"Yup."

"Are you here to help me?"

"No, I don' ting so."

"Then why are you here?"

She appeared confused by the question. "Cos you c'n see me."

"But why? Why can I see you? And not anyone else?"

"I don' know."

"Think hard. Try to remember."

A black woman in baby blue scrubs came around the corner. The children all backed up. Jake blinked up at her, innocently.

"Can I help you, sir?"

How was he going to explain crouching and talking to himself in a restricted area of the maternity ward? This was it, they'd kick him out for sure.

"I'm sorry, I felt sick," he said, slowly getting to his feet.

"Mmm-hmmm," she said, with a curl of her lip. Her arms came up and folded across her chest. "And who are you here with?"

Out of sheer desperation, he said, "Pamela Thomas."

She gave a suspicious squint. "You're Mr. Thomas?"

"Yeah."

"Your wife's not even in here yet."

That was good news, and bad. Bad because it didn't explain why he was acting squeamish in the hall, but good that she wasn't in a nearby room in labor. He could only imagine the look on his neighbor's face if the nurse had dragged him into the room while she was giving birth.

"Where is she?" he asked, hoping she would avoid addressing the elephant in the room.

Suddenly one of the twins let out a piercing screech that sent Jake's soul bouncing off the wall. His eyes opened wide as he stood rigid before the nurse. Somewhere around the corner another scream filled the air.

The girl screeched again and her eyes got big. "I think I'm comin' OUT!"

The nurse took a step back.

"I AM! I'm comin' out! Push, Momma! Puuuuuuuush!" cried the little girl. Her sister started hopping and clapping.

There was another scream and a loud groan from down the hall.

"Your wife is in her room, Mr. Thomas." The nurse pointed back toward the double doors. "But you're going to have to go around. I don't want to see you in this hall again, unless you're with your wife, understand?"

Jake started backing up. "Yes, ma'am. Thanks."

The twins ran down the hall, followed by the other children. Jake could hear the little girl continue her excited screams. "Push, Momma! You c'n do it! I'm comin' out! I'm comin' OUT!"

Jake left the restricted area. His options were dwindling. These children didn't have any answers for him, they were just as confused as he was about the whole situation. He could see them, and they could experience things while he was around, but to them it was just a weird experience. They weren't supernatural messengers. They had no connection to some ethereal world where information could be acquired by some extrasensory ability. They were simply children waiting to be born, and somehow, when he was near, they could experience a taste of the world around them. Aiyana had mentioned not being able to see anything he couldn't see. Why then had all the children run down the hallway to watch the birth? How would they see it, if Jake wasn't seeing it?

There was only one way to get more answers, and that was to travel deeper into the bowels of the maternity ward and find Aiyana. She was older than the other children and much more articulate. His chances of getting meaningful answers lay with her.

Chapter 37.

Holly got into the driver's side of her car and slammed the door. Her body quaked as she gripped the steering wheel and tried to pull herself together. She needed something to numb the pain. She couldn't do this anymore. It was too much. She had to ditch Dan and her roommate and get to her pills.

Dan studied her. "You all right?"

"No. I'm not all right." She clutched the keys and started the car with force. "I'm about as not all right as I've ever been in my life!"

The tires spun on the dirt as she pulled out.

"Woah. Slow down speed racer. Those are police officers over there. You want me to drive?"

"No. I've got it," she snapped.

"Do you-wanna talk about it?"

She glared at him. "What do you think, Dan?"

"I think you're upset and you need someone to lean on."

What she needed was something to numb her into oblivion, and for Dan to shut his big mouth. She stamped on the accelerator.

"Uh oh!" said Dan, looking into his side mirror.

"What?" her eyes checked the rear-view mirror.

"Quick! Pull over!" he said.

What was he doing? There was nothing behind them.

"You have to trust me. Pull over!"

She kicked the brake and pulled the car to the side of the road.

"What? The police? What do you see?"

He reached over and twisted the keys out of the ignition. "I see a crazy person, that's what I see."

"GIVE ME THOSE!".

He dodged her angry hands and got out of the car.

"DAN! Give me my keys or I swear..." She opened her door and stumbled out.

"No," he said. "You're going to get both of us killed, and that's not going to help anyone."

She slammed the door with all her strength. "I don't want to help anyone! Give me my keys! Or I'll claw your eyes out!"

He backed away from the road as she came around the car. "Holly. Look at you. You're not this person. You're not angry. You're hurt, and that's completely understandable."

"You don't know anything about me!"

"I know you love your son more than life itself, and that you would do anything to get him back."

His words drove into her ribs like an arrow, but she forced through it and took a swing toward his head. "Give me my keys!"

He squeezed them in his thick hand and held her back with the other. "I know you have doubts and fears, I know you don't think you're strong enough to get through this, but you don't have to be."

"SHUT UP!".

"You don't have to do this alone."

Again his words were like a weapon cutting into her flesh. She wanted to believe him, but she didn't know how. Her anger flared again. She hated herself for needing help, and she hated him for reminding her.

She leaped at him, struggling to get the keys from his hand. His body was like iron, but his grip was gentle. Though she dug into his flesh with her nails, he didn't fight back. He simply held his ground, allowing her to rail against him over and over with all her strength.

"Give me my keys, Dan!"

"You're not angry, Holly. You're wounded."

She gripped his bicep and tried to pull his hand with the keys toward her, but his arm was solid and unyielding.

"Let me in, Holly. I can help."

"I don't need your help!" She tried to pull on his arm again, but her strength was failing. She pushed off his chest, slipped on the muddy gra.s.s, and went crashing to the ground. Pain shot into her shoulder.

He reached down to help her.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" She swung her hand out and caught him across the cheek as she crumbled back to the ground.

She braced herself for a retaliation, but none came. Why would it come? Dan wasn't like that. He wasn't vindictive and petty like she was, or like the string of men she had shacked up with. He was different... stronger... kinder. He was reaching out to her still, even though she had bitten him like a frightened animal. How did he do it? She gave him nothing but hatred and contempt, yet he offered only mercy in return.

Something inside her broke, and the anger released like mist into the air, leaving only sadness and despair. She dug her nails into the ground and started to cry. She cried from the deepest part of her gut, unable to hide even the tiniest fraction of her sorrow and regret. Her son was gone. And this wasn't who she wanted to be, but she wasn't strong enough to be the woman she wanted to be. She was so terribly weak, and from the depths of her being she cried out for someone to show her how to be strong, for someone to show her how to rescue her son.

Dan said nothing, but sat next to her on the gra.s.s like a statue. No. Like a guardian angel keeping watch over her, protecting her while she lay bleeding her heart into the cold moist ground.

Chapter 38.

Jake walked down the hallway to the nurses' station and as he rounded the corner, stopped in his tracks. The large room was crawling with children. One boy was climbing a medical rack beside the nurses' station. Another was racing cars along the floor. On the counter in front of him was a large boy pretending to sword fight. One fist waved through the air, the other was on his hip. "Haaaaaa!" he said, thrusting forward. "You are no match for my blade!"

On a bench to Jake's right was another child, a little Chinese girl, holding a baby doll in her arms. She rocked her baby and sang a sweet song. He listened. It was hauntingly familiar-someone had once sang that song to him. But who? His mother had never sang to him. Jake stood and listened a moment longer.

Finally he turned and looked at the room numbers, then followed them down to 814. The two nurses behind the desk paid no attention to him. Other visitors were milling around inside and outside of the hospital rooms, so Jake must have blended in.

The door to 814 was closed, and Aiyana was not sitting out front as he had hoped, so he sat down on a cushioned chair in the hallway, tucked behind a large metal push cart. He pulled out his phone. If he had to wait, he figured it would be good to check in with Jenna.

The phone rang a couple times before she picked up. "h.e.l.lo?"

"Hey, Jenna. How are things going at the theater house?"

"Good..." Her voice had a subtle vibrato.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes. I'm great actually."

"You don't sound great."

"The job is mine," she said. Her voice cracked on the last word.

"You got signed? That's incredible!"

He could hear her quietly regrouping on the other end of the phone.

"This is great news, Jen!"

"I haven't exactly taken it though. They offered it, but I'm just not sure."

"Wh- what? What do you mean? Don't worry about how this is going to affect me. This is your big chance. Take it, take the job."

"It's complicated."

"No it's not, it's easy. You've been given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I'm behind you a hundred percent. Why would you want to throw that away?"

Jenna was quiet.

"Jenna?"

"Don't you ever think about the future, or having a family?"