Lydia could see her parents. Her father and mother were calling to her. She ran to them, arms wide open.
But she was swatted away by a great force. Looking up, she saw Finster standing tall in her way. His bushy beard shook as he laughed heartily. He turned away from her and toward her parents. He picked them up.
“No!” Lydia yelled, running at him. He knocked her away again. Then he threw her parents to the ground, lifted his foot, and stomped on them.
“No!” Lydia jerked awake. There was no void. There was a white room, a clean bed, and the smell of antiseptic.
A hospital. She was in Hunter Memorial Hospital. Her braces were gone and she was dressed in a hospital gown. Lydia lay back down. This was becoming a routine ordeal.
She sat up. The bank. The fight. Aidan, Jando, Sylvia. Her mother. Her father. He had died. She had to see the body. She had to be sure. Maybe the paramedics had reached him in time. Maybe she’d been wrong. Where was her mother? Debra could tell Lydia what had happened.
She swung her legs over the bed and disconnected the IVs. As soon as she detached the monitoring equipment, a nurse and Sylvia rushed into the room. Together, they tried to calm Lydia down. “No, I need to get up,” Lydia said, straining free from the nurse. “I need to find my dad.”
“Lydia,” Sylvia said. “Your dad isn’t here.”
“Where is he?”
Sylvia frowned. “At the coroner’s office. Where he’s been for the past two days.”
Two days? She had been out for two days? She smacked away the nurse’s attempts to stick the IVs back in. Lydia had to be sure. She would find her mother. “I need to get out of here. Where’s my mom?”
“She just left. She’ll be back in a few minutes,” Sylvia said. “Wait here for her, alright?”
Lydia stopped struggling. She allowed herself to be lowered back onto the bed. The nurse left, but Sylvia stayed by the door. As they waited for Debra to return, Lydia stared at her hand. No blood. But she was certain Arnold’s head had been bleeding. Had she simply not heard his heartbeat over the commotion? She had checked pretty thoroughly.
The door opened and Debra ran to her. She pulled Lydia to her chest, kissing her forehead and weeping. “Oh, thank God. I was worried you wouldn’t wake up,” she said. “Are you alright? How do you feel? Can I get you anything? Food? A Coke?”
Her mother was acting very much like Wren, shooting questions faster than Lydia could answer them. She shook her head. “No.” She swallowed. “Mom. Is Dad. .. Is he. ..?”
Debra looked down at the ground. “Yes. Yes, he is.” She took a deep breath. “The coroner said it was instantaneous. No pain.”
Lydia nodded. She hardened her face and lay back down. She felt cold, like a hole in her chest had opened and all the blood in her body had drained out of her. Her lips trembled and she turned away from the door. Debra hugged her as Sylvia left them to grieve.