I was released from the hospital late the next afternoon. My head seemed to be recovering; the dizziness had subsided, and the headaches were duller. The cuts on my neck were healing, too. The worst physical issue was the residual soreness from the ropes and a few bruises from Nell’s less-than-tender handling of me.
Before I was discharged, the doctor reviewed my litany of injuries and treatment. He pointed out that the backs of my legs were pretty scraped up; they assumed that Nell had dragged me across the gravel parking lot and forest floor.
In the twenty-four plus hours since I had awakened, we had ignored the circumstances that landed me in the hospital. My parents diplomatically avoided bringing it up, and I wasn’t in any rush to talk about it with them. But the doctor’s words seemed to end that moratorium. My mother shuddered slightly, and I felt leftover fear and wild worry coming from both of my parents.
The ride home was quiet. I concentrated mainly on keeping up the mental block; I wasn’t ready to hear my parents’ thoughts yet.
My mom insisted on a nap once we arrived home. I knew that Michael had returned to school that day; he didn’t want to miss any more mid-term exams than he already had. I figured a nap was the safest way to wait until he was free to come and visit me.
But the house was silent when I opened my eyes. I could tell that it was late afternoon by the angle of the sun through my window. I lay still for a moment, listening. I could hear vague thoughts from my parents; it sounded as though my mother was sketching in her office, and my dad was reading reports from work.
My stomach growled, and I decided to seek some sustenance. The food at the hospital had been less than extraordinary, and I hadn’t really been hungry there anyway. I poked around in the refrigerator and came up with a bagel that looked mildly appetizing.
I had it toasted and was just sitting down with my plate when I heard both parents approaching. I could tell that they had decided I was sufficiently healed to offer some explanations. I bit into the bagel to buy myself some time.
“How was your nap?” My mother needed to be sure I was feeling well enough before she attacked—psychologically speaking, of course.
I swallowed before answering. “Good.” I was cautious.
My father took the seat across the table from me. “Tasmyn, the detective investigating this mess with Nell Massler called while you were asleep. I guess he’d gone by the hospital hoping to see you and learned you’d been released. He wants to come by and ask you some questions.”
My heart was racing. “The police? What does he want to know? Why does he need to talk to me?”
“Obviously because you are a witness—really, their best witness. He’s already spoken with Michael, Amber and Cara… oh, and of course, Reverend Pryce. But he needs to get the details of how Nell—well, how you came to be in the clearing.”
Distress must have been evident on my face, because my mom reached out to cover my hand with hers.
“Don’t worry, honey. They just need to get the facts straight. You didn’t do anything wrong. You’re the victim here.”
“But how am I going to explain everything to them? You know, about how I knew what Nell was planning.”
Both of my parents’ faces were grave. It was my father who answered me. “That is going to present a problem, Tasmyn. If you tell this detective that you overheard Nell sharing her plans with someone, he’s going to want to know who that was. And you can’t give just any name; that person would then be implicated in Nell’s crimes.”
My anxiety was rising. “So what do I do?”
My dad hunched over the table. “You’re going to have to tread carefully. It’s possible that you can use your gift to know what he’s going to ask before he does and be ready for it.” He sighed, heavily. “And of course, if it comes down to it, you’re going to have to tell the truth, and hope for the best.”
My head was beginning to pound again. “When’s he coming?” I asked dully.
“Tomorrow. I persuaded him you needed a little more rest before you could deal with the interview.”
“Thanks. I guess that gives me some time to figure it all out.”
My mother spoke this time. “Maybe if you told us what happened, we could help you.”
I toyed with the bagel still on my plate. “I thought Michael and everyone told you.”
“They did. Well, of course, Cara and her dad were fuzzy on some aspects, since they don’t know the full story. But we heard their side, at least. Now we’d like to hear it from you.”
I drew in a deep breath. “I assume Michael told you that I wasn’t completely honest with you about what happened with Nell at the dance. I know you’re upset about that, and I’m sorry. But I was afraid that you’d over-react—that you’d pull me out of school, or keep me away from Michael—something like that.”
“Have we ever given you cause to believe that we’d be so unreasonable, Tas? I can’t think that we have.”
“You haven’t exactly been completely supportive about my relationship with Michael, and we don’t see eye to eye on my abilities lately. I was afraid it would be the last straw.”
“Of course we would have been very upset, Tas. The idea of you and Michael taking something like this into your own hands—well, it’s irresponsible.”
“But what would you have done if I’d come to you with the information I had? You would have told me to stop listening to Nell. You would have probably sent me off to boarding school.”
My father sighed in exasperation and my mother rolled her eyes. “No need for melodrama, Tasmyn.”
“You want the story, and I’m just telling you how I feel. That’s why I did what I did. So then when I heard Nell again on Wednesday…”
I shared the entire story, from overhearing Nell in History to when I passed out in the clearing, after all my rescuers had arrived. My parents were silent throughout the telling; if a few questions flared now and then in their minds, I was able to block them. When I finished, we were all exhausted.
Finally, my father spoke. “Tasmyn… what you did was extraordinarily dangerous. You put yourself at risk, and consequently you put other people at risk. I’m trying to look at it from your perspective, trying to think of what in your background, in how we raised you, would make you think that you could handle this on your own or that you couldn’t tell us the truth. But I have to tell you, I’m having trouble figuring it out.”
“It’s not that we’re not proud of you, on some level,” my mom interjected. “You were incredibly brave, and very resourceful. But you risked so much—not once, but twice—and it could have ended so differently.” She closed her eyes against the sudden tears I saw leaking out the corners and covered her mouth with her hand. “Tas, I have never been so frightened in all my life.”
I swallowed hard over a lump in my own throat and tried not to cry. “I’m sorry,” I whispered.
We were all quiet for a time, and then my dad cleared his throat. “I think we’ve had enough for today. We’re all tired and more than a little emotional. Let’s wait and see what happens tomorrow after you talk with the detective.”
I nodded. “Can I ask just one more thing?”
My father patted my arm. “Of course you can.”
“Where is Nell now? What happened to her?”
My parents exchanged glances, and the buzz factor of their thoughts went up several notches. I frowned and tuned them out with a great deal of effort.
“As far as we know, Nell is in police custody. However, apparently she was pretty out of control after they took her in, and the detective said something about moving her to a mental health facility.”
“But she’s—she’s not just out there, right? She’s not free?”
“No, Tas. Don’t worry. I promise, you’re safe from Nell. She won’t be able to hurt you again.”