26. Ian

26

Ian

Now

E verything is perfect. The smell of vanilla surrounds me, with an underlying scent of lavender, tantalizing my senses into a calm wave of tranquility.

Or at least it would be if that incessant buzzing would stop.

My eyes fly open.

Georgia's sleeping form is nestled in right next to me. I reach over and brush a stray strand of hair out of her face. Her lips are parted as she sleeps peacefully next to me, looking beautiful as ever.

I turn my head toward the buzzing sound again and see my phone on the nightstand on her side. Shifting slowly and carefully, I move myself out of her grip and quietly make my way to the other side of the bed when the buzzing finally stops.

Grabbing my phone, I see that the hospital has called four times. That can only mean one thing. And it's never good.

My blood ices over as I look at Georgia.

Do I wake her? Or do I let her enjoy one last night of peaceful sleep before I have to tell her that her father may be gone already?

My phone buzzes in my hand again. I race to grab my discarded jeans, thankful we managed to keep our mess of clothes in a somewhat tidy fashion. I place a chaste kiss on her cheek and race out of the room as quietly as possible.

"Hello?" I whisper into the phone, pulling the rest of my clothes on as I stand half-naked in the hallway.

"Dr. Foster?" I recognize the voice immediately, and my heart starts to beat normally again. If Link was dead, they wouldn't have a nurse calling me nonstop.

"Yes, this is me. What's wrong, Olivia?"

"I'm sorry to disturb you, but Mr. Harris has been insistent that you get here as soon as possible," Nurse Olivia says, an obvious annoyed tone in her voice. "And before you ask why, he won't tell me."

I peek into Auden's room and see that she's still fast asleep. Horton peers up at me and lets out a silent meow of protest before snuggling back into her side.

"Okay, but nothing is wrong?" I ask Olivia as I make my way down the creaky staircase.

Olivia scoffs. "I mean, he may or may not be my most annoying patient on the floor. But nothing is technically wrong, other than he's a patient here because he did have a heart attack mere days ago."

"But he needs me there right now? It's three in the morning, Olivia." I sigh into the phone. "Did something happen? Any new visitors?" I ask as I grab my keys from my jacket pocket by the back door. What could have prompted this sudden need for me to be there?

"He did have a visitor earlier, right after visiting hours ended. They insisted they speak to him and wouldn't take no for an answer. I assumed you knew about it," Olivia replies.

I step out into the night, surrounded by the cacophony of wildlife here at Crane. The loud chirps of the crickets, the hoots of the owls hunting for their next meal in the distance, the croaking symphony of the frogs who reside near the lake.

"Who was the visitor?" I ask as I get into my car, letting the phone auto-connect to wireless.

Olivia's voice cracks inaudibly over the car speakers when she answers.

"I'm sorry, can you repeat that?"

"Urg. Just get here, and you can talk to him yourself," Olivia practically growls, her patience clearly gone as she hangs up on me.

I look up into the dark windows of the manor before I back the car out. I swear, I see something move in Auden's window, but when I look again, there's nothing there.

T en minutes later, I'm walking into the brightly lit hospital. It may be three in the morning, but a hospital never truly sleeps.

Death and illness have no scheduled timeline.

My footsteps echo loudly as I make my way toward the nurses' station. I see Olivia scowling at her desk. Her gray-streaked hair is pulled back into the messiest of buns while her heart-printed scrub top is stained with something. Coffee, I think.

"Olivia," I greet her cooly.

She jumps up from her seat. "Dr. Foster! You're finally here, good. This way, please."

"Olivia, I know how to find his room, and it's been ten minutes. Why don't you go grab a cup of coffee? I know how swapping to nights makes you even more joyful than usual," I say with a smirk. Olivia is always a pain, but night shift kicks everyone's ass.

"Bless you, Dr. Foster. I had a patient earlier come running out of her room and collided with me as soon as I stepped out of the elevator with my cup of coffee," she says in a rush before she points down at the stain on her scrub top. "And let me tell you, the coffee they serve downstairs is hot as hell. Nothing like that lukewarm gutter water from the vending machine."

I chuckle at her politely. "Go get yourself some real coffee. I'll handle Mr. Harris."

She flashes me a rare smile before she skips around the nurses' station and takes off down the hall toward the staff room, presumably where the nurses hoard the good coffee.

I turn down the other hall and head toward Mr. Harris's room.

When I get there, he's sitting up in bed, and his frazzled eyes meet mine right away.

"Oh, Ian! Thank goodness. Where are the girls? Oh, never mind that. I need you to take me home," he says in a rush as he tries to get to his feet. "Right now!"

"Whoa, whoa. The girls are at home asleep, and I'm not here to take you home, Link. Now, sit back down, and tell me what's going on," I say sternly. Mr. Harris may be my elder, but he's always been great about listening to my doctorly advice, as he likes to call it.

He sits with a loud huff, the hospital bed creaking loudly under his weight, and that's when I notice the purple flowers sitting on his desk.

"Where did you get those?" I ask him. Something about them seems so familiar, but I can't quite place where I've seen them before.

He looks at the flowers and then back at me. "That's why I need you to take me home! It's not safe for them!" he yells, pointing at the flowers wildly. "When I saw the flowers, and the card. I knew, Ian. I knew! That damn useless nurse was supposed to call you and tell you to bring the girls here! It's not safe for them!"

I sigh, rubbing a tired hand over my even more exhausted face. I didn't get but an hour or so of sleep after Georgia was finally satiated before she fell asleep on me. She's always been one of those lucky people who can hit the pillow and fall asleep within minutes, whereas I need countless hours of counting sheep before I can settle enough to fall into a deep sleep.

"Ian, you don't understand! You need to listen to me!" Mr. Harris shouts again.

I grab the chair from the corner of the room and drag it over to the bed so I can sit. "Okay, what's going on?"

"The girls, Ian. Our girls are in danger. We have to get them out of that house! Look!" Mr. Harris grabs the card that Auden made him and hands it to me.

I study the outside of the card. It's the willow tree at the manor, surrounded by purple flower petals. I look up at the flowers sitting on the desk. They could be the same ones, but it's hard to tell from a child's drawing.

I flip the card open and smile. Auden drew her family standing in front of Crane: Georgia, Auden, Mr. Harris, and me. Horton is hanging out by my feet.

"What am I missing?" I ask Mr. Harris as I continue to stare at the drawing. Nothing seems out of place, and then I see it.

I pull the card closer to my face, and my eyebrows arch toward each other as a surprised breath leaves my lips. "Is that... her ?"

Auden has drawn a person peeking out from one of the windows behind us. Someone wearing some type of white dress. The face is distorted; it looks like Auden may have rubbed the crayon over it to smear it. But it's definitely a person.

I look up at Mr. Harris, and he's nodding. "She's why it's not safe for them. She came to visit me, and something she said stuck with me, Ian. Lit all the lightbulbs or whatever that stupid saying is when something finally clicks together and makes sense."

Now I'm confused. He's seen Caroline's ghost, too?

"Ian, she's going to hurt Georgia, or Auden. I don't know how I know it, I just do. Call it a father's instinct, but you have to believe me," Mr. Harris pleads. "Haven't you felt uneasy about Auden being in that house?"

I lean back in my chair and raise an eyebrow at him. The hair on the back of my neck prickles up my scalp. There's clearly something I'm missing, something important.

"She hasn't told you yet," Mr. Harris whispers, shaking his head in frustration. "Dammit, Georgia."

"Look, Link," I grind out. "It's half past three in the morning. If you have something to tell me, just spit it out so we can both go back to bed."

I know I'm being an asshole, but I'm tired and still don't know why I needed to leave Georgia's side by rushing here. Everything Link is saying is nonsense.

"Ian, tell me something." Mr. Harris crosses his arms over his chest. "Has Georgia figured out the real reason for your sister's death?"

I snap my head up and glare at him.

"Yes, actually. She told me this evening what really happened that night. How you and Caroline decided it was best to lie to everyone, including my parents. Kind of a shit thing to put on your five-year-old daughter. Did you ever stop and think about how much it destroyed Georgia to keep that secret?" I ask, venom coating my tongue as I try my best to tamper down my anger.

What kind of father would willingly go along with doing this to their own child?

"How much it must have killed her to know that she was responsible for her best friend's death? All while knowing that she wasn't allowed to talk about it? Growing up with the knowledge that her mother couldn't live with having a murderer for a daughter, resulting in Caroline dying because she tried to kill Georgia over an accident ."

Mr. Harris's jaw goes slack, his already pale skin draining of whatever color was left.

"No, no, no," he whispers. "Ian, is that what she believes? That she killed Irene? She thinks that's why Caroline tried to kill her?"

I nod.

"Irene's death wasn't Georgia's fault. It was Caroline's," he says solemnly as he struggles to meet my eyes while he twists his hands in the hospital blanket. "And I think..." Mr. Harris takes a deep, body-shuddering breath, almost as if he's trying to hold his own emotions at bay.

Much like myself.

He finally looks up and meets my confused gaze, my heart pounding hard in my chest while I work on steadying my breathing. I feel like whatever he says next might just break me. And if it doesn't break me, then it most definitely has the chance of breaking Georgia by capsizing everything she's thought to be true throughout her entire life.

"I think, Ian. That Caroline was murdered because of it."

I sit up straighter in my chair. "Wh—what do you mean Caroline killed Irene?" I stutter. "Georgia said it was an accident. How can your late wife be responsible for my sister's death?"

I'm waiting on pins and needles for his response when my phone vibrates in my pocket. I hastily pull it out, seeing Georgia's name flash across the screen. My hands are shaking uncontrollably after Lincoln's life-shattering admission, and the call goes to voicemail before I'm able to answer it.

"Hold on, Link. It's Georgia," I tell him as I unlock my phone and see several missed calls from her and a pending voice message. I bring the phone to my ear and listen to the message, my eyes widening with fear.

I jump to my feet. "Georgia's in trouble. I have to go!" I shout at Lincoln as I rush to the door. I don't wait for his response and throw myself down the sterile hallway.

I don't know what's going on, but Georgia's panicked voicemail replays over and over in my head.

I hope I'm not too late.