Hidden in the Blood: A Novel of the Terribly Acronymed Detective Club (Book 5)

Chapter Seventeen: Agnes, Saturday

Al was looking right at her. "Agnes," he rasped.

"Hi," she squeaked, fighting through her tears.

He looked at Rachel, who'd just returned from catching the cat and turning him over to Joe to return to the car. "Rachel," he rasped.

"Here, you can have some ice chips to help your throat," one of the nurses said. She spooned some into his mouth, and he savoured it as if it were a medium rare steak. She was literally bouncing on her feet, so excited was she to see her patient awake and lucid. A doctor would be by soon to check him over, she'd informed them, so they had to get their greetings in now.

He swallowed, then looked at Mrs. Mackenzie, who was weeping openly now. "Mom."

Mrs. Mackenzie touched his face and said, "We didn't know if you'd ever come around."

He didn't reply to that, just looked at the three of them. "Agnes. Rachel. Mom. All in the same room. Are you sure I'm not still dreaming?"

"Still?" Agnes asked, wiping her eyes.

"I was remembering our time together before I woke up," he said.

"Oh," she breathed, touched beyond words.

Rachel frowned at that. "And me? Did I figure into these dreams?"

"Oh, yeah," he said, smiling weakly. "A couple of times. When we were nine, and you hung out in my room listening to my Charlie Brown Christmas record--"

"Oh, yeah," Rachel said, chuckling and wiping her eyes.

"--and then when we were thirteen, but we were rowing to Poplar Island at the time, and you could summon wolves, and Sunny was Luke Skywalker, Joe was the Hulk, and Lauren was a samurai, so I don't think that was a real memory."

Rachel burst out laughing. "No, I don't think that was," she said. "That sounds more like an acid trip."

She stopped laughing when she saw Mrs. Mackenzie's face. "I've never taken acid," she clarified.

"Who's taken acid?" Lauren asked when she hobbled into the room on her crutches.

Rachel looked at her and said, "No one. Al was just recounting what he experienced while comatose. He mixed up our Halloween that time you were a samurai with our pretending to be pirates rowing to Poplar Island."

Lauren's face suddenly crumpled, and she hobbled over to Al and placed a hand on his cheek. "Hey, buddy," she said as tears ran down her cheeks. The way she looked at him, Agnes wondered uncomfortably if there was something between them too. She looked at Rachel, but Rachel didn't appear annoyed or angry.

"Lauren," he said in amazement. "What happened to you?"

"You don't remember?"

"No."

"Same thing that happened to you. We were in the accident, remember? The Highlander rolled over. You've been in a coma for weeks."

His eyes widened. He looked down at himself. He patted at his head, as if just realizing it was wrapped in gauze, and fumbled at his nasal cannula.

"Don't worry about those right now," the nurse said, gently prying his hands away. "You've just woken up and are getting your bearings. You're safe, that's all you need to know."

"I'm so sorry," Lauren said, suddenly sobbing. "It's my fault, I took the turn too tight--"

"Hey," Al said weakly. Everything about him was weak right now. He touched Lauren's hand, which still rested on his chest. "Don't. Don't do that. Not your fault."