“Okay, okay, calm down,” he said, “Everyone over to the window.”
“But, Mr. Thorne, we’re on the second floor,” Rosie protested. “That’s too far to jump.”
“Don’t worry, Rosie,” he said. “We’ll make it work.”
He moved the students to the very front of the classroom. The fire was quickly spreading throughout the back and moving forward. He opened the window and looked down. The evergreens below the window would break most of the fall, but they would still need to be helped down.
“Stevo, you take the next window. Okay, I want you to hold our hands, we’ll reach down as far as we can and then you can drop onto the bushes below. The first ones down, help the next ones. We have to work together and we have to move quickly.”
Charlie picked two of the taller boys to go first, so they could help the others on the ground. He and Stevo held on to them until they had reached as far down as they could and then let them go. The boys dropped onto the bushes and rolled off. Charlie breathed a sigh of relief when both boys jumped up, unhurt.
Stevo turned to Charlie and smiled. “They made it, Coach, they made it.”
“Yeah, they did. Now let’s get the rest of the class out of here.”
Although they moved quickly, the fire moved faster. The last few students climbed through windows that had black smoke also billowing out of them. Finally, Stevo and Charlie stood alone in the room. “Come here, Stevo,” Charlie said. “I’ll let you down first.”
“But Coach, whose going to help you?”
“Hey, you’re my best fielder, I expect to jump right into your arms,” he said. “Just promise not to whip me over to Smith for a double play.”
The young man, his face streaked with soot, grinned at his coach. “Yeah, Coach, I promise.”
Charlie took the young man’s hands in a tight grip and slowly lowered him out the window. When he had extended his reach as far as he could, he let him go.
Stevo fell into the evergreen boughs, the prickly needles scraped his arms, but the branches kept him from hitting the ground. He rolled off the bushes and jumped up as fast as he could. He turned his eager face up to the window. “Okay, Coach,” he called.
The explosion violently blew the windows out of the building. Screaming students darted across the lawn, barely escaping the shards of glass raining down on them. All of the students except Stevo, who still stood below the gaping hole in the wall, oblivious to the blood running down his face and arms. “Coach, Coach,” he screamed. “I’m here, Coach. Coach, I’m here.”
The hospital room was quiet, except for the sounds of the monitors recording Mary O’Reilly’s vital signs. The air smelled of flowers from the dozens of bouquets distributed on every available space, with an underlying residue of lemon disinfectant.
Police Chief Bradley Alden paced back to the bed and gazed down at her. She still hadn’t moved, hadn’t shown any sign she was coming out of this unconscious state.
Could Sean be right? Could Mary be taken from him?
His stomach clenched and a cold frisson of fear slipped down his spine.
How would I ever be able to survive without her?
He sat on the edge of the bed, leaned forward and cradled her face in his hand, gently stroking her cheek with his thumb. “You are my heart, Mary O’Reilly,” he said. “You can’t leave me now. I love you.”
He placed a soft kiss on her forehead and then brushed his lips across her cheek.
“Mary, will you marry me?” he whispered.
Tenderly placing his lips on hers, he kissed her with all the love he had in his heart, trying to force a response from her. Was it hopeless? Would he really have to live without her?
A single tear slipped from his cheek and landed softly on hers.
She suddenly took a deep shaky breath and her eyes opened slowly.
“Bradley,” she whispered. “What did you say?”
Relief and elation surged through him; he wrapped his arms around her, pulled her close and was surprised when she stiffened and pushed against his chest.
“No, please, let me go,” she cried, her voice panicked and halting.
He immediately stood up and moved slightly away from the bed. “Mary, it’s me, Bradley,” he said, trying to sooth her. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
She scooted back in the bed, her back flush against the head board, her eyes still wide in fear. “Bradley?” she asked, her gaze examining his face and then the room beyond him. “Where am I?”
“You’re in the hospital, Mary,” he said. “You’re safe.”
Her search became frantic. “My baby,” she cried. “I heard my baby. What have you done with my baby?”
What the hell?
he
wondered.
What’s going on?
“Mary, you don’t have a baby,” he said, keeping his voice soft and low. “Jeannine had a baby.”
“Jeannine?” she asked, recognition showing on her face. “Where’s Jeannine?”
“She’s moved on, Mary. You found the man who killed her. She’s at peace now.”
Wrapping her arms around her body, she began to tremble. “He kept me down there for so long,” she sobbed. “He kept…” Her voice broke. “He kept touching me and no one came for me. No one saved me.”
“Mary, I’m so sorry,” he whispered, his heart filled with remorse.
He started to move forward, aching to hold her in his arms and protect her.
“No, no,” she whispered, her head shaking back and forth. “Don’t come closer, please don’t come closer.”
His heart sank and he took a deep breath. “I wasn’t going to hurt you,” he said. “I just wanted to comfort you.”
Placing her hand over her mouth and with tears flowing down her cheeks, she shook her head. “I’m sorry, Bradley,” she sobbed. “I just can’t. I don’t know what’s happening, but I just can’t.”
The door opened and Bradley turned around quickly. No one was going to get close to Mary while she was so distressed.
“Ma,” Mary called out, relief evident in her voice.
Maggie O’Reilly stood in the doorway for a moment to assess the situation. Bradley, who she knew adored her daughter, had several days’ worth of stubble on his face and clothes so wrinkled she knew he’d slept in a hospital chair for more than a few nights. But it was the look on his face that had her curious. He looked both confused and hurt, as he stood next to Mary’s bed like an avenging angel.
She turned to her daughter, huddled up at the top of her bed as if the big bad wolf was coming for her. She’d been crying
,
the tears still wet on her face. Something was certainly amiss.
She walked across the room, patted Bradley reassuringly on his shoulder and then moved past him to enfold Mary into her arms. “There now, little lamb,” she crooned. “Your ma is here to take care of you.”
“Oh, Ma,” Mary sighed. “I’m so confused.”
Maggie smiled up at Bradley. “Why don’t you go get the doctor and give us a moment alone,” she suggested.
Bradley nodded slowly, his eyes still on Mary wrapped in her mother’s arms. He hesitated.
“She’ll be fine,” Maggie assured him. “Now go get the doctor.”
Once the door closed behind Bradley, Maggie stepped back and sat alongside Mary on the bed. “Now, why don’t you tell me what’s been going on.”
She pulled a tissue from the box on the table alongside the bed and handed it to Mary.
Shaking her head, Mary wiped her eyes and her nose, and took a deep wobbly breath. “I don’t understand,” she said. “I know Bradley would never do anything to hurt me. I know he’s risked his life for me. But, when I woke up and he was holding me, I panicked. All I could think of was being down in that dark room and Gary touching me.”
Her body trembled.
Maggie leaned forward and took Mary’s hands in her own. “Now, you have to tell me,” she said. “Did that man…”
Mary shook her head. “No, ma, he didn’t rape me. But…it’s hard to explain.”
“I’m listening.”
Mary nodded. “How much has Sean already told you?”
Maggie smiled. “Your brother told me about Bradley’s wife and how you’ve been helping to solve her murder. He felt, perhaps, you put yourself more at risk than was wise.”
“No, I only did what was necessary,” Mary insisted.
“Spoken like a true O’Reilly,” Maggie replied ironically. “Now, what is it that was necessary?”
“The only way we could help Jeannine remember what happened to her was to hypnotize her,” Mary explained.
“I’ve never heard of a ghost being hypnotized before.”
“That was the difficulty,” Mary said, “she had to have a body in order to be hypnotized, so I let her use mine.”
“You let a spirit into your body?” Maggie exclaimed. “Blessed Mother, do you know the risks of such behavior?”
She nodded. “I do,” she said. “And we took precautions. But, ma, really, it was the only way.”
Maggie closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. “And then?” she asked, meeting Mary’s eyes once again.
“And then Ian hypnotized us,” she said, and then paused before adding. “And I lived through Jeannine’s memories.”
Maggie gasped softly. “So, that man did rape you.”
Tears slid down Mary’s cheeks again and she weakly shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know,” she cried quietly. “He didn’t touch me physically, but…”
“But you felt the emotions and… the pain?” she asked, her own eyes filling with tears.
Mary nodded. “Yes. Yes, I felt it.”
Maggie leaned forward and held her daughter in her arms. “My darling little girl, I’m so sorry.”
Inhaling deeply, Mary relaxed in her mother’s arms. “I don’t remember a lot of details. Jeannine was drugged for the most part. So my memory is foggy. But the fear and the complete feeling of helplessness are there, like something waiting just around the corner.”
“You need to talk to someone,” Maggie said. “You need counseling.”
Mary laughed humorlessly. “And just who could I talk to who wouldn’t want to lock me up in an institution?” she asked.
“Mary, you have to get help,” her mother insisted. “This is not something you can handle on your own.”
Mary sat up, wiped away her tears with her sleeve and smiled bravely. “Ian said something about hypnotizing me and removing Jeannine’s memories,” Mary replied. “I’ll try that first and then, if I can’t do it myself, I’ll get help.”
Maggie frowned and shook her head. “Damn stubborn thick-headed O’Reilly,” she muttered. “You’ll help everyone but yourselves.”
Mary smiled. “I love you, Ma.”
Maggie pursed her lips. “And don’t think you can use O’Reilly charm to get around me,” she said. “Now, I’ve my things in the car and I’m planning on staying a while to make sure you get some help.”
“Ma, I really appreciate the offer…”
“Are you throwing your own mother out into the cold streets?”
Mary chuckled. “No, I’m not. But, I just can’t let you do this,” she explained. “I need to be strong. I need to rely on myself.”
“Mary, since the time you could walk you relied on yourself. I’d never seen such a single-minded child. You had to be just as good as or better than your brothers,” her mother said with a sigh. “This time it’s okay to need someone else.”
Mary took her mother’s hands. “Ma, you’ve always let me be strong, let me be independent and I could because I always knew you were there, ready to pick me up if I fell down,” she explained. “This time, it would be too easy to run to you and let you fight my battles for me. This time I really don’t want to do it on my own. And that’s the reason why I have to. I have to face this monster by myself. If I don’t do it now, I think it could change me. I don’t want to be afraid.”
Maggie picked up one of her hands and pressed it against her lips for a moment. “You are a brave girl and you have more courage than should be allowed in a body your size. I understand what you’re saying and I’ll honor your wishes, under one condition.”
Mary nodded.
“You call me, anytime, night or day, if you need your mother,” she said firmly. “You promise.”
“Yes, I promise,” she agreed. “And just knowing you’re there, just a phone call away, will be a comfort.”
Maggie leaned forward and kissed Mary on her forehead. “There are others, even closer, who you can rely on too. Try to trust Bradley again. He’s a good man and he loves you.”