Part 27 (2/2)
Rei laughs. ”And what, you'll come rescue me?”
”Well, I can at least turn the water off so you don't drown.”
Rei looks amused, but not convinced, and I finally see what he's getting at ... he's afraid I'm going to peek at him in the shower again.
”Hey,” I'm standing and he's sitting, so I have the height advantage for a change, ”after you saw my chichis in Jason Trent's Jeep, I'm calling us even, my friend.”
I'm surprised Rei has enough blood left to blush.
CHAPTER 38.
Rei comes downstairs all clean and s.h.i.+ny, but he's still a little shaky. ”Now how do you feel?” I pour him another gla.s.s of juice as soon as he sits down.
”Okay,” he drinks half of it in one long swallow. ”But not a hundred percent.”
”Want to go chill out on the porch swing with me?”
”How about the hammock. Then I can lie down.”
That makes sense.
”I want to get my phone out of the car before we go down. Maybe Seth called.”
”I'll get it.”
We head out and Rei waits for me at the door while I run to the car. The phone is sitting on the console right where I left it. I know all's well that ends well, but when I think of how I almost lost Rei because I had to show off, I feel awful.
”Here you go,” I hand the phone to Rei.
”Thanks. Hey, there's a message ... maybe it's Seth.”
Rei calls his voicemail, and by the time we reach the hammock, he has Seth on the phone. He looks happier than I've seen him since the whole mess began. I want to give them some private guy time, so I indicate to Rei that I'm going to sit by the willow tree.
”I'll be right there,” I whisper when Rei frowns. ”You can see me.”
He nods reluctantly.
Trees have to be some of the most patient living things in the universe. Year after year, they stand there rooted to one spot. I'd go insane. But beyond flowers in the spring, shade in the summer, and fruit in the fall, trees offer me a certain comfort, a stability that must be hard for some to understand.
”h.e.l.lo,” I greet the willow as I part its leafy veil. I step lightly over the carpet of tiny dead leaves and sit with my back against the ma.s.sive trunk. The tattoo is making my arm itch like crazy, so I push up my sleeve and scratch off a crusty black layer. Okay, so now my arm still itches, but I've made myself bleed. ”So how'd you like to have this carved in your bark for the rest of your life?” The willow's branches bob around like there is a sudden gust of wind, but I know it's just laughing at me.
I'm wondering if I can heal myself when I realize I'm not alone. Taylor hovers just above me, looking down contritely. I glance over, but Rei hasn't noticed I have company.
”h.e.l.lo,” I keep my voice low because I don't want Rei to worry.
”I didn't mean for him to get hurt,” she's quick to point out. ”I was just venting.”
”But yet, he got hurt,” I remind her. ”You nearly killed him.”
”But you healed him, Anna. How is that even possible?”
I nearly laugh. How is anything possible? For all the time I've spent in and out of my body, I still don't understand even a fraction of what's possible in this complex universe-I only know things are better when I surround myself with positive energy. Even now, I can feel Taylor's negativity oozing from her, like sludge.
”Taylor, what do you want? Seriously. I can't believe you want to spend eternity haunting us.”
She looks up, down, everywhere but at me. ”I don't know anymore,” she admits. ”I want to be alive, but that's not happening. Although you know,” she smiles wishfully, ”after I saw what you did for Rei, I had this crazy idea that you could dig up my body and bring me back to life.”
Oh, just what I want ... to be responsible for starting the zombie apocalypse. ”Taylor, I can't do that.”
”No, I realized that wouldn't work. I just ... want ... I need ... I ... I know life's not supposed to be fair, but what happened to me sucks on so many different levels. I don't know how to make peace with this, Anna.”
Well, I know how she can find her peace. I close my eyes and concentrate until I hear her say, ”I had a feeling you were going to do that.” She surveys the light warily and reaches one finger out, as if to see how hot it is. ”Where does this light even go?”
I shrug. ”All I know is whenever someone dies, they have a choice to step into the light, but I don't know what's inside it.”
”Take a guess, Anna. I want to know where you think it goes.”
”Well ... I think it will take me somewhere my grandparents are waiting for me, I won't be allergic to peanuts, and I can have as many kittens as I want,” I say slowly. ”Rei's been reading all this Buddhist stuff, so he thinks it goes to a place where people wait to be reincarnated.”
She thinks about this for a few seconds while she reaches her hand further into the light, a.s.sessing it. ”So he thinks we get another chance. That's ironic.” She smiles ruefully. ”But if we really are reincarnated, we should be able to learn from our mistakes so we don't repeat them in the next life. You know what I mean?”
I know exactly what she means. ”Taylor, after the week we've had, who's to say anything is impossible. Maybe the light would take you to a place where there are no regrets.”
”No regrets ... that's someplace I would like to go.” She pokes her toes into the light like she's testing the water at the beach. ”Will you keep the tattoo? Just so I know someone will remember me?”
Oh crud. I would pacify her with a yes, but I know I will regret it every time I look at my arm. ”Taylor,” I search for the most delicate way of disappointing her, ”what if I found another way for people to remember you, like, a scholars.h.i.+p or something.”
She considers this for a minute while she studies the tattoo on my arm. ”Was my nose really that lopsided?”
”No,” and I can't help but smile, ”you had a really pretty nose.”
She smiles back at me. ”The Taylor Gleason Scholars.h.i.+p? I like it.” She leans a bit more into the light just as I hear Rei call my name. Taylor hears him too.
”Would you tell him I'm sorry? I really would have felt terrible if I had, you know ... ”
I nod, holding my breath, until she takes a step back and the light embraces her. In that instant, a warm breeze pa.s.ses by me. Taylor looks up for one awestruck moment, then smiles as the light retracts, taking her with it.
Gone. Taylor Gleason is gone. I should feel ecstatic that finally, finally, she's gone but all I feel is dizzy, and I realize I am still holding my breath.
”Anna?”
I finally breath and I sweep back the willow branches and find Rei sitting up, ready to launch into ninja mode.
”Stay there, I'm coming.” I run over the sun-kissed gra.s.s in my bare feet, feeling lighter than cotton candy. ”Guess what?”
<script>