See Me (22 page)

“That’s Jonathan’s sister,” I said, wondering why she’d be phoning Owen right now. “It could be important. You should answer it.

He turned to stare at me as if I had two heads. “It’s against the law to talk on a handheld device while driving, and I don’t have an earpiece with me.”

I snatched up the phone while rolling my eyes. “Hello? Danielle?”

“Yes,” she said, drawing out the word. “Is this Owen’s cell phone?”

“Yeah,” I said, guessing she wasn’t going to be too happy to hear my voice after all the attitude she gave me last time. “This is Amy. Owen’s driving, so he can’t talk right now.”

“Oh . . .” she said, sounding sad.

“Is everything all right?” I said, glancing up at the sign showing one mile to San Felipe Medical Center.

“Not really.” She sighed. “I was hoping to talk to Owen. I confronted my dad yesterday about how bogus it was for him to have Jonathan cremated against my mom’s wishes. Owen had seemed pretty upset by it, too. So I thought he should know what my dad confided in me, which is that he didn’t really cremate Jonathan’s body. My brother’s in a coma. He’s been on life support since last Friday, because my dad wasn’t able to let him go.”

“That’s understandable,” I said, glad that her dad had finally been honest with her. “I’ll be sure to relay the information to Owen so he knows.”

“Thanks.” She paused, then let out an audible breath. “I’d better go. We’re at the hospital and they don’t allow cell phones.”

“You’re visiting Jonathan?” I asked, figuring I’d better know for sure since we were going to be there in about two minutes.

“Not exactly. After my dad and I talked, he finally accepted that my brother’s not going to wake up. We’re at the hospital, turning the machines off now.”

“You’re
what
?!” I yelled.

“The doctor’s here. I have to go,” she said.

I stared at the words “call ended” on Owen’s cell phone screen. My heart beat so hard against my chest I thought it might bust a rib. Or two. Or freaking
all
of them. Immediately, I dialed Danielle back but the call went straight to voicemail. “No-no-no!”

“What did she say?”

“She’s at the hospital with her dad. They’re turning off Jonathan’s life support,” I said, my voice shaking so badly that I could barely get the words out. I stared straight ahead as San Felipe Medical Center’s brick building came into view. “For the first time in your life you need to
speed
, Owen. Break the rules and
go
!”

With a quick glance at me, Owen put his foot to the pedal, and punched it.

****

Owen slammed on the brakes, screeching to a stop in front of the entrance to San Felipe Medical Center. With his truck parked at the curb, we jumped out of the car, and raced through the double-door entrance. It was a large building, but because our parents both worked in the ICU, we knew exactly where to go.

The elevator car wasn’t on the first floor, so I punched the button to call it. My knees were bouncing, and I glanced at Owen. “Stairs?”

“That would likely be faster,” he said, then took off town the hall.

We practically flew up three flights of stairs. I struggled for breath when we reached the top, wishing, for the first time, that I’d exercised more in P.E. to build up some stamina. We hurried down the hall, passing nurses and patients, heading for the room number my mom had given me.

“There it is,” I gasped, then practically dove for the door.

A nurse wearing
Maisy’s Meow
print-covered scrubs stepped in front of me. She set a stack of files on the cart next to her. “You can’t go in there, miss.”

“But we need to see Jonathan,” I said, my chest heaving as I gulped for air.

The corners of her mouth turned downward, but she widened her stance in front of the door. “I’m sorry. The family’s releasing him now. You’ll have to leave”

Adrenaline pumped through every pore of my body. They were releasing him
now
? I had to get in there. She needed to move out of the way. But I could see from her determined stare that there was no negotiating with her, so I backed away, pretending to leave. My gaze shot to Owen’s and he did the unthinkable.

He darted to the nurse’s cart, lifted her stack of files, then took off running down the hall. Slips of paper trailed in his wake as the nurse took off after him. Wow. Who knew Owen had a bad boy streak in him?

I blinked for half-a-second, then turned the handle, and entered Jonathan’s room. Quiet sobs came from the bedside. My gaze immediately shot to the machine by the bed. All the lights were off. There was no beeping. No IV drip. Nothing. My chest went hollow.

Two people sat in chairs, holding each other by the bed. I recognized the petite dark-haired girl immediately. Danielle. The older gentlemen with the peppered hair must be Jacob Miller, but it was hard to compare him to his author photo with his head buried on Danielle’s shoulder as he cried.

I squeezed the
Maisy’s Meow
book against my chest, knowing I was too late. “He’s gone?” I whispered, my voice barely audible.

Apparently they’d heard me though, because they both turned their backs to the bed, and faced me. “Amy?” Danielle said, squinting at me through red swollen eyes. “What are
you
doing here?”

“I-I came to see him,” I said, wishing Danielle had answered her phone when I’d called her back. Wishing they’d waited just
five
more minutes. Wishing that, before he passed away, I could’ve told Jonathan how much he’d meant to me—that I’d loved him. I closed my eyes, and one last tear slid down my face.

The door swung open behind me, but I stood frozen.

“Owen?!” Danielle said, her gaze darting over my shoulder. She perked up slightly, which I thought was very inappropriate considering her brother had just died.

“Uh, hi,” Owen said, brushing my shoulder as he moved past me, breathing heavily. He strode straight to the bed, ran his hand through his blond mop, then turned around with tuffs of his hair sticking up every which way. “Did you get here in time? Where’s the body?”

I stared at him, my brain halting, unable to understand what he’d just asked. “W-What do you mean ‘where’s the body’?”

He glanced back at the bed, then his gaze traveled around the room. “Where’s Jonathan?”

Danielle stood, raised her brows, then gestured toward my left. “He’s in the bathroom.”

My mouth dropped open. I’ve never been around someone who’s been taken off life support, but I was pretty certain the nursing staff wouldn’t shove their dead body in the bathroom. What was going on here?

Numbly, I followed her gaze as the door next to me squeaked open. And there he stood—in his own body.

Jonathan wore navy-blue scrubs, the short-sleeved top stretching across his broad chest. His dark hair was swept across his forehead. Sparkling emerald green eyes peered back at me. And the corner of his mouth rose, revealing a gorgeous dimple. “Hi, baby. I was just leaving.”

“Where were you going?” I said, unintelligently.

“To find you,” he said, stepping toward me.

Clutching the book to my chest, I grappled to find the right words. “But, how . . . ?”

“We should probably give them a minute,” Owen said, his voice sounding like an echo from another world—that’s how in shock I was. He reached out and shook Jonathan’s hand as he went by. “Good to see you, man.”

“You too, Owen,” Jonathan said, squeezing his hand.

Jacob Miller came up next, clapping his son on the shoulder. “I’ll be right outside, son.”

“Okay, Dad,” Jonathan said, starting toward me.

Danielle jumped between us. “So you really
do
know her?” her voice squeaked, then Owen grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her toward the door.

“We’ll talk about that later,” Jonathan said, chuckling.

Then the door closed behind us, and we were alone.

I bit my bottom lip, wondering if he was really here. Maybe I was hallucinating. Maybe I’d hoped for so long he’d find a body I was reinterpreting reality. I reached out, and pinched his arm.

“Ouch,” he said, tilting his head. “What was that for?”

“To see if you’re real,” I said, still not convinced after everything we’d been through. From discovering his spirit hovering in my room, to his moving my pen, driving to the cemetery, finding out he was cremated, learning the military artificial-body operation wasn’t military-related, breaking into the secret warehouse, zombying an artificial body, and having it shot down in the high school parking lot, we’d had plenty of rather unbelievable experiences. “I thought you died in that artificial body earlier. How do I know you’re really here this time?”

A line formed between his dark brows. “I wasn’t in the artificial body when they killed it. I never planned to be.”

“But you said—”

“I didn’t want you to waste your time on a zhost. You deserve more than that.” He stood only a foot away from me, but he didn’t move forward. “I wasn’t sure what to do next, but I knew if I stuck around and saw you upset, I’d probably zombie Owen again just to hold you. You couldn’t move on if I did that, so I went home to see my dad, to see if I could control the pen this time and apologize.”

Jonathan’s
Maisy’s Meow
book burned under my grasp, but I waited.

“I expected to find him working, but he wasn’t. He was talking to Danielle, telling her everything—including that my body was still being kept alive on life support. He seemed pretty upset over . . . my death.” His voice tightened. “Since Dad always spent his time working, I thought he didn’t care about me anymore. He told me he now sees how he had his priorities messed up.”

“Because even though he didn’t show it well before, he loves you,” I said, then I handed him the
Maisy’s Meow.
“I believe this is yours.”

He flipped open the book and stared in awe at the words. Joy flowed through me as I watched Jonathan’s eyes water, and I couldn’t help comparing Jonathan’s dad to mine. My dad didn’t always have his priorities straight, either, since he’d taken a job so far away, but he still loves me. Now I could see that.

“You know how much this means to me,” he said, brushing his hand against my cheek. “Where did you find it?”

“At a thrift store,” I said, shrugging. “I guess I picked it up the afternoon of your, uh, death. Besides, what can I say? I have a thing for
Maisy’s Meow
. I have a thing for the creator’s son as well.”

“Oh, you do?” He slipped his arms around my waist, pulling me close to him. “Not that Burger Mania didn’t hit the spot when I was starving . . . but does that mean I’ll get to take you out on a real date after all?”

“Only if you promise not to leave your body ever again.” I smiled, then glanced toward the empty bed across the room. “Do you realize you could’ve gone back into it this entire time?”

He bent toward my ear. “But then I wouldn’t have gotten to know you,” he whispered, then brushed his mouth against mine. “And that’s not something I would trade for any
body
in the world.”

“Me either,” I said, holding nothing of myself back as I pressed my lips to his.

Our mouths melted together, and my tummy did that special flip. Goosebumps prickled up my arms. Warmth flowed through me, soothing me in the way same way it had when his spirit had mixed with mine. Which made perfect sense. He and I were connected, mind and body, by zombie love.

Epilogue

The following Friday night. . . .

After all the zombying and body-chasing last week, doing homework and serving detention this week had been a breeze. Jonathan’s mom had been a bit possessive of him since finding out he was alive, which was understandable. I hadn’t seen him since the hospital and we’d barely talked on the phone, but tonight I’d get him all to myself for our first official date—taking a burger break while he’d been occupying the minister’s body so did
not
count.

I stared at my reflection in my bedroom mirror, eyeing my black pants, trying to decide if I should change back into my pink skirt. I mean, really, the guy had already seen me with mascara streaks running down my face so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to dress up.

“You look marvelous, sweetie,” Nicole said, dabbing a spot under my eye with a cotton ball. “I would’ve brought my Ouija board tonight, but we already know he’s going to kiss you.”

“Please burn that thing,” I said, shuddering as I recalled how the planchette had swirled around the board that night. We hadn’t summoned Jonathan through the Ouija board, but he had been trying to communicate with me, and the planchette had been way too creepy of a way to do it even if pens were harder to control.

“I think you’re ready.” Brynne ran a comb through the back of my wavy hair, then stepped back to eye her creation. “Detention with you was a blast today. Can’t wait to do it again on Monday.”

“You’re breaking school rules just to drive your parents crazy.”

She chuckled, her baby-blue eyes lighting up. “It’s working too. Payback for all of the pressure they’ve been putting on me.”

“Be careful that doesn’t backfire on you,” Nicole warned, then jumped at the
bang-bang
-
bang
against my door.

Raising my brow, I opened the door, and stared at my freckle-faced little brother.

He grinned his toothless smile. “That guy Jonathan is downstairs for you.”

“Thanks, Jimmy,” I said, mussing his hair. “Tell him I’ll be right down.”

“Well, our work here is done,” Nicole said, gathering up her make-up bag. “Have fun on your date.”

“I will.” My gaze flicked from Nicole to Brynne, then we put our arms around each other for a group hug. I sure loved my BFFs.

As Nicole and Brynne skipped out of the room, my mom came in. “You look beautiful, honey. But if a boy doesn’t like you for you, then he may as well disappear. Not literally, of course,” she said, frowning.

I reached for a hug. “Don’t worry. I get your meaning.”

“Have a good night,” she said, giving me a quick hug.

I slipped my purse over my shoulder, then headed downstairs to meet my date.