Breaking Normal (Dream Weaver #3) (11 page)

Chapter 15 Dr. Feel Good

              Eddy’s prone body was limp and still, spattered with his own blood. His breaths were shallow and weak, and I hung on every one like it might be his last. Emma clomped downstairs to the garage in her summer sandals, looking radiant as an angel. Worry pinched her eyes and mouth as she stepped over to the pup’s body and pet his velvety ears.

             
“I’ve never healed an animal before, Em. I don’t know if it works the same as Caphar.”

             
“Try,” I commanded, then softened my voice. My heart was breaking. I couldn’t lose Eddyson. Not now. Not yet. “Please, Emma. You gotta try.”

             
She gave me a stiff nod and laid her hands on his soiled fur. Almost immediately, her hands jerked away, her eyes wide with horror.

             
“What? What?” Was he dead already? I palpated his body in search of movement. Any movement. Finally, a wisp of a breath lifted his little chest. “Emma?”

             
“It’s really bad, Em. They call it Shaken Puppy Syndrome. His lungs are collapsed. He’s got several broken ribs.”

             
“Please, Emma. I can’t lose him. Please try.”

             
The girl gave me a stiff nod, closed her eyes and took a deep breath like she was going to her Zen place. The tight, fearful muscles of her face relaxed into a devout determination. Her tiny, nimble fingers worked over his pelt, and slowly, slowly his breathing evened out and the gaping wounds ebbed their flow. After a few moments, she stepped away. Exhaustion dimmed the glow on her cheeks. Eddy moved his head, opened his eyes and waggled his tail. Just a thump. One single thump that released all my anxiety. I whirled Emma into my arms, half laughing, half crying while she patted my back.

             
“I’m tired,” she whispered, ghostly quiet. “I’ll get some juice and do some more in a little while.”

             
“Thank you. Thank you,” I said between hiccups and tears.

             
“He’s better. Not all the way. But better.”

             
“It’s enough for now.”

             
She gave a weak nod and headed upstairs to the kitchen. I kneeled beside Eddy and petted his head and ears, careful of the still-open wounds on his neck. “You’ll be okay now, buddy. It’ll all be okay now.”

             
Adrian thundered down the stairs. “What’s the meaning of this, Emari? My daughter looks like she’s been doing surgery in a MASH unit!”

             
Well, you would know.

             
I stepped aside to reveal Eddy, and Adrian came to an abrupt halt. He knew the pup played a large role in keeping me sane the last few months.

             
“She was healing Eddy for me. He was attacked by a huge dog while we were out by the creek. I phased him here so Emma could fix him.”

             
Adrian’s mouth opened to chastise but snapped closed as the realization of what I just said sank in. “You phased
with
the dog?” I gave him a curt nod. It wasn’t all that spectacular to me. Just a necessity. “But Caphar can’t…”

             
“Well, I guess they can now. Or at least, I can.”

             
Adrian grabbed my arms and looked me over. “All of this blood?”

             
“It’s his. I beat the other dog with a stick before he could hurt me or Ivy.”

             
Then, my uncle shifted to incredulous mode. “You phased in front of your friend?”

             
I winced and ducked my head.
I’m breaking all kinds of Caphar rules today.
“I didn’t have a choice, Uncle Adrian. He’d have died.”

             
“Emari! Don’t you get it?! You put all the Caphar in danger by your actions. You can’t risk all of them for a dog.” I choked back a nasty word, and he continued. “You’ll have to change her memories and hope she hasn’t been on her phone telling the whole world. She didn’t record you on her phone, did she?”

             
Adrian was so good at riling me up. “Ivy wouldn’t do that. And I’m not stupid, Adrian. And I won’t defend my actions to you.” I needed Eddy. Plain and simple. “And if you don’t get that you can go to hell.”

             
“Now, you listen here, young lady…” he began.

             
“Daddy?” Emma’s sweet voice came from the garage door. “The ice cream is too hard for me to scoop. Could you come help me with it please?”

             
Adrian scowled at me and I returned his glare. He snorted like a freight train, then his features softened. “Sure, baby girl. I’ll be there in a second.”

             
“I’m really tired Daddy. Can you come now?”

             
Adrian turned from me to go to his daughter. He passed her as he went into the kitchen. She gazed down at me with a conspiratorial grin and winked. The girl was shrewd. I liked her even more then. I returned her smile and mouthed “thank you.”

*          *          *

              Ivy sat staring at the blank TV screen when Adrian dropped me and Eddy off three hours later. Her hair hung in limp coils, still damp after a shower to remove all the blood. And despite the heat of the day, she was huddled up in my fuzzy
Walking Dead
bathrobe.

             
Eddy hobbled in beside me, about eighty percent well. Adrian refused to let Emma continue because it drained her so badly. And I didn’t want to push her too far. The pup gave a noisy shake from his head to his tail, his tags clanging around his neck. The chimes were like a wake-up alarm for Ivy, and the girl flung herself at me. I tried to wrap her in my arms, but she abandoned me for the mostly-mended pup on the floor.

             
“Oh Eddy. I was so worried about you.” She gently stroked his ears and down his neck and back. “Look at you. You look almost all better.”

             
I glanced over my shoulder at Adrian’s scowl. “Thanks for the ride, Adrian. I got it from here.” I had no problem being snarky with him. Since he found out I was Caphar, he’d been an ass—almost as bad an ass as Sabre. I wanted to ask what his problem was, but I had better things to do right then. Adrian turned on his heel and left, so I slid to the floor beside my girl and my pup.

             
“How?” Ivy gazed at Eddy’s nearly healed wounds. “There’s no stitches. How is he so much better so fast? And what happened at the creek? Where did you go? Did I just imagine you disappearing right in front of me? Was I really in that much shock?”

             
Reluctance and eagerness warred in my gut. “Come on,” I stood and offered her my hand, then scooped Eddyson up and laid him next to her on the couch. Sitting beside her, I brushed a stray wisp of her hair away from her face, and trailed nervous fingers down her cheek. Eddy’s fur still felt brittle with leftover dried blood we hadn’t been able to sponge-bath off. I drew a deep breath to clear the clatter of raging thoughts.
Should I just change her memories? Make her ‘remember’ how we took Eddy to the vet up Highway 2? No, this was my Baby. I’d tell her the truth. And if she freaked…then I’d blitz her memories.

             
“I’m not really sure where to begin…”

             
She giggled. “The beginning is always good.”

             
So, I started from the start, all the way back to a year and half ago, when Nick entered my life.

             
“Um…Some things are better—easier if I just show you,” I told her after she got the gist that something about me had changed. “Is that okay?”

             
Her brows arched together. “‘Show me’, like how? You gonna draw me a picture or something?”

             
“No, Baby. I can share the memories with you.” Her mouth dipped down and she pinched her lips together, but she gave me a sharp nod.

             
So, I showed her everything. Nick saving me from the night terrors, the Wraith we battled before Christmas, my kidnapping by Thomas and William, my mortal plummet from the swinging bridge downtown…She gasped at that point, her chest convulsing for breath.

             
“No…” she whimpered. Maybe this was too much for her.

             
“Ives, I’m right here with you, honey. So I’m okay, right?” She nodded. “I can tell you the rest, if you prefer.”

             
“No. Just show me.” She was playing at being tough, but I could hear the strain in her voice.

             
I continued with the memories: Sabre’s rock star weave, Nick’s nightmares, the battle with the Wraith, Thomas’ revelation of the truth about my parents’ deaths, my rage at Nick, the stupid car crash in my brand new used T-Bird, my interview with Sunny, and finally the dog attack and Eddy’s healing.

             
“So, you’re a Wraith?” she asked innocently.

             
“No. The Wraith are—the bad guys. The Caphar, or Dream Weavers, are the good guys. The Wraith cause nightmares just for the high of the brain waves. They make people go insane just for the fun of it. As a Weaver, I can manipulate memories and dreams.”

             
“Well—why didn’t you just erase my memories of the dog attack? Or change them or something?”

             
I entwined my fingers with hers. “Because you’re my girl. My best friend. I just—I couldn’t do that to you.”

             
We sat in silence for immeasurable moments, both raking our fingers through Eddy’s fur. He stretched and groaned. The boy was in puppy heaven.

             
“You still love him,” she said out of the blue, and confident. Had that much leached into the memories I’d shared with her?

             
No.
“Yeah, I guess. I just don’t trust him anymore.”

             
“But he did the honorable thing, Em. He kept his word to your dad.”

             
“Yeah. I suppose.”

             
“I can tell just from the memories you showed me of him how desperately he wanted to tell you. How afraid he was of losing you when he did.” For being so flighty at times, the girl was intuitive. I conceded with a soft grunt. “So, can you read my memories?” she asked, all enthusiastic now.

             
“Of course. The moment a thought becomes a memory I can read it.”

             
“Show me. What am I thinking?”

             
The memory of the two of us at a vampire movie premiere flashed through my mind as soon I reached out to her mind.

             
“Uh. Could you maybe make it something a little harder? Not something I could’ve already guessed?” I suggested. Ivy giggled and screwed up her face in concentration.

             
The embers of last night’s fire smoke in the pit. The sun shines high and bright, and dances on the rippling waves of the river. Osprey soar and dive for breakfast for their young. Weekend warriors pelt up and down the river on waver runners and boats.

             
I marvel at the detail of her memories: the cabin smells of bug spray, dirty socks and morning.               We lay on our stomachs watching nature outside the windows. Ivy virtually quivers with a secret.

             
“So—you know the guy from Fandom Club with the blue Mohawk and gauges in his ears?” she asks.

             
“Glen? Yeah, I know him.”

             
“He asked me to go to Otaku Prom with him dressed as Karkat and Nepeta from Homestuck. I was going as Nepeta anyway, so it works out great. What do you think? Should I say yes?”

             
I bump her shoulder with mine. “Of course you should say yes! How many times do you find a guy who will dress in cosplay with you for a geek prom?”

             
We chatter for another hour about shopping for just the right black dress, whether or not to wear the grey troll make-up of her character, what character I will play for the prom set up by the local KuroNecoCon group…

              I conveyed the memory to her in words and she grinned from ear to ear. “That is just too awesome!” I returned her smile. Until her face wilted in horror and she squeaked out, “No.”

             
“Ivy? What’s wrong?” But I knew when Eddy’s head popped up and a low rumbling growl vibrated in his chest, that the Wraith was terrorizing her. When she only answered with another horrified ‘no’, I grabbed her arms and dived into her head.

Images of Ivy and her date, Glen, cavort in her mind. Images of them both, in their cosplays for the prom, tattered in ribbons and soaked in blood. They hang from rope over the venue stage, limp and gently swaying, skin white and spattered in crimson, as prom goers dance and party below them.