Bitch Witch (27 page)

So what if she’d never have a chance to meet Henry and find out if there was anything real between them. He had Kathleen, and she was un-witched, neutered, and useless. Being alone was a small part of her troubles. No matter that it suddenly felt like the biggest.

“Talk to me, Sarah.”

Her entire face trembled, but she still couldn’t bring herself to tell him she’d lost the ability to cast so much as a spark in the palm of her hand. A sob bubbled up.

“Are you in that much pain?”

“I need to get out of here!”

“Oh, Lord.” Paul took a step away from the bed and rubbed his hand through his hair. “Shoot, Sarah! I can’t just take you out of here. They’re going to want to keep you for observation for a couple of days at least.”

“Please! I want to go home.”

“I can’t believe I’m doing this.” Paul moved closer and pulled electrodes out of the top of her gown. A machine behind the bed beeped. He leaned over and shut it off. “They won’t even put me in jail. They’ll put me back in the psychiatric hospital.” Paul tugged a metal needle out of the back of Sarah’s hand that looked as big as a nail. Sarah tried not to pass out.

Paul pressed his thumb against it to stop the bleeding. He tugged a stray piece of tape off a tube and stuck it over the wound. “You’ve got a urine catheter in your bladder too.”

“A what?”

With his other hand he lifted a clear tube with some yellow liquid in it. “This is how you’ve been peeing.”

Sarah closed her eyes as a wave of nausea moved through her.

Paul chuckled. “You’re such a baby.”

“It’s not funny.”

“After all the bitch witch stuff I’ve seen you do, it kind of is.”

“Can you take it out?”

“Unless you want to.”

Sarah turned her head away and tried not to moan. She was not cut out for this kind of a life.

S
arah screamed into her pillow to muffle the sound. Paul was lucky she couldn’t cast, otherwise he’d be nailed to the ceiling.

“Sarah, I’m sorry. Was it really that bad? It came out fairly easily. Textbook even.”

Taking a breath, she aimed a punch in the general direction of Paul’s voice. He managed to duck it.

“Look, if you want to go we’d better get moving. Things are quieting down out there, but if someone comes by, we’ll never get out.”

Sarah wiped her tears on the pillow and sat up with a little help from Paul. The position made the burning from the catheter’s removal worse. Paul took a wadded up ball of clothing from a narrow locker near her bed and handed it to her. It took a moment for Sarah to recognize her sweats.

“They’re dirty,” she said, shaking them out. Something white flitted to the floor like dandruff.

“Sorry. I never thought to bring clean clothes. It didn’t look like you were going home—uh—anytime soon.”

“Is that dried barf?”

Paul took the sweatshirt and shoved it over her head, right over her hospital gown. “Don’t be a princess.” He helped her get her arms through the sleeves, and pushed her feet through the pants. Within moments she had her sequin ruby slippers on her feet and Paul was tugging her to the door.

“Hold on.” He peeked out. “We’re going to have to use the elevators. There’s no way you’ll make it down the stairs. You look like you’re going to pass out on me.”

It felt like it. All Sarah’s blood seemed to be draining into the lower half of her body, and she held onto Paul’s waist with a death grip. This pain was nothing compared to what dark matter had put her through, but weakness was new. She couldn’t recall a time in her life when walking felt like climbing a mountain with not enough oxygen.

“Come on, all’s clear.” Paul hauled her into the hospital corridor. The lights seemed even brighter than her room, and her head swam as she did her best to keep up with his long stride.

“Wait,” Sarah warned, sensing the approach of people. Judging by her second sense, they were dressed in scrubs. “Someone’s coming.”

They ducked into the room of another patient and Paul closed the door. He put his finger to his lips and motioned to an elderly man asleep in his bed. Sarah sensed the people move past the door. It was a foggy sense with meds coursing through her veins, but it might be the only witch skill she had left. “It’s good now.” She closed her eyes and leaned against the door.

“You know we could make your great escape tomorrow,” Paul whispered. “I’d stay with you tonight.” He pushed hair off her face and tucked it behind her ear.

“No. I’m not staying here!”
I can’t!
The temptation to call out to dark matter and cast away her misery was too strong. It would come back if she called, she knew it. With the help of dark matter she could shove this misery away and skip out of the hospital.

She needed her house. She needed quiet. She needed Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks and
Outlander
. She needed to figure out what the hell witches did without dark matter.

Paul wrapped an arm around her and pulled her from the room. “This escape better not be about your obsession with my brother.”

As they made their way with stops and starts, Sarah spotted dark matter in the hospital hallway, crammed into the usual spots. It thrived in cracks and corners and vents, like mold and dust. Wearing the dried vomit-encrusted sweats she’d worn to the hospital, Sarah forced her legs to move down the empty corridor and held tightly to Paul’s warm hand. When they reached the elevators, Sarah stumbled inside and clung to the wall.

How often have I relied on dark matter without realizing it? No wonder it stayed.

But how am I going to function without it?

Inside the elevator dark matter dusted the control panel. “There’s barely any dark matter on this floor of the hospital, and there was none in my room.”
It literally left when I told it to!

“Is it in here?” asked Paul.

“Yes.” Sarah motioned toward the control panel of the elevator without thinking about the fact that Paul couldn’t see it anyway. The smudges of dark matter dotting the buttons for the basement and lobby melted away, as if hiding from her reach by going deeper into the control panel. “Holy shit.”

“What?”

“It just moved.”

“Doesn’t it always?”

“Well, sure, but I mean it moved
away
from my hand! All of it!”

Paul looked from her to the control panel and back again. “It doesn’t usually?”

“No! If anything it runs toward me.” Leaning on the railing circling the elevator, Sarah took a deep breath and scooted closer to the errant bits of dark matter. Dark matter slid away with every step closer she took, moving down the closed elevator doors and vanishing into the crack beneath them. “It’s avoiding me!”

“What does that mean?”

“I have no freaking idea, but I like it.”

Paul smiled at her. “Maybe it’ll make it easier to resist using it.”

“I don’t care if it climbs into my panties and hosts a party; I’m never using it again. I can’t allow myself to, and I won’t.”
I can’t! This is my only chance. If I fail now…

“So the temptation is gone?”

“I’ve never wanted to use it more. This pain stuff is bullshit. Every part of my body hurts like a mother fu—”

“I get the idea.”

“Sorry.”

“So you’re chasing away dark matter now?”

“Apparently.” Sarah moved her hand and watched dark matter scurry away like opposite polarity chasing magnetic dust. “Huh.”

“That’s a good thing, Sarah.”

“I know. I just feel so—powerless without it.”

“There’s nothing powerless about you.”

There is now.

She tried to shove that thought away. “Do you have a car here?” Even with Paul’s help, her legs trembled from the strain of walking.

“Ah, yeah. Henry’s rental.”

“He didn’t go home?”

“No. Kathleen can’t make the trip yet. I’ve been running back and forth so he gave me the car.”

The knowledge that Kathleen was still in bad shape further drained Sarah’s energy. She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. “I thought she was better.”

“She’s better than you are.”

Unable to hold herself upright, Sarah slid down the back wall of the elevator. Paul grabbed her before she hit the floor. She opened her eyes and mouthed, “Sorry.”

More than a couple days growth of beard showed on Paul’s face, and dark circles ringed his eyes. Sarah swallowed. Part of her wanted to ask why he’d stayed at the hospital with her all of these weeks, but she didn’t. Paul was the kind of guy who didn’t leave his friends behind and that was that.

“You’ve gone above and beyond. I know you stayed with me when no one else did. I—I, don’t know what to say.”

“‘Thank you’ is tradition.”

Leaning all her weight on his supporting arm, Sarah used the last of her energy to smile. “You’re the best friend I’ve ever had. Thank you, Paul.”

Paul wrapped his arm tightly around her back in a half-hug. “You’re welcome. Let’s get you home before you collapse.”

DARK MATTER WHISPERED to Sarah in her sleep and she jerked awake. They were driving on the Mass Pike.

Paul handed her a bottle of water. “How do you feel?”

“Like I’ve been beaten with baseball bats.” She unscrewed the lid and took a sip. It was the best thing she’d ever tasted.

“If you weren’t so stubborn, you wouldn’t have to be hurting.”

“I had to get out of there.”

“If you don’t eat, drink—a lot, and pee in the next few hours, you’re going back.”

“No. I’m not going back. I’m tough. I’m a witch.”
I think.

“Pfft.” Paul frowned. “Apparently that doesn’t make you impervious to plain old human frailty. Trust me. I had a front row seat the last six weeks. Just do me a favor and cooperate the next few days, okay?”

“If you’ll do me a favor first. Paul, would you mind taking me to see Henry before we go to the house?”

“That’s what this is all about!” Paul cried. “So that’s why you had to get out of the hospital! Sheesh! I can’t believe I fell for it. Dammit, Sarah! No wonder people used to burn witches at the stake.”

“Don’t be mean.”

“No, I guess mean is your job.” Paul shot her a dirty look. “Anyway, you’ll see Henry soon enough.”

“I will?”

“He’s at your house.”

“Henry’s at
my house
?”

“Yes. The better to keep his
Big Brother
eye on me.”

“Oh. Hmm.”

“Try not to swoon. Kathleen’s there too.”

“So they’re
both
at my house?”

Paul groaned. “If you need to obsess about Henry, you’re going to have to find another friend to do it with.”

“I’m not obsessing.”

“Obviously.”

“Paul, I’m not in love with your brother.”

“Right.”