Page 62 of In All My Dreams

I chuckle at her politely. “Go get yourself some real coffee. I’ll handle Mr. Harris.”

She flashes me a rare smile before she skips around the nurses’ station and takes off down the hall toward the staff room, presumably where the nurses hoard the good coffee.

I turn down the other hall and head toward Mr. Harris’s room.

When I get there, he’s sitting up in bed, and his frazzled eyes meet mine right away.

“Oh, Ian! Thank goodness. Where are the girls? Oh, never mind that. I need you to take me home,” he says in a rush as he tries to get to his feet. “Right now!”

“Whoa, whoa. The girls are at home asleep, and I’m not here to take you home, Link. Now, sit back down, and tell me what’s going on,” I say sternly. Mr. Harris may be my elder, but he’s always been great about listening to mydoctorlyadvice, as he likes to call it.

He sits with a loud huff, the hospital bed creaking loudly under his weight, and that’s when I notice the purple flowers sitting on his desk.

“Where did you get those?” I ask him. Something about them seems so familiar, but I can’t quite place where I’ve seen them before.

He looks at the flowers and then back at me. “That’s why I need you to take me home! It’s not safe for them!” he yells, pointing at the flowers wildly. “When I saw the flowers, and the card. I knew, Ian. I knew! That damn useless nurse was supposed to call you and tell you to bring the girls here! It’s not safe for them!”

I sigh, rubbing a tired hand over my even more exhausted face. I didn’t get but an hour or so of sleep after Georgia was finally satiated before she fell asleep on me. She’s always been one of those lucky people who can hit the pillow and fall asleep within minutes, whereas I need countless hours of counting sheep before I can settle enough to fall into a deep sleep.

“Ian, you don’t understand! You need to listen to me!” Mr. Harris shouts again.

I grab the chair from the corner of the room and drag it over to the bed so I can sit. “Okay, what’s going on?”

“The girls, Ian. Our girls are in danger. We have to get them out of that house! Look!” Mr. Harris grabs the card that Auden made him and hands it to me.

I study the outside of the card. It’s the willow tree at the manor, surrounded by purple flower petals. I look up at the flowers sitting on the desk. They could be the same ones, but it’s hard to tell from a child’s drawing.

I flip the card open and smile. Auden drew her family standing in front of Crane: Georgia, Auden, Mr. Harris, and me. Horton is hanging out by my feet.

“What am I missing?” I ask Mr. Harris as I continue to stare at the drawing. Nothing seems out of place, and then I see it.

I pull the card closer to my face, and my eyebrows arch toward each other as a surprised breath leaves my lips. “Is that...her?”

Auden has drawn a person peeking out from one of the windows behind us. Someone wearing some type of white dress. The face is distorted; it looks like Auden may have rubbed the crayon over it to smear it. But it’s definitely a person.

I look up at Mr. Harris, and he’s nodding. “She’s why it’s not safe for them. She came to visit me, and something she said stuck with me, Ian. Lit all the lightbulbs or whatever that stupid saying is when something finally clicks together and makes sense.”

Now I’m confused. He’s seen Caroline’s ghost, too?

“Ian, she’s going to hurt Georgia, or Auden. I don’t know how I know it, I just do. Call it a father’s instinct, but you have to believe me,” Mr. Harris pleads. “Haven’t you felt uneasy about Auden being in that house?”

I lean back in my chair and raise an eyebrow at him. The hair on the back of my neck prickles up my scalp. There’s clearly something I’m missing, something important.

“She hasn’t told you yet,” Mr. Harris whispers, shaking his head in frustration. “Dammit, Georgia.”

“Look, Link,” I grind out. “It’s half past three in the morning. If you have something to tell me, just spit it out so we can both go back to bed.”

I know I’m being an asshole, but I’m tired and still don’t know why I needed to leave Georgia’s side by rushing here. Everything Link is saying is nonsense.

“Ian, tell me something.” Mr. Harris crosses his arms over his chest. “Has Georgia figured out the real reason for your sister’s death?”

I snap my head up and glare at him.

“Yes, actually. She told me this evening what really happened that night. How you and Caroline decided it was best to lie to everyone, including my parents. Kind of a shit thing to put on your five-year-old daughter. Did you ever stop and think about how much it destroyed Georgia to keep that secret?” I ask, venom coating my tongue as I try my best to tamper down my anger.

What kind of father would willingly go along with doing this to their own child?

“How much it must have killed her to know that she was responsible for her best friend's death? All while knowing that she wasn’t allowed to talk about it? Growing up with the knowledge that her mother couldn’t live with having a murderer for a daughter, resulting in Caroline dying because she tried to kill Georgia over anaccident.”

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