Elegua continued to peer down as Imani closed her eyes, placed her arms by her sides, and lay back in her bed. There was nothing more to say.
Linda rushed over to Imani as she returned to a comatose state. She took her girl’s hand, the same move she’d made for years whenever she visited the care facility in New Rochelle.
“Babes, come back,” she whispered. Tears came. They always did. “Please, I need you.”
The smell of rum and incense permeated the room.
Linda wiped her eyes. She pushed past the desperation and confusion and guilt and abruptly realized… that she was in a most familiar place.
She was in ritual. At the crossroads.
This wasn’t real, yet also very real.
And she had a decision to make.
She stepped back from the bed, feet full of lead, head full of cotton. She clenched her fists. She didn’t want to do this. And yet, what choice did she have? She had a mission.
Linda lowered her gaze and whispered to Imani, “Goodbye.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
LINDA
She opened her eyes, startled. She couldn’t breathe. A panel of bright LED lights shone in her face. Soothing sky-blue walls. Monitors. IV bag. A synthetic floral scent that tickled her nose… rose air freshener? She was in a hospital room. Because… because of the crash. The sedan had crashed. She thought of Imani, wondered if somehow someone had the wherewithal to transport Linda to New Rochelle so she could be with her girl. A relief.
As lovely as that would’ve been, lucidity arrived and shoved relief aside. No, such a thing wouldn’t have been possible, Linda realized.
She tried to lift herself up and was hit by a wave of nausea.
“Thank goodness!” Maxine dashed over from where she sat, stopped, and gave her boss the gentlest of hugs, as if frightened that too much force would break her in two.
“Where… where am I?” Linda asked. She felt chilly though she was mostly under the covers.
“MedStar Georgetown,” Maxine said. “They brought you into ER last night then placed you in a proper room once you were stabilized.”
Gratitude settled into Linda’s bones. At that moment, in her groggyoblivion, Linda realized that Maxine was the only person in the world she’d come to fully trust and believe she could count on. But the other person standing by was a surprise.
“Thank the orishas,” Fonsi muttered as he approached her bed. “I was… we were scared…”
“What are you doing here?” she asked, staring hard at Fonsi. Her voice a hoarse, ragged thing.
“I took another early-morning train,” he said. Fonsi’s denim knapsack lay in a nearby chair. She was sure the bag held El Gran Libro. “I couldn’t reach you, kept trying you last night. I thought maybe you weren’t picking up because it was so late. But this morning, when I still couldn’t reach you, I tried Maxine’s number. She told me you’d been in an accident. Got here fast as I could.”
Linda was once again taken aback by Fonsi’s kindness. “That was… nice of you. But it wasn’t an accident. I was attacked.” Everything came rushing back in an instant. When she reached out with her empathy to see what was going on in Rayo’s place. And then the apparition… She remembered it all. And she was fuckin’ mad.
The shadow thing that she had touched with her mind. Its foulness, unspeakably rank. Like it wanted to consume everything that was precious, exult in its vileness. As soon as her mind had entered Rayo’s, it had known she was there. Had attacked almost instinctively, like it was waiting.
As was her way, Linda assessed the situation and recalled as much as she could.
“I hit somebody. A dude, right? I was blinded, couldn’t control my car. And Maxine, if you’re here, where’s Clea? She’s at school?”
“The man you hit, he’s okay,” Maxine replied. “Rather, he’s banged up good, to be honest, but he’ll survive. Your sedan, on the other hand, RIP to the ole girl. Miracle you weren’t more badly hurt. Clea’s with ourneighbor, Mrs. Bryant. It’s Saturday, no school. They have the same horridPonysensibilities, so it’s heaven for my little one. I wasn’t going to let you lie here by yourself, Linda, once I heard you were in hospital. The ER attendant called me last night, as I’m listed as your primary emergency contact. They moved you to a proper bed soon after I arrived. I… I didn’t call your father. I knew you wouldn’t want that.”
Right.If Linda had enough confidence that she could rise without keeling over, she would’ve jumped up and smooched Maxine. The woman epitomized what it meant to have smarts, operate with common sense. She needed to get to the agency, have access to her equipment, to her computer and files.
Okay, then, let’s try this once again.Linda shifted slightly to the side of the bed to get up. Her head swam. She thought she might hurl.
Maxine leaned in once again and put her arm around Linda’s shoulder. “I’m going to call your doctor. She needs to know you’ve woken up.”
