“Well, I’m fine. I just…some things have happened. And I need your help.”
Alex and Ava shared a concerned glance before Ava reached for my hand. “Whatever you need. Just tell us. If I need to fight off the ice queen, I’ll do it.”
This time I chuckled. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to tell them what was going on. They were my friends, and they had my back. At least, I hoped so.
“No, it’s nothing like that. But Nattie told me what’s going on. We have a solution, but I need your help.”
“What do we need to do? Fight her brother?” Ava asked.
“In a way. Umm, okay, I need you to keep an open mind because this is kind of crazy.”
“Like The Board crazy?” Alex asked. “Because we’re pretty good with crazy.”
“Yeah, you are. And this is just about as crazy,” I said with a laugh as I rose to my feet and paced the floor. “So, Nattie’s dad was shot.”
“Ohh,” Ava said, a frown forming on her face. “What a shame. Do they know that it was her brother or…?”
“They think so. The thing is…he’s not exactly dead.”
Ava slouched a little in her seat. “So, he’s braindead or what? Is she upset that her brother wants him declared dead before he’s actually gone?”
“No,” I said with a shake of my head, “no, that’s not it.”
I twisted to face them, my eyes wide. “They froze him.”
Alex shifted his head forward, his features questioning. “Huh?”
“They froze him,” I repeated, “like cryogenically.”
“Whoa,” Alex murmured, his eyes going wide. “Seriously?”
“Seriously. But then, the doctor who did it…was murdered.” Saying the words aloud reminded me of the stakes again. The last guy who helped Nattie ended up dead. I was treading on dangerous ground.
“What?” Ava’s voice took on an incredulous tone.
“Yeah, so…they were kind of hoping we’d want to help them with this whole unfreezing of dad thing. And I kind of told them we would.” I winced a little as I glanced at my friends with a hopeful expression on my features. “Right?”
They stared back at me, their faces a mix of shock and disbelief.
Alex’s lips puckered as he furrowed his brow. “Uhhh, I mean, I’m not really sure I have enough skills to do anything to unfreeze a human.”
I eased back onto the chair, my features pleading. “I mean, it’s not bad. All the research is there. I just need to get through it and maybe bounce some ideas off of you both.”
“Alex has a point,” Ava said. “Neither of us are equipped for this. And if something goes wrong, I’m not certain the ice queen is going to take too kindly to it.”
“Look,” I said, poking a finger at Alex, “you’re a genius.”
I shifted my gaze to Ava. “And you’re not far behind, if at all. You both are more than capable of helping me sort through research and form a plan that won’t kill Dad when we thaw him out. After that, it’s up to me.”
“Up to you?”
“Yeah,” I said with a grimace. “The bullet is still lodged near his spine. I need to remove it once he’s awake.”
“Doc!” Ava exclaimed. “Are you sure this is wise? I mean, I know you like her. I get it. But this is crazy. He’s cryogenically frozen with a bullet in his back.”
“And the last guy who tried to help him got killed,” Alex pointed out.
“I know, I know,” I said, running a hand through my hair. “Look, I get it. It’s dangerous, yes. But it needs done, and I think we can do it.”
