Coldhearted (9781311888433) (32 page)

“
Someone’s coming,” Jules
said in a hushed, panicked tone.

Everyone turned toward the crematorium doors,
but Edie kept her eyes fixed on Quinn’s. They were a warm, brown
color with flecks of gold. She’d never noticed that before. He was
looking at her, smiling, as if nothing were wrong.

“
I’m sorry,” she apologized.
“We’ll get you to a hospital. You’re going to be all
right.”

He blinked his eyes, as if he were fighting
off sleep. “Do the nurses still give sponge baths?”

She laughed, despite the tenuous situation
that they were in. “If you stay conscious, I’ll give you a sponge
bath myself.”

He grinned, liking the sound of that, and
then closed his eyes, as he slumped into her arms. She felt for a
pulse and found his heart beating, faintly. He was alive but he
needed medical attention immediately. The wound—on the upper part
of his forehead, near the hairline—was bad, bleeding profusely. She
feared that he didn’t have long and clamped her hand over the gash,
hoping to stop the rush and save his life.

And someone was coming, or rather, several
someone(s). She heard the boots charging down the narrow hall, and
then the doors burst open.

“
Edie?!” a familiar voice
called out, panicky.

Edie focused to see her uncle, and behind
him, a bunch of uniformed cops.

“
It’s past midnight, isn’t
it?” she said, remembering the conversation that they’d had at the
house.

He said nothing in response and surveyed the
scene: she holding an unconscious guy, bleeding, on the floor of a
lit crematorium.

Orders were barked and carried out. Soon, an
ambulance arrived and Quinn was being taken away to the hospital.
The cops left Edie and others alone. Edie figured either her uncle
had talked to them or bribed them, she didn’t know which. Anyway,
Jules sped off in her Tahoe toward the hospital, followed by
Gunnar, Rory, Bree, and Amee in the Land Rover.

Uncle Landon wanted to take her home, but
Edie pitched a fit about needing to see Quinn, so he drove her to
the hospital.

“
You go back,” she told him,
after they’d arrived at Grimsby General. “Jules will take me home
when we know Quinn is all right.”

He shook his head. She was about to argue
when he said, “I’ll bring your car up here myself, and then take a
taxi home. I don’t want you dependent on this Jules. She might end
up staying the entire day, and Edie, I want you home as soon as
possible, yeah?”

Edie stifled an eye roll, knowing that if she
needed to leave, Jules wouldn’t force her to stay. “Okay,” she told
her uncle.

“
Aren’t you going to say
‘thank you?’” he asked, sounding tired.

Edie smiled, gave her thanks, and then she
added, “Sorry for making you worry.”

She got out of the car, but didn’t make it
far, hearing the passenger window being rolled down. She turned
back around and leaned in, facing her uncle, who was leaning toward
her.

“
Yeah?” she
asked.

“
So you were really hunting
ghosts?”

She nodded.

“
Did you find
any?”

She shook her head. It wasn’t a lie. Tristan
had always been around.

“
How’d your friend get
hurt?”

“
He fell,” she partially
lied, and then she asked, “Were the lights on when you and the cops
arrived?”

He shook his head. “No. They found the
breaker and turned everything on inside the building. Why?” He gave
her a half smile. “Thought it was paranormal activity?”

She returned his crooked smile. “They’re
here,” she sang in an eerie tone.

“
Yeah, well, I’ll believe it
when I see it.” He sighed. “Please stay here and don’t go anywhere
else, yeah? I don’t want to have to call the cops again, worried
sick that something had happened to you. I mean it, Edie. You’re my
only family. I’m here to look after you until you turn eighteen.
After that, you can do whatever you want, even though I’d like you
to keep a clear and rational head.” He paused, and then continued,
“It’s what Loren, your father, would’ve wanted. And your mother,”
he added in a soft, bereaved tone.

Now was not the time to bring up her
suspicion that he’d been (and still was) in love with her mom. That
was for a later time, maybe. Right now, she needed to see Quinn, or
at least be with the others in solidarity for his quick
recovery.

She gave her uncle a nod. “I’ll be good. You
go home and get some rest. I’ll be fine.”

They said their goodbyes and she made her way
into the ER, joining the others. They were forbidden to see Quinn
for quite some time. Quinn’s parents had already arrived and were
currently with the attending physician. Gunnar had gone to the
vending machines, and bought sugary sodas and sugary sweets for
them.

They snacked in silence and waited.

Chapter 21

Quinn was going to be all right.

The head wound wasn’t as severe as it’d first
seemed, but the doctor wanted to keep him a few days for
observation, so he was moved to a room.

Quinn’s parents stayed with him, while Edie
and the others remained in a small, waiting room on the same floor,
nearby. Three hours later, Edie saw Mr. and Mrs. McDermott leaving
his room. Jules informed Edie that Mrs. McDermott was diabetic and
probably needed to get some food and rest. As Quinn’s parents
passed them, Gunnar rose to apologize for Quinn’s injuries on
behalf of the group. Mr. and Mrs. McDermott weren’t upset. They
knew Quinn was a ghost hunter and that he’d been at the sanatorium.
They thanked everyone, and then departed, soon to return.

It was early Sunday morning.

When the group entered his room, he was
awake, watching cartoons on TV. He was wearing a hospital gown,
sitting up with his back against a set of pillows, and the lower
half of his body was stretched out under a thermal blanket that
rose to his hips. He was sipping what appeared to be apple juice
through a straw and seemed to be enjoying every bit of it.

He greeted them with a grin. “Hey, gang,
what’s up?”

Gunnar, Rory, Bree, Amee, and Jules crowded
around, each giving him a hug, careful not to pull on his cords. He
looked over Jules’s shoulder while she hugged him, staring at Edie,
as she stood awkwardly at the end of his bed.

When he let go of Jules, he said to Edie,
“Don’t blame yourself; this wasn’t your fault.”

She’d been holding back her tears, but now
they fell.

“
Come here, baby girl,” he
entreated in a soft voice.

She approached and he wrapped his arms around
her, holding her close. She had to sit on the bed at his side to
prevent from falling over his body. Gently, she felt the top of his
forehead, where a white bandage had been placed along the ridge of
his hairline.

“
Are you sure you’re okay?”
she asked.

“
Yeah, just a little bump on
the noggin,” he said, and then gave her a don’t-worry-about-it kind
of smile. “No big deal.” He turned toward Gunnar. “I only wish we’d
gotten it on film.”

Gunnar squeezed Quinn’s shoulder in a manly
way; the gesture didn’t last very long. “Yeah, well, I’m just glad
you’re okay. We got Edie’s EVP and I’m sure if we were to check the
footage that shadow man would be on it. So…all in all”—he
smiled—“the investigation at Grimsby Sanatorium was a success.”

“
But Edie didn’t find out
how to rid herself of Tristan,” Jules reminded him.

Edie shrugged, still being held by Quinn. “I
might as well accept that Tristan Lockhart’s in my life for good.
He’s way too strong. I might as well give in. Besides I don’t want
to see anyone else get hurt.” She playfully tugged on Quinn’s
earlobe and smiled.

He wasn’t smiling. “No, Edie, you shouldn’t
suffer because of some punk-ass poltergeist. We’ll find a way.” He
turned toward Gunnar and the others. “I’m fine, really. Why don’t
you all go home, get some rest, and do some research, yeah? Figure
out how to help Edie.”

“
Okay, but we’ll be back,
all right,” Rory said, and then gave Quinn another hug, brief and
manly.

Quinn slapped him on the back, reciprocating
the gesture in his own tough guy way. “I’m good. Now get lost.
Don’t you have a midterm to study for?”

Rory sighed. “Unfortunately, yes.” He turned
toward Edie. “We’ll see you later, all right, Edie? Hopefully,
we’ll come up with something to get rid of your poltergeist. Until
then, hang in there, all right?”

She nodded and thanked him, along with
Gunnar, Bree, and Amee. The twins and Edie exchanged phone numbers,
promising to call each other and not just about paranormal
activity; they encouraged Edie to visit them on campus and take a
tour.

After they’d left, it was just Edie and
Jules. Jules went and sat on Quinn’s other side.

He smiled. “This is great. I should get
attacked by a lovesick ghost more often.”

Edie sighed, aggravated. “I’m telling you,
Tristan isn’t in love with me!”

“
Yeah, he is,” Jules said,
agreeing with Quinn. “That’s probably why he attacked Quinn.
Tristan sees him as a rival threat.”

Quinn folded his arms behind his head,
relaxing against the pillows. “Well, if he were alive, I’d kick his
ass. But…considering he’s a ghost…” He stared into Edie’s eyes.
“We’ll find a way,” he repeated. “‘Where there’s a will, there’s a
way,’ right? I don’t like to accept defeat. I always get what I
want.” He grinned. “But of course you know that.”

Edie gave him a look. “Snatching up a girl
from another guy isn’t the same thing as snatching up a ghost.”

He cocked his head. “Maybe it is. I mean, I
only snatch up girls who are tired of their guys, but aren’t
willing to make the break with them. Also it’s the excitement of
doing something bad and the possibility of being caught. It’s a
thrill. Your ghost is the same. He seeks the thrill. He wants to be
bad.”

“
So what’re you saying?”
Jules questioned. “You’re going to offer to be his partner-in-
crime?” Her tone was full of skepticism. “And then turn in him? I
don’t think there’re ghost cops.”

“
Should be,” Quinn said.
“Anyway, no, I wouldn’t offer to be his sidekick. I’d just play
him, you know? Make him think I was on his side, and then, when
he’s all deluded and vulnerable—”

“
You’d what?” Edie cut him
off, finding his plan, no matter how absurd, to have some
value.

Quinn hesitated, and then said, “Well, that
all depends on what Gunnar and the others discover. They’re the
brains of this operation. I’m just the muscle.” He flexed his
exposed arm, showing off.

“
And what,” Jules said,
continuing to sound skeptical, “you’ll discover his weak spot and
knock him ‘til he’s down?”

Quinn nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”

Jules rolled her eyes but said nothing.

“
He’s a ghost,” Edie
reminded Quinn. “I’ve seen him step out of mirrors.” She shivered
at the memory. “And we’ve touched. Well, he wanted to touch, but
his hand went right through mine. He’s so cold. And I don’t just
mean his personality. When he was trying to hold my hand, it felt
like ice cold water was coursing through my veins.” She shook her
head. “I was sure I was going to die.” She looked back and forth
between Quinn and Jules as she spoke. “So you see he doesn’t love
me. I’m sure of it. He wants to beat me down, make me weak,
fearful, and then when I’m finally broken, he wants me dead. That
isn’t love. That’s hate.”

It seemed as though she’d gotten through to
them because Quinn and Jules didn’t argue.

Jules excused herself to go to the bathroom.
Edie started watching cartoons with Quinn, leaning back against his
shoulder. He suggested that she stretch out her legs, considering
she looked uncomfortable with them hanging off the bed. She did and
lay beside him, relaxed and happy, joking around with Quinn.

Not long after, the door opened and Mason
entered the room.

Jules had found another bathroom, not wanting
to use the one in Quinn’s room, and now she came running inside,
almost colliding with Mason. “Mason’s…here,” she said, trying to
catch her breath, before she closed the door to the room.

Obviously she’d been running to warn Edie and
Quinn, but she hadn’t run fast enough. Although there was nothing
going on between Edie and Quinn, it probably didn’t look good that
she was in bed with him. It didn’t matter that he was suffering
from a head wound that she’d partially caused by agreeing to go on
a ghost hunt, knowing full well Tristan’s strengths and
capabilities. Also Mason wasn’t supposed to know that she’d gone to
the Grimsby Sanatorium.

Well, now he did. Edie braced herself for his
wrath.

Edie wanted to explain, to apologize, but she
found herself speechless. She was standing next to Quinn’s bed.
Jules had come around to Quinn’s other side and was sitting in a
chair, keeping a low profile. Mason remained standing far away,
leveling a look of disappointment and perhaps hatred her way.

There was a long stretch of silence before he
spoke. “You lied to me,” he finally said. His tone was so soft, as
if he were about to cry, but his eyes were completely dry.

Edie finally found her voice. “I’m sorry,”
she apologized, and then advanced toward him, but he backed away
near the door in retreat. “I’m sorry,” she repeated. “I felt going
to the sanatorium was the right thing to do. I thought I could
break free of Tristan, once and for all, but you were right. He
tricked me, made me think he was afraid of that place. He wasn’t
afraid. He’s not afraid of anything,” she said solemnly.