He paused, his smile widening slightly. “Chin up. She’ll be back by tomorrow as long as nothing else happens.”

Lowering my hands, I looked up into his smiling face. His eyes, I now noticed, were brown. A deep, gooey brown, like warmed chocolate. He seemed sweet without being condescending.

“Are you new? I don’t recognize you,” I admitted, an embarrassed smile tugging at my lips.

“Yeah, not been with the team long. I’m Robert. Your friendly neighborhood EMT.”

I glanced past him as I noticed the other team members file out of the room, absently fiddling with the locket at my throat.

“Hello? Hey, you okay there?”

“Hmm? Oh! I’m sorry. I’m distracted. I mean,” I rose from the chair and held out my hand to him, “I’m Juliet.”

Robert smiled, his eyes on mine as he shook my hand. Something skittered up my arm at our touch. It felt as though I’d been shocked. I gasped and jumped back, breaking the contact and rubbing my palm.

“Static electricity. Dry air,” he offered with a chuckle, before reluctantly looking over his shoulder. “I should probably go, before I get yelled at,” he smirked. “New guy, ya know? But … would you want to get coffee sometime? Tomorrow, maybe? I’d love to get to know you better.”

He flashed me a grin that made my knees quake and I nodded, giving a baffled laugh. “Uh, yeah. Sure. That would be great.”

“Tomorrow,” he beamed. “Beans Coffee? On Fifth? Eleven-thirty. Don’t be late.”

Stunned, I stared at the doorway, rubbing my palm as I watched Robert depart. For one ridiculous moment, I marveled at the fact that he’d been flirting with me.

Not only flirting, but also interested.

“If you don’t go after that, I will.”

The rough croak caught me by surprise and caused me to spin around.

“Adaline! You’re awake!” I rushed to her bedside and reached for her hand, relief washing through me.

“I’m a quick healer, didn’t you know that? And I meant what I said.”

I stared at her, my brow furrowing in confusion. “What?”

“The young man that was working to fix me up—if you don’t go after him, I will. There’s something familiar about that boy.”

I stared at her in disbelief before breaking out into a relieved laugh and pressing my forehead to her hand, feeling the choking hold of tears once more.

Adaline clucked her tongue, chiding me. “Don’t you dare cry over me. I’m fitter than I look. A little fall’s not gonna do me in.”

“Fall?” I lifted my head and looked at her in concern. “Adaline, you didn’t-”

“Excuse me, but we need to be getting her loaded up now. You can come by Providence in the morning.” The lead EMT said gently, but forcefully.

“Can’t I have just another-”

“You heard the man,” she interrupted sharply, “it’s late and I’m tired. And you need to be getting home. There’s time enough tomorrow for chatter. They’ll look after me.”

She left me no space for argument. Sighing, I pressed a kiss to her forehead, whispered, “See you tomorrow,” and stood back as they wheeled her out of the room.

The drive home was a blur of mingled thoughts. Adaline’s words ran through my mind on replay, but I couldn’t make sense of them. I kept thinking back to how she had looked when I walked into the room, still and unblinking, as if she had gone into some kind of trance.

But people don’t do that, I mused as I crawled into bed. That sort of thing only happens in the movies. Right?

I tenderized my pillow into a suitable form and turned off the light with a sigh. Sleep wouldn’t come quickly. I couldn’t turn off my mind.

Who was coming? Who was dying? And what does Adaline have to do with it all?