Fairysitters
Part 3
I
got up, almost completely ignoring the new headache from my mental chat with
Kathy and went into Chris' room. She was still asleep, but had a very terse
look on her face, one that pained me way more than the pain in my head.
Scooping her up in my arms, I walked over to the papasan chair in the corner
and curled up in it with her. It was so hard to watch the agony of the little
girl, whose very image nearly mirrored my own mine at age 5, without reaching
out to her and feeling my own torment. She began moaning a little and I froze,
thinking it was the movement disturbing her, but relaxed again as I remembered
nothing could wake her up when she was having a nightmare.
I
leaned her head against my shoulder and cradled the rest of her body, the
gently began stroking her sweet smelling hair. It occured to me that I hadn't
seen K'ren or K'rin, so I scanned the room until I found them in a tiny canopy
bed on Christine's nighttable. I smiled, thinking Chris must have made it for
them, then looked back at her. She still looked so...was that fear or anger
that I saw in her distraught little face? Maybe even pain, but I couldn't tell.
What are you dreaming about?, I
thought. Must be something pret-ty bad to put such a serious expression on a
six-year-old... wait...6-year-old? Now, what brought that number on? Dammit, I
won't let her be 6, I just won't! Look at all the fun we've had since she's
been 5!, I thought, looking around the room at all the little mementos of
our time spent together; the giant stuffed teddy she used to sit in that I won
at the amusement park, the driftwood we'd polished and hung up from the Lake,
her "Preferred Scooper" card from Sol's that she got after her 50th
sundae, her magic wand, her baseball Cardinals cap and autographed baseball and
glove and bat...oh, there were just too many good times to count in here! Oh,
God, what if she turns six and she...
I
didn't have a chance to finish that thought before she began sobbing. I turned
on the reading lamp above my head and gazed into her face. Tears were streaming
out of her closed eyes. Holding her close and rocking her, I began whispering
to her as if she were awake.
"Don't
worry, baby, everything'll be okay, whatever you're dreaming about. I'm here,
honey, don't worry, it's okay..."
"No!"
she yelled, suddenly lashing out wildly at me in her sleep.
"Nononononono...!"
It
was all I could do to hold her down to prevent her from hurting either of us.
"Please wake up, Chris, please!" I begged, to no avail. I was crying,
too, by now. This was my personal little archangel! Someone or something was
hurting her and I couldn't do a thing to stop them. "Please, God, don't
make her handle this all by herself!" I added, hoping that might help. She
did stop swinging, but her sobs were practically hysterical now and a trace of
anger began slowly creeping in. If only I could get into that dream and let
her know it wasn't real, maybe she'd wake up!, I thought. I'd never tried
it before, but I couldn't think of any reason why it wouldn't work. Okay,
kiddo, let me in, I thought, closing my eyes and concentrating. Give me
enough room to get in that mind of yours.
The
phrase "give me enough rope to hang myself with" flashed through my
own mind as I slid slowly into the Dreamweaver's nightmare. Strangely enough, the
only thing I found even remotely scary was the fact that everything was dark
and shadowy. I couldn't make out anything in the darkness, but I vaguely heard
a piercing scream that didn't really have much effect on me, although it was
probably pretty scary. There was a pain in my chest that I thought should be
worse, too, but I felt so tired, so relaxed for some reason. I was still
worried about...somebody? Jeez, what was it I was worried about, anyway? Ah,
to heck with it, I thought. I could rest a few minutes..could use the
sleep, anyway, as long as it was already dark...
SMACK!!!!
Ho-ly
crap, Batman!, was what I thought, but it came out more like
"mumble-crap-ba-gasp!". I was back in Chris' room and she was awake
and very upset. And from the look of it, so was Robin.
"Oh,
hi, Robin," I murmured weakly, squinting in the bright light of the room.
"My
God, are you alright?" she demanded, grabbing me by the arms and shaking
me a little as Christine threw her arms around my neck, still crying. Well
,this conversation was off to a bad start!, I thought. Now
what'd I do?
"Yuh,"
I answered, slightly wary. "Why? Whadja hit me for?" I added, making
the connection between Robin's cherry red palm and my stinging cheek.
"What
did you just do, Daina?" asked Robin, slowly, as if she were trying to
control a waver in her voice. I frowned, wondering why Robin, of all fairies,
would have cause to freak out like this. Nice going, Threats!, I thought
to myself. You've somehow managed to screw up again...!
"Wha-at,
I..."
"What
did you do?!" she demanded, squeezing my arms. Still confused, I explained
my story all the way up until I had fallen asleep. Robin looked me very quietly
for a moment. Chris continued to sob on my shoulder and I held her tight,
waiting almost fearfully for Robin to speak. "Daina," she said,
finally, "Christine dreamed that you let yourself be killed by a crossbow
to save her. When she woke up, you weren't breathing. I had to come revive
you."
"So
whadja hit me for?" I repeated, not really understanding the magnitude of
what was being said.
"LISTEN,
WILL YOU!" shouted Robin. "You were dead! Do you understand me?
DEAD!!! I've been trying to get you back for close to 10 minutes! You were a
hair's breadth away from being completely lost!" I blinked in shock. This
was becoming rather scary after all.
"D-Does
Kathy know?" I stammered. "She'll be pretty upset..."
"I
would imagine so, if The Link still works," said Robin, standing up and
staring blankly around the room.
"Of
course it works!" I said defensively, needing something to be indignant
about. Even still, tears wear forming in my eyes. Robin saw them and
immediately softened a little.
"Well,
don't try it now, dear," she said, kneeling next to me. "You don't
need to be exerting yourself anymore."
"But
I've gotta tell her I'm okay!" I practically sobbed.
"I'll
have Kathyrn tell her. She's here with Target and the children."
"Kathyrn's
here?" I repeated.
"Yes,
your potential death usually alarms most of the healing community, that being
Kathyrn and I. Just don't do anything extra right now, please?" Robin
looked directly at me and I finally nodded, rubbing my eyes with the side of my
palm.
Christine
had moved while we were talking to the position she had been in before she had
woken up. Now she put an arm around my neck and looked up at me with red rimmed
eyes.
"You
really scared me when you did that," she said, as calmly as she could.
"Don't do it anymore, 'kay?"
I
gave her another weak smile and almost whispered, "Okay." Christine
gave me another hug and, to my surprise, so did Robin.
Target
burst in a few seconds later with a grim look on his face. He called Robin over
and they talked quietly for a moment, then he said, "I think she should
know now," and strode over to me, Robin on his heels. He stared directly
at me for a long moment, then said, "I've got bad news for you."
"Oh
jeez, what?" I gasped, my stomach jumping on the elevator of anxiety from
my throat to my toes.
"Well," he began,
looking very morose, "ah, I feel it's my duty to tell you that...well,
you're not dead. I know 'ow 'ard yeh tried, but yeh di'n't make it." I sat
looking completely lost for a moment, then as he slowly began to grin at me, my
own look of abject terror melted into my
"I-don't-believe-he-just-did-that" look. I shook my head, squinted my
eyes and gently pinched the bridge of my nose.
"He
thought that would help somehow," murmured Robin, glancing sideways at her
husband with a slight smirk.
"I'm
going to kill you," I said, looking at him with a smile.
"No,
you're not," he grinned confidently.
"Yes,
I am," I replied. "You want roses or carnations on your casket?"
"Neither.
Flowers ain't very becoming on a gentlemen's grave."
"Good
thing you'll be dead, then, huh? Then you'll never have to worry about
that."
"E-nough!"
said Robin, laughing as she shoved her husband out into the hall. "Tell
Kathryn to inform Kathy of Daina's recovery."
"I'm
not liking him," I said, shaking an accusing finger in his direction.
"You
don't have to," said Robin, helping me up. "He's my husband."
"Good,"
was my reply. "I think he likes you, anyway. You know, you should marry
him instead of just sittin' around having kids..."
"Oh,
be quiet!" she laughed. "You were so much easier to manage when you
were dead, dear."
"Gee,
thanks!" I replied wryly. "I'll remember that when you kick
off!"
"Now,
I want you to stay in bed, dear," said Robin, as she tucked me in.
"And don't talk to Kathy just yet, alright? You need the rest."
I
gave the okay sign with my finger and thumb while closing my eyes and making my
"no problem" face.
"I
mean it, now," she said.
I
smiled and nodded my head with the same look.
"You
promise you'll behave?"
I
repeated my look and nod again.
"And
you won't get out of bed?"
This
time I shook my head "no" with the same look.
Robin
frowned suspiciously at me and I blinked innocently. "I don't trust you
any further than I can throw you."
"Don't
throw me, Robin," I said, expressionless. "I don't feel good."
At
that, Robin sighed and left, rolling her eyes heavenward. I giggled at my own
cleverness, then snuggled down in the blankets. I wasn't really tired, just a
little freaked out. Dying is not exactly what I would term "a good
thing". Dying in a premonition of my little sister's is even worse. I
wondered did Robin know that Chris' dreams were about future events. You could
never tell what she did or didn't know, she was so good at hiding emotions.
Then,
again, she nearly lost it a little bit ago, I thought. Maybe she did know.
It was sort of flattering to think that my possible death was a big deal to
someone who'd been so cold-blooded to me back in the day.
I
flopped over restlessly. How I wanted to talk to Kathy about this stuff!
Less
than a few seconds after the initial thought of her, I felt myself getting
drowsy. Geez, I was just kiddin'!, I thought. Robin'll have me for
breakfast if I talk now! But the feeling was getting harder and harder to
avoid. Suddenly, I felt myself being almost yanked into sleep...
what the heck happened to you?!?!?! jesus, you scared the
crap outta me, you...
a simple "are you okay, daina" woulda done it,
kathy.
well, you better be okay, 'cause i hate killing dead people.
you don't get that satisfaction of a job well done.
(*snicker*)
and why were you trying to keep me out?
robin says i'm not allowed to talk to you. i'm not sure why,
but i think it has a lot to do with the agony i'll be in when i wake up.
oh, yeah...
"oh yeah", she says. jeez!
oh, come on! i don't think i could've gone much longer
without hearing from you personally.
i know, i'm just teasin' ya. if you hadn't called me, i'dve
called you. so, what happened on your side?
complete and utter chaos. i've felt you slip away from me
before, but, the feeling is a lot scarier when i'm not there to help you.
you're tellin' me!
what exactly happened to you?
i went into a dream christine was having and got shot by a
crossbow.
did you see who did it?
no. i was presumably in the final stages of death when i
came into the dream, so everything was pretty dark.
maybe christine knows...
maybe...hey, did you send kathyrn over?
drove her over is more like it. i was really going insane
here. i wanted to try and call you on the phone, but i don't even know where in
texas you are right now.
this is only a temporary address. by the time I find out
what the phone number here is, we'll be in the new house.
yeah. (pause)
(pause) i'm sorry for almost dying, kathy. i'm sorry i ever
moved, too.
stop it. you couldn't help what happened.
(pause) or what's going to happen.
don't say that...
it's true!
i don't care if it is! i won't...
(almost hysterical) and what if robin isn't around to save
me next time? then what, huh?
stop it, dammit, willya just stop it!!!!
(soft crying)
i'm sorry, dain. i didn't mean to snap on you.
just...just stay with me for a little while, 'til robin
comes in and bawls me out.
i can't, you'll get worse.
i don't ca...
i do.
(long pause)
are you gonna be alright?
yeah, i think so. i'll just wake up and hang around for a
little while.
'kay. (pause) take care, alright?
no prob...