chapter seven
Jessie giggled. “This is like a slumber party.”
Smiling, Maddie flipped the light switch off. “Yeah, it is,” she agreed, climbing onto the queen sized bed between Jessica and Avery. It was only nine o’clock. Maddie usually didn’t go anywhere near a bedroom until eleven, especially not during summer vacation. However, Jessie had insisted she come to bed when she and Avery did. Maddie had happily agreed.
“You have a nice house,” Jessie commented randomly.
“Yeah,” Avie agreed. “Is this your room?”
“No,” Maddie said. “Isaac, Taylor, and Zac are staying in my room.”
Jessie giggled. So did Avery. Maddie just smiled.
“So, um, Jessie,” Maddie began as the giggles subsided, “does your cast bother you?”
“Nope. My foot doesn’t hurt either,” she announced. “And I think I’m getting the hang of those crutches.”
“Don’t stress over it,” Maddie told her. “You’ll be walking under your own steam within the week.”
“How do you know?”
“Trust me,” Maddie said. “I know.”
Three o’clock.
Four o’clock.
Maddie regretted her midday nap. She looked from Avery to Jessie and attempted to wish herself asleep. It didn’t work.
Around four thirty, Jessie began thrashing her head back and forth. Not knowing if it was part of her regular sleeping patterns, Maddie didn’t attempt to wake her. Instead, she kept her eyes on Jessica, holding her breath.
The little blond girl sat bolt upright and gasped. “No,” she whispered weakly.
“Jessie?” Maddie asked softly. “What’s wrong?”
Jessica threw her arms around Maddie’s neck and buried her face in the older girl’s shoulder. “No, no. Maddie, don’t let him get me. Please, don’t let him get me,” she plead feebly. “Don’t let him get me.”
“Who?” Maddie asked. “Don’t let who get you? Jessie, did you have a bad dream?”
“Yes,” she whispered, taking breaths in short, sharp gasps. “Don’t let him get me.”
Maddie stroked her hair. “Tell me about your dream, Jessie.”
The little girl shook her head. “No. No. I . . . I can’t . . .”
“I can’t help unless you tell me.”
Jessica took a deep breath and released it slowly. “I was at the fire station with Daddy,” she began quietly. “And we were crossing the parking lot. Then, Daddy was gone and the little black kitty was there. I was petting the kitty, but then it ran under my legs and tripped me. And then -” Jessica let out a small sob and squeezed Maddie’s shoulder. “And then a truck came and ran over me. And I looked up and . . . and Ike was driving it . . .”
Jessie’s tears fell freely now, soaking the shoulder of Maddie’s night shirt. She squeezed the older girl’s shoulder as if it were the only thing protecting her from the memory of the nightmare. “Don’t let him get me,” she whispered softly.
Madison fought back tears of her own. She had to be the strong one now. She stroked Jessie’s hair and her back gently and murmured comforts to her. “Go back to sleep,” she whispered. “Nobody will get you.” She swallowed hard. “Ike won’t hurt you.”
“But I’m scared,” Jessie protested weakly, burying her face further into Maddie’s shoulder.
Maddie managed to get Jessica to release her. “Stay here,” she whispered. She slowly climbed from the bed and made her way to the room’s small closet. After a minute of searching, her fingers closed around a familiar object. She crossed the room back to Jessie. “Here,” she whispered, placing the object in her hands.
The little blond girl studied the ragged stuffed puppy dog critically. “What’s this?” she asked at length.
Maddie smiled. “This is Puppy,” she replied. “He’s my stuffed doggie and he’s really good at scaring bad dreams away. I used to sleep with him every night.” She swallowed hard. “Why don’t you hang onto him and get back to sleep. I promise there won’t be anymore bad dreams tonight.”
After a moment, Jessica clasped the old, worn animal in her arms and laid back in the bed. “Okay,” she whispered.
Maddie stayed at the side of the bed until Jessie fell asleep, hoping with all her heart that her promise had been true.
After a short eternity, Maddie left the room. She tiptoed down the hallway, through the living room-dining room and kitchen, and up the stairs, tears deluging from her eyes.
“I did this,” she whispered, just barely audibly. “She’s having the nightmares because I did this.” Maddie gulped back a sob. “Oh, please, god, anything but the nightmares.”
She sank up against a wall and pulled her knees into her chest. “What have I done?”
Isaac couldn’t sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, all he could see was Jessica laying in the street, Maddie leaning over her.
It was his fault.
He had gotten mad at Jessie for knocking over the chips and she had walked outside to try and stay out of his way. And outside was where she had gotten run over . . .
It was weird. Isaac replayed the image of Jessie and Maddie back in his head. The older girl had almost looked protective of Jessie. She had touched his sister’s face in a delicate way, though, now that he thought of it, her hands had been shaking. And, oddly enough, Maddie had seemed to know exactly what to do for Jessie. And she seemed to know everything about her condition . . .
There was a noise outside the room. Somebody coming up the stairs? Isaac glanced at the clock. It was nearly four fifty-seven a.m. Who would be coming upstairs at nearly five in the morning?
Isaac strained his ears. There was definitely someone upstairs. Abandoning sleep, he climbed out of bed slowly, making sure he didn’t wake Zac or Tay. He made his way out of the room and toward the person-noise.
The computer room was dark and he couldn’t see much. His eyes surveyed the floor and walls momentarily before landing on a gently shaking form. Not knowing how to approach the person, Isaac cleared his throat softly.
The figure jumped. After a beat, there was the sound of a pent-up breath being released. “Oh, it’s just you.”
“Maddie?” Isaac asked softly.
She sniffed. “Yeah.”
Ike shifted uncomfortably. “What . . . What’s wrong?” he asked at length.
Eyes adjusting to the darkness, he saw as Maddie wiped her eyes. “Jessie had a nightmare,” she whispered.
“About what?” It was a dumb question.
Maddie sniffed again. “Well, she said that she was at the fire station with your dad. Then, your dad disappeared and the cat from earlier today appeared - the one she was chasing when she slipped and hit her head. She was petting the cat and then it tripped her and -” She cut herself off. “You might want to sit down,” she suggested.
Not feeling up to protesting, Isaac crossed the room and sat down beside Maddie. “The cat tripped her and?”
Maddie took in a breath. “The cat tripped her and a truck came and ran her over again. And then she looked up and . . . And you were the one driving the truck, Isaac.”
“Oh, god,” he whispered.
“I’m sorry,” Maddie confided. “I am so sorry, Isaac. First I run your sister over and now she’s having the dreams . . .” She began crying softly.
Isaac pressed his lips together tightly and shook his head. “It’s my fault,” he whispered.
“No,” Maddie told him, quickly wiping her eyes. Almost hesitantly, she touched the side of his face. “It’s not your fault. Don’t torture yourself with this.”
“If it’s not my fault then it’s not yours either,” he said softly, not pulling away from Maddie’s fingertips. “Don’t torture yourself.” On an impulse, he took her free hand in his. “It’s nobody’s fault.”