"Leave the sliding door open enough for Haunt to get into the yard. I don't care if she digs up the whole place right now. Just make sure she has water and food."
"We caught several voles, so there might not be anything out there for her to go after. That doesn't mean she won't dig, but we can hope." Jackson pulled the chair closer to the bed and sat down.
"You look exhausted. Are you sure you're not seriously hurt? You should go get treated." Lance was used to Jackson being strong and always together. To see him pale and a bit shaky had him worried.
"I'm okay. Just tired and sore. Probably a slight concussion from whatever hit me. I know the signs to be aware of. Once they slow down out there, I'll go get a few stitches in my arm, then grab something to eat and be as good as new." Jackson glanced down at his arm.
Lance noticed for the first time the large cut on Jackson's bicep. He'd torn his dress shirt sleeve to expose the area. It wept blood but didn't look too serious. "That's going to leave a scar."
"We'll all have a few new ones from this," Jackson commented.
"I'm going to head up to surgery. Call me if anyone down here needs anything and I'll text as soon as I get any news on Angus." Franks smiled. "I'm glad you're okay."
"Me too." But the truth was, he wasn't okay. He wouldn't be okay until he knew that Angus was out of danger. All he could see when he closed his eyes was how Angus's spirit had started to leave his body. That wasn't good, but Lance had no idea what it meant. He needed to talk to Ray. He'd know. At least Lance hoped he would. He was the oldest ghost Lance knew, and if anyone had seen it happen before, it would be him. And where the hell was Betty? She'd be right by Lizzy's side if she was around. God, they couldn't lose her.
Franks left and Lance closed his eyes again. His shoulder hurt so badly that he wanted to cry, but then he thought about Angus and how much worse his injury was, and he forced himself to deal with the pain. There were others besides Angus who were probably fighting for their lives tonight. He'd seen so many injured. What the hell had happened? They'd just wanted a good night with the family. Now he wasn't sure if anything would ever be the same. He'd feel a lot more confident if he hadn't seen Angus's ghost, but the fact that he had made him scared and nervous that Angus was already gone. If that was the case, why wasn't he here with him, even in ghostly form? They had a pact that if one died before the other they'd at least stick around for a while in ghost form to say goodbye.
He opened his eyes again when he heard a noise at the door. He smiled at Megan as she stood there. The ghostly image of her father, Isaac, stood behind her. "Hey, Meg."
Jackson jumped up and went to her, gently wrapping her in a hug. "Everything okay?"
"Thirty-two stitches on seven cuts, and about fifty more smaller cuts that didn't need stitches." She held up her arms. "The worst were on my legs."
"You and Lizzy were wearing dresses. You didn't have anything to protect your legs." Jackson led her over to the chair.
"I'm proud of her. She didn't cry a bit. When I took her to get stitches when she was ten, she wouldn't stop crying," Isaac said.
Lance laughed and told Megan, "Your dad's here. He said you handled stitches much better today than you did when you were ten."
"Dad's here?" Megan looked around. "Where is he?"
"At the foot of my bed." Lance pointed.
"Dad, you didn't have to come." Megan smiled. "But I'm glad you're here."
Isaac nodded. "You told your mother to stay home so she wouldn't be in the way, but I knew I wouldn't be in anyone's way in this form." He gestured his hands up and down his ghostly body. "I had to come make sure everyone was okay."
Lance repeated what Isaac said.
"Thanks, Dad." Megan leaned her head against Jackson's hip as he stood beside her.
"Isaac, have you seen Betty?" Lance asked.
"No, I haven't seen any ghosts since I got here. Is she not with Lizzy?" Isaac asked.
Lance told him what he and Lizzy had witnessed right after the explosion. "I don't know what that means. I always thought if a spirit left the body, they were dead, but Angus is alive."
"I wish I had answers for you, but I don't know anything about that stuff. I know when I died, I floated out of my body and was able to see my physical body. I was alert and there long enough to make a decision on whether I should go into the light or not." Isaac frowned. "I'll go check things out. I can go into the operating room and see what's going on with Angus." He turned and floated out of the room.
"He just left to go check on Angus," Lance told Megan.
"I'm glad he's here. How are you?" Megan asked.
"I'll be better once I can get up to that surgical waiting room." Lance glared at his shoulder. "Can't you put it back in place?" he asked Jackson.
"I could, but you'd hate me after. Let the docs take some of the edge off before they do it. It's going to hurt like hell either way, but at least you won't blame me for the pain later." Jackson smiled. "Besides, you need to get some of those cuts taken care of. You looked like a porcupine right after the explosion. Those small fragments of glass need to come out."
"I feel like they're mostly in my ass." Lance wanted to roll to his side, but with his shoulder, he could barely move. He vaguely remembered crawling over to Angus after the explosion and sinking down on his butt beside him. That was probably when he'd gotten most of the glass in his ass. His arms and face were covered in cuts and scratches, but it was his legs and ass that felt the sting. Yet nothing hurt more than his arm.
