Welsh Road (The Depravity Chronicles) (9 page)

After hanging
up, he walked up the stairs to Father Daniel’s part of the rectory. At nearly
80 years old, Daniel Donoghue was an old-school kind of priest. He preferred
high mass, all the bells and whistles. They got along famously, even though
Daniel worried about Matthew’s support of women in the priesthood. He knocked
on Daniel’s door.

“It’s open,” he
called.

Matthew opened
the door and immediately redirected his gaze. Daniel had recently gotten into
the habit of wandering around his bedroom clothed only in his boxers and a pair
of black socks that reached his knees.

“What can I do
for you, Father?” Daniel asked excitedly. “Do you need me to say mass tonight?”

Matthew grinned.
“Yes, actually. That would be great. Do you mind?”

“Do I mind?”
Daniel repeated, feigning shock. “Son, I’ve been saying mass since before you
were in your mother’s womb. In fact, probably even before your mother was
born.”

“That’s right, I
nearly forgot,” Matthew said. Father Daniel was a loveable old man. In many
ways he was like a father figure to Matthew.

“Do what you
have to do, Father,” Daniel said solemnly. “I will pray for you.”

“Thanks,
Father,” Matthew said, wondering if Daniel shared his sense of danger. “We need
all the prayers we can get.”

During the drive
to Taylor’s Landing, Matthew listened to one of his favorite audio books,
Crossing
the Threshold of Hope
, by Pope John Paul the Great. Intimately familiar
with each track, he decided today to focus on the Holy Father’s wisdom about
evil.

The voice of
John Paul filled Matthew’s Toyota Camry. “There is also the intervention of the
evil spirit, who, with even greater shrewdness than man, would judge not only
man but God’s actions in human history.”

Matthew turned
the radio off and reflected on his time working for the Vatican. With seventeen
exorcisms under his belt, there wasn’t much that could frighten him. He touched
the cross that hung from his neck, quoting another of John Paul’s famous
quotes.

“Be not afraid,”
he said, repeating it a few times. Yet as hard as he tried, Matthew couldn’t
shake the angst that was building in his gut. He said a short prayer of
intercession, asking the saints for guidance and lobbying God for wisdom.

“Heed my Word,”
a small voice whispered in the back of Matthew’s mind. “You’re going to need it.”

“Brilliant,”
Matthew whispered as he pulled his car to the side of the road, parking behind
a large Dodge Charger. Standing in front of the car was Anna.

“How’s your Hebrew?”
Anna said with a smile as they greeted each other with a friendly embrace.

“My Hebrew?”
Matthew asked, somewhat surprised. “It’s pretty good. Why do you ask?”

“Follow me,”
Anna said. Together they walked toward the crime scene and Anna brought Matthew
up to speed.

Be not afraid
, Matthew
ordered himself. He hoped for the best.

* * * * * *

3

It didn’t take
long for the group to arrive at the hospital. Anish circled the hospital twice
while reviewing the plan with the three teenagers. Together they scoped out the
most effective exit through which he, Jena, and Simon would rescue Nicholas
before the Demon Master could get to him. Jena could tell that Trevor was still
disappointed with his assigned task.

“Cheer up,
Trev,” Jena said, trying to make him feel better.

“Easy for you to
say,” Trevor said. “You get to actually do something.”

Jena rolled her
eyes.
Sorry I said anything
, she thought to herself.

“I’m going to
park at the ER entrance and then you’ll take control of the car,” Anish said to
Trevor. “The rest of you, prepare yourselves. Trevor, if something happens,
honk the horn.”

“Yes, Miss
Daisy,” Trevor said. Jena and Simon laughed.

“Am I missing
something?” Anish asked, looking confused.

“Not important,”
Simon said.

“Good luck,
guys,” Trevor said.

As Jena limped
into the ER waiting room, she immediately began scanning the area for a
wheelchair. She figured it would be smart if she appeared to have a legitimate
need for the chair.

Then, suddenly,
her self-confidence plummeted. Up until last night, her life had been pretty
simple and manageable. Aside from a few blackouts, and a few weird
coincidences, she was just your average geek who happened to be spending time
with the star quarterback. Up until last night, the only demons that might have
frightened her were the ones she read about in her novels. Sure, she believed
in demons. Just like she believed in angels and in God. But she sure didn’t
think she’d ever meet one.

Jena shook her
head.
It figures I meet a freaking demon. Why couldn’t it have been an
angel?

“Just my luck,”
she said aloud.

“You okay?”
Simon asked her.

“Yeah, I’m
fine,” Jena said confidently, trying to convince both of them. “You see
anything?”

Simon gestured
toward the wheelchair sitting in the corner of the room. Although no one was
sitting in or near it, Jena felt like there was a neon sign flashing above it.
Someone
is Going to Steal Me
. Everyone in the room seemed to be watching her.

Anish put his
hand on Jena’s shoulder. Her anxiety began to fade, but a sliver remained. This
time she was committed to heeding that vibe. A little fear never hurt anyone. In
fact, it might just save her life. She hobbled over to the chair and fell into
it with just the right amount of drama.

“Stay here for a
few more minutes,” Anish said to Jena and Simon. “I’ll head up to the third
floor. Try not to look suspicious.”

“Yeah, I’ll get
right on that,” Jena retorted. As Anish left the waiting room, Simon sat down
in the chair beside her. He took her hand.

“I know this is
intense,” he said. “Me, I’m about to piss my pants.”

Jena laughed.
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“That’s the
idea,” Simon grinned. “Epic fail?”

Jena shifted in
the wheelchair, smiling. “You passed.”

“Are you ready?”
he asked her.

“As I’ll ever
be.”

As Simon pushed
her through the waiting room, Jena put her elbow on the armrest and laid her
forehead in her hand.

“Not fair,”
Simon kidded her, pushing the button for the elevator. She tried not to smile.

“Thank God,”
Jena said as the doors closed. The elevator was empty.

“Alone at last,”
Simon agreed.

“What?” Jena
responded.

“Nothing, not
important,” Simon said nervously.

The elevator
didn’t seem to be moving.

“Why aren’t we
going up?” Jena asked, looking up at Simon.

“I don’t know,”
Simon answered.

Jena managed a
fragile giggle. She noticed that none of the floor numbers were lit. “It
usually helps when you push the button.”

“Oh, right,”
Simon said. “Going up.”

The moment the
elevator thrust itself upward, Jena wished they had just stayed on the first floor.

“This is
surreal,” she said.

“Tell me about
it,” Simon said. The elevator doors opened on the second floor and three
doctors and a police officer joined them.

Oh for the love
of God
,
Jena thought to herself. She said a silent prayer of thanks that she didn’t
recognize the cop. Then she said a silent prayer of petition that the newcomers
wouldn’t get off on the third floor. When the doors opened, the doctors
remained in the elevator. The officer, unfortunately, joined Simon and Jena and
stepped onto the third floor.

A demon, a cop,
and a psychic walk into a bar
, Jena thought.

After exiting
the elevator, the police officer turned left. Simon pushed Jena to the right.
Although it wasn’t the right direction, Jena understood why he didn’t want to
walk beside the cop. Fortunately, the floor looped around. She just hoped they
got to Nicholas’ room before passing the cop again.

“Sorry, I just
couldn’t,” Simon said softly. “What’s the number again?”

“334,” Jena
said. “You can roll a little faster. I think even dying turtles move at a
faster pace.”

Simon laughed,
but she could feel his tension level rise when they had to walk past Anish. He
was having what looked like an intimate conversation with four nurses. One
thing was crystal clear: he had their attention. They reached Nicholas’ room
without incident.

It’s the little
things that matter,
Jena
mused. When she saw Nicholas she nearly cried out to him. He looked so weak and
pitiful. It nearly ripped Jena’s heart from her chest. Suddenly nothing
mattered more than getting Nicholas out of that hospital.

“Okay, you need
to keep watch,” Simon reminded her.

“Right,” Jena
said. She took a deep breath before getting up from the chair. That need for a
few seconds of peace quite possibly saved their asses. Just as she began to
push herself up from the wheelchair, the door opened. Whoever was standing
there didn’t move; Jena could see the shadow that was cast by the bright
lighting in the hall corridor.

Simon put his
hand up slowly, trying to motion to Jena that she needed to stay put. Yeah, no
crap. She rolled her eyes.

Finally, the
shadow disappeared and a nurse entered the room. She was drop dead gorgeous:
tall, slender, with fire red hair and a damn near perfect, fair complexion. Her
eyes were a deep, emerald green, and they literally seemed to sparkle. She had
a kind of way about her, like she was the best nurse to have ever lived. Simply
put, she was the ginger version of Mary Poppins. The Mary Poppins of nursing.

Simon hoped that
he didn’t have to talk. He was speechless. Hoping that Jena hadn’t noticed his
drooling over Nurse Poppins, he stared at his feet.

“Hi, guys,”
Nurse Poppins said. She smiled.

Dazzling
, Simon mused.

“Hi,” Jena said.
“This is my boyfriend,” she said, pointing to Nicholas. Jena immediately
regretted having said that. Now, when Nicholas disappeared, the cops would know
exactly where to look. But that was the best Jena could come up with while the
star witness against them, Nurse Poppins, stood in front of her.

“How are you
feeling, sweetie?” Nurse Poppins asked.  

“Better,
thanks,” Jena said. “How’s Nicholas?”

“No change,” she
said sadly. “But he’s in everyone’s thoughts and prayers.”

“That’s good to
know,” Jena said, feeling guilty. She knew Nurse Poppins would be upset when
Nicholas disappeared.

“I’m sorry,
guys, but could you excuse us? I need to check his vitals and a few other
things.”

“Oh, uh, well
there’s somewhere we need to be,” Simon said. “So we were hoping to spend a few
minutes with him.”

“I’m sorry,”
Nurse Poppins said. “Who might you be?”

Panicked, Simon
grabbed the first coherent thought he could find in his mind. “I’m her
brother,” he lied.

“You seem like
close siblings,” Nurse Poppins said. “And I am so sorry, but I need to ask you
to leave. It should only take about fifteen minutes. Why don’t you grab a soda?
By the time you come back, he’s all yours.”

“Okay,” Jena
said, defeated. “We’ll wait outside.”

“Sounds good,”
Nurse Poppins said. She was already getting her medical equipment ready,
patiently waiting for them to leave her to her work.

Simon
reluctantly pushed Jena out the door. Anish was already waiting for them.

“What do we do?”
Simon whispered as quietly as he could. “Why aren’t you at the desk?”

“The nurses are
busy at the moment,” Anish said. “And the receptionist is on the phone. So
there’s nothing much I can
do.”

“This is
not
good,”
Jena said. “We can’t leave him here. We have to wait.”

“Agreed,” Anish
said.

“But they’re
going to know it’s us,” Simon said. Then he shook his head. “Duh. Of course
they’ll know. Cameras.”

“Duh, indeed,”
Jena said.

Simon cringed.
Jena realized that she had probably hurt his feelings, but that wasn’t her
intention. She totally agreed with him. Of course they would obviously be guilty.
But there wasn’t much they could do about that. Busty will be so pleased.

“We need to
move,” Simon said. “We look kind of obvious.”

“Why don’t you
wait here,” Anish said. “I will go tell Trevor that it is going to take a
while.”

“Okay,” Jena
said nervously. Anish turned and walked away.

After about five
minutes of waiting, Jena began to panic. “Are you sure we should just sit
here?”