0.5 Undead by Morning (2 page)

“We were in a wreck.” The words were flat. They felt like they’d been squeezed from my chest. “There was a truck in the wrong lane. There was nowhere to pull out of the way.”

I searched the doctor’s eyes, and saw everything there. “Jacob. Where is he? Is he hurt? In surgery? Take me to him. No tests. No more talking. I want to see him now.”

“You can’t see him that way.” Addie’s voice was trembling, barely understandable.

“What way?” I yelled. “Somebody give me an answer.”

But they didn’t need to.

I remembered Jacob frantically trying to find somewhere to get away from the truck that was bearing down on us. There was nowhere to go. The truck was coming up the center of the road. We were dead in his path.

“I can’t—there’s no way,” Jacob yelled as he looked around. “This is the only chance we have, Skye.”

“Do it. The SUV can take it. Go through the trees.”

The words were barely out of my mouth when he jerked the wheel, and the SUV flew off the road. It plunged into the darkness, away from the road, as the truck screamed by.

The trees beat against the sides of the vehicle as I held the strap on the door. It seemed we might weather the off-road experience—until something big and gray rose up before us.

“We hit a boulder off the road,” I mumbled. “The SUV crashed into it.”

“That’s good that you can remember,” the doctor commended.

“The airbag!” I faced them with renewed hope. “The air bag went off! I remember it smashing into my face.”

“The impact was too much for the airbags, I’m afraid,” the doctor explained. “The crash caused severe head trauma, several broken bones, and internal bleeding. You’ve already had surgery since they brought you in. We haven’t been able to stop the bleeding. If they’d found you sooner—”

“And Jacob?”

He shook his head. “The trauma to his head and neck was . . . impossible. I’m sorry, Mrs. Mertz. Your husband was found dead at the scene.”

I tried to take it all in.

I couldn’t.

Jacob
couldn’t
be dead. Airbags and seatbelts saved lives every day. I’d seen it myself as a cop dozens of times. There was no reason for him to have died in the wreck.

“You’re wrong,” I disagreed. “I don’t know why you’re saying that, but Jacob survived the accident. What’s going on?”

“It snapped his neck,” Addie said. “My son,
my Jacob
, is gone.”

“No way. I want to see him.”

“I don’t think that’s wise before we finish your tests,” the doctor said. “You’re barely with us, Mrs. Mertz. We need to attend to you before you begin the grieving process for your husband.”

“I don’t care what you think,” I growled my displeasure. “Take me to see him right now. Then we can talk about tests and grieving.”

There was absolutely no doubt in my mind that Jacob had survived. Maybe he was in such bad condition that they were afraid for us to see each other. I didn’t care. I wanted to see him for myself.

“Oh, Skye,” Addie moaned. “Don’t do this. Let them make you better. Kate
needs
you. You have to survive.”

“Not without
Jacob
.” My voice broke. “I want to see him. Please.”

The doctor shrugged, and whispered to the nurse. A few minutes later, I was disconnected from everything but the IVs. We headed into the hall like a parade, with the nurses pushing the IV racks, and a hospital attendant pushing my bed.

“This can’t take long.” I heard the doctor mutter to Addie. “She’s in no condition to be off of the monitors. We need to do those tests.”

Her usually gruff voice was soft. “Let her be. She may need to do this to survive. Can you promise she’ll live if she doesn’t see him?”

“No.”

“That’s what I thought.”

That bothered me.

Am I dying
?

I didn’t feel like I was dying, whatever that felt like. I wasn’t in any pain.

I can’t die.

With Jacob gone, there was only me and Addie to raise Kate. Addie was in her seventies. She might not make it to Kate’s adulthood.

That couldn’t happen.

I’d never known my parents. I’d been raised in the foster care system, shuffled from house to house, family to family. I couldn’t let Kate grow up that way.

I
couldn’t
die. Not yet.

The green and white hospital walls flashed by as my convoy moved. I tried to focus on them, but I could only make myself stay with one thought—I couldn’t die.  

I heard an elevator chime, and the attendant pushed my bed into the enclosed space. One of the nurses gave someone the intern a nod. The door closed, and the elevator started down.

I felt a little nauseated, and closed my eyes. The bright lights and movement were almost too much.

Remembering made my head hurt, but I forced myself to face what had happened.

“Stay with me, Skye.”
It was Jacob’s voice calling me.

I opened my eyes. The front of the SUV was smashed flat against us. I could see blood pouring from my leg. Jacob’s face was a mass of cuts. He wiped the blood away with a careless hand.

“Have you called 911?” I asked.

“A few minutes ago.” He cursed his cell phone. “There’s not much signal out here. I’m not sure if the call went through. The woman on the other end kept asking for my address.”

I started to laugh, but it hurt too much. “I think I may have some broken ribs.”

“Me too.” He groaned as he tried to move.

“We should stay here,” I told him. “We don’t need to be out in the woods bleeding and attracting bears. We’re safe and dry where we are.”

“I might be able to get better cell service if I walk up to the road.” His hand was already on the door.

“No. Stay here. They’ll find us, Jacob. Give them a few minutes.”

“It’s already been an hour, Skye. You’ve lost a lot of blood. I don’t think we can wait much longer.”

I shook my head. “You’re always so impatient.”  

“And you’re always such an optimist.” He kissed me, and pushed at the door. “It won’t take long. I’ll be back before you know it.”

It took him a few minutes to get the mangled door open. He smiled at me one more time, and was gone.

* * *

“This isn’t a good idea, Dr. Wayne.” A doctor argued with my doctor at the door to another room.

“I didn’t say it was,” Dr. Wayne replied smartly. “She won’t let us proceed until she knows the truth. This will only take a moment, if you would kindly step out of the way.”

“For the record, I’m against this, but do as you will.”

The other doctor moved out of the way, and my entourage proceeded into a large white room. The smell was terrible here even though they’d tried to mask it with bleach.

I
knew
that smell. I’d been a Nashville police officer for ten years—long enough to have been to the morgue a few times.

No! It can’t be. Jacob can’t be dead.

The attendant pushed the bed to one side of the room. Dr. Wayne opened a stainless steel drawer. I caught a glimpse of myself in the shiny surface—face swollen and purple, short, blond hair sticking up on my head like a fright mask.

Addie grabbed my hand in a tight grip. It hurt, but I didn’t ask her to let go.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Mertz.” Dr. Wayne slowly peeled back the green sheet. “If it’s any comfort, we believe he died immediately following the crash. He didn’t suffer.”

I vomited. There was nothing left of the wonderful dinner we’d shared. I gagged and choked as a nurse came to wipe my mouth.

No! Please God, no!

I looked into Jacob’s dead, white face. There were deep lacerations in his skin, one whole side of his head nearly pulled away from his skull. I could see the collarbone sticking out of his shoulder.

“No. This isn’t right.”

“It’s not your husband?” Dr. Wayne frowned.

“It’s him.” I faltered, barely able to admit it. “But he wasn’t hurt this way from the crash. We talked after it was over. He walked up to the road to get better signal for his phone. I would’ve known if he was in this condition before he left the SUV.”

“You were probably hallucinating,” the doctor said. “It happens with head trauma. This is how he was found.”

Addie tried to soothe me. “Hush now. He’s dead and gone. Long past this veil of tears. The doctor says he died quick. He knows what he’s talking about.”

“He doesn’t know what he’s talking about! I’m telling you, Jacob got out of the SUV
by himself
. He had to push the door open. He wouldn’t have been able to do that in this kind of condition. Something else happened, Addie. We have to find out what really happened.”

“Calm down, Mrs. Mertz,” the nurse closest to me advised. “Your body won’t take the strain.”

“Never mind that! Get the medical examiner. Hell, get the FBI! Jacob has been murdered. We need better answers.”

“She’s hysterical,” Dr. Wayne decided. “Let’s get her back upstairs.”

“No. I’m not going anywhere until I know what happened. Was he mauled by an animal? This isn’t a result of the crash.”

I didn’t see the nurse stick a needle into the IV, but I felt its almost immediate effect. I closed my eyes, and went back to sleep.

* * *

Back upstairs again—I’d missed the trip this time—Addie and Dr. Wayne were murmuring quietly near the end of the bed. My vision wasn’t clear, but I could see him pointing to the chart he held. Addie was wiping her eyes and nodding.

“Tell me.” My voice wasn’t as strong now. It was harder to draw a breath. I heard the death rattle in my chest. That’s what my first partner on the job, before Jacob, had called it. “I don’t want her making decisions for me.”

Dr. Wayne moved to the side of the bed. “Is there anyone else we should call, Mrs. Mertz? Another family member, perhaps?”

“No. It’s just me and Kate now.” The words caused a sudden stab of pain. “Why?”

He took a deep breath. “We’ve evaluated the new tests.”

“New tests?”

“While you were unconscious,” Addie explained.

“Okay.” I tried to shake off the deep lethargy that threatened to overwhelm me. I could feel it dragging me down. I could move my head and arms, but only with intense concentration. There was pain now, too. I couldn’t find a place that didn’t hurt.

“The tests.” Dr. Wayne adjusted his glasses, and started again. “I’m sorry. Your body is shutting down. It’s only a matter of hours. We can’t stop the bleeding without surgery, and you’re too weak to take in again.”

“That’s stupid.” I had to catch my breath to say it. “I’m not dying. I
won’t
leave Kate. And I have to figure out what happened to Jacob. I’m not going anywhere.”

“It might be best if you make peace with this, Mrs. Mertz. I can call the hospital chaplain. Maybe he could help you.”

“I don’t want a chaplain. I want to see my daughter. Can you do that?”

“Of course.”

“Wait.” Addie suddenly pulled herself together. She wiped her eyes, and blew her nose into one of her ever-present white handkerchiefs. “I need to talk to Skye alone, doctor.”

Dr. Wayne seemed uncertain. “If she’s going to see her daughter, she should do so immediately. I don’t know how long she has.”

“I understand.” Addie raised her chin, and stared him down. “We need a minute. We have things that need to be settled between us.”

“Of course.” He nodded, and glanced back at me. “Just don’t take too long.”

When he was gone, Addie came close to me again. “Skye, there’s one last thing we could do so that you don’t have to leave Kate.”

“Are you a doctor now?” My words were barely audible.

“There’s a man who can take care of this. I already called him when I thought—” She sighed. “When I thought he might be able to help Jacob.”

“Who is he? What can he do?”

“He can keep you alive to see Kate into a better place. She’ll be an adult when you leave. I think that’s the best we can make out of a bad situation.”

“I don’t understand. Is he some kind of specialist? If so, bring it on.”

“He’s not a doctor at all. His name is Abraham Lincoln Jones. If you agree, he can give you another twenty years of life. But you’ll have to do as he asks.”

“That sounds like some kind of scam. I can’t believe you’d fall for that.”

“It works. I
know
it works. It kept Jacob’s father alive for twenty years. But we have to act now. You have to agree. You have to sign his contract.”

I tried to laugh, but couldn’t. There was precious little oxygen in my lungs. “Is he the devil? Does he want my soul or something?”

“He might be.” She bit her lip. “But there’s something else you should know before you make this decision.”

“What?”

“I’m dying, Skye. Cancer. I only have about six months to live. Who knew cigarettes were really that bad for you? If you die, and I die—what will happen to Kate?”

“Did you sign up with the devil too?” I asked. “Is there a buy-one-get-one right now?”

“No. I can’t. I don’t have time to explain. He’ll take you, though. You have to agree.” Her gaze was intense. “Will you?”

Maybe it was the pain. Or maybe it was that my brain wasn’t functioning right. I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was almost four a.m. Only a short while before morning.

If there really was a way to stay alive, and see Kate into adulthood—I didn’t care if the devil had me sign away my soul in blood. I was taking it.

“Get him,” I said. “Hurry.”

* * *

Abraham Lincoln Jones introduced himself as Abe, holding out his big, black hand to me with a grim smile. I couldn’t lift my hand to shake his.

“Hello, Mrs. Mertz. May I call you Skye?”

His skin was shiny black. Even though we were inside, and it was essentially still night, he wore sunglasses. He was a big man—tall and bulky—with a wide chest. He was a man who couldn’t be easily ignored.

“That’s fine.” I drew a shallow breath. “Addie says you can give me twenty more years with my daughter. How can you do that?”

“A fair question. I have a certain . . . network of people who are able to accomplish tasks for me on a daily basis. You would be financially compensated, of course.”