Page 77 of The Woman Who Couldn't Scream
Stag’s thoughts ran parallel to Kateri’s. “She’s alive. That’s something.”
Lacey popped her head up; she rested on the hospital bed against Rainbow’s side, and she stared at Kateri, her big brown eyes sad and pleading.
“Ohh.” Kateri sighed softly. “You brought the dog.” The dog who believed Kateri could fix anything. The dog whom Kateri had rescued from certain death.
“Lacey loves Rainbow and I thought she might… help Rainbow, or at least wish to say good-bye.”
Kateri wished she had been so thoughtful. But she’d been too busy chasing John Terrance and examining dead bodies to think of the connection between Rainbow and Lacey. “The hospital let her in?”
“It was late, and Dr. Frownfelter put her on the bed himself… Did you know you drool and snore at the same time?”
Kateri used a well-aimed elbow to shove him off the cot and onto the floor.
He landed with a thump, chuckling low in his chest. “I’ll walk Lacey.” Going to the bed, he lifted the dog off, taking care not to joggle the mattress. “I brought you clean clothes. Go shower.”
“Right.” Kateri glanced at the clock. SixA.M.She checked her cell. No messages. No crises, no murders. So far, so good. She gathered the bag Stag had shoved into the corner. Going to the bed, she lightly touched Rainbow’s head, her chest, her hand.
No change. Barely a flicker of life. “Dear friend…” she said, and remembered Lacey’s sorrowful eyes. Guilt. So much guilt.
She hurried into the bathroom. Her ironed uniform was wrinkled; Stag wasn’t the best at packing. But he’d thought about how she would want clean clothes and that gave him all the points. After a day filled with blood and sweat, bullets and worry, and a night of black exhaustion, nothing was as glorious as a shower and clean clothes. She came out to a room empty except for her friend Rainbow, whose soul awaited transport across the cold depths and into that last, glorious warmth of light.
Perhaps letting her go was the kindest thing. Perhaps that was Rainbow’s destiny. If Rainbow survived, she faced a road ahead of pain, challenge and change.
But what was a world without Rainbow? She was the heart of Virtue Falls, the woman who knew everyone, the waitress who listened to dreams, hopes and troubles, the counselor who gave advice, both wanted and unwanted.
The memory of Lacey’s pleading eyes made Kateri decide she had to try. Yes, Rainbow’s life was barely a flicker, but if death was inevitable… Going to Rainbow’s side, Kateri took Rainbow’s hand. “It’s me. It’s Kateri. You know what I can do… sometimes. Save someone’s life… sometimes. If the conditions are right. I want to try. With you. Is that okay?”
The hospital had removed Rainbow from all the machines except the monitor that tracked her heartbeat, and that had been silenced. The room was quiet, the hush almost holy, and although Kateri listened, she felt no stirring in Rainbow’s mind, no response to her question. Going to the window, she opened the curtains and let the dawn into the room. Returning to the bed, Kateri could smell death in the scent of Rainbow’s exhalation. But there was also life, wanting to take control. Kateri breathed Rainbow’s breath into her lungs, let them mix, exhaled close, hoping her essence would mix with Rainbow’s and together they would feed life’s fire. “My gift comes from the frog god,” she whispered to Rainbow. “Sip it. Taste it. Inhale and let it warm your blood and bring you strength.”
Rainbow’s chest rose and fell, rose and fell.
She was breathing more deeply, absorbing Kateri’s essence.
“That’s it, Rainbow. That’s it!” Kateri had been a fool to worry; she could do this! She could save Rainbow!
Then… Rainbow’s chest collapsed. The heart monitor went flat.
“No. No, Rainbow!” Kateri blew air at Rainbow. “Listen to me. You have to live!”
A nurse rushed in. Another nurse. They pushed Kateri out of the way, took Rainbow’s pulse, lifted her lids. Significantly, they didn’t speak.
Kateri had done it, all right. She’d killed Rainbow.
Dr. Frownfelter came in, white coat flapping. He caught Kateri’s arm. “Don’t,” he said. “We knew this was coming. There was nothing you could do.” Letting her go, he hurried to the bed.
She blundered out into the corridor, into Stag’s solid form.
He took one look at her face, picked up Lacey and put her into her arms, and disappeared into the room.
Kateri hugged her dog, rocked her while Lacey licked her face in distress.
Stag stepped out of Rainbow’s room. “She’s going now. Do you want to go in and be with her?”
“I’m afraid to go near her.”
“What happened?”
“I had to try.”
