“So, you don’t care if Everly stays? I’m not letting her out of my sight, so if she can’t stay, I’m not staying. We planned to stay tonight and head back to town tomorrow morning. We would bring your car back and then stay at my apartment in town.”
“She didn’t drive here?” Jennifer’s eyebrows rose. “Why not?”
Everly looked at Caleb. If he wasn’t going to tell her, she would. Jennifer had a right to know. Caleb remained silent.
“That was the plan until we saw the fog rolling in. I ran up to get my overnight bag from the bar, and it enveloped us so thick, we barely made it to the car. I think Caleb broke all the driving rules getting back here.”
“The fog is coming in already?” Jennifer glanced at her watch. “It’s not even dinnertime yet. Oh, this is not good. Not good at all.” She looked hard at Caleb. “Why is she telling me this and not you? Did you see something in the fog you don’t want to talk about?”
Caleb wrapped his arm around Everly’s waist as if he needed her support. “Why would you think that? I was just thinking about how to explain it when she spoke up. I was going to warn you to be careful, too.”
Jennifer leaned in close and studied Caleb’s eyes. He was hiding something. Her cellphone rang before she could investigate further.
“It’s the doctor. I have to run. Do not leave this house under any circumstances, you hear me? Everly can move in for all I care if it keeps you safe. Besides, I’ll have the car, so you’re kind of stuck here, anyway. But don’t go outside! Not for any reason. Keep the doors locked, and the windows closed.” She took her keys from Caleb and rushed outside, driving off before they could say anything.
The drive to the hospital was uneventful, and Jennifer saw none of the fog Caleb mentioned. She found that odd, though she believed them. Everly’s voice still held a bit of fear when she talked about the incident. Where did the fog go?
She had little time to worry about it, though, as she parked and made her way into the hospital. Dave pulled her indoors quickly and proceeded to lock the doors behind her.
“You’re locking the doors? We’ve never locked the doors to the hospital before,” she said.
“You can’t see that fog?” Dave pointed outside.
Jennifer cast a look beyond the window. She saw nothing but sunshine. “No, I don’t. It’s sunny, no sign of fog, not even near the creek.”
The doctor's complexion turned to ash. Jennifer grabbed his arms in alarm.
“Dave?” she snapped her fingers in front of his nose, trying to turn his focus away from the window. “Dave!”
Nothing worked. The doctor froze, his mouth gaping, and terror widening his eyes. She tried turning him around physically, but his feet were glued in place.
“He’s in shock!” she said out loud. The sound of her voice didn’t even break his focus, so she smacked him across the face. He stumbled backwards, breathing heavily. She turned him away from the window and led him down the hall. Whatever he saw out there, she refused to let him see it again. She pulled him into an empty room and pressed the call button.
“Who’s in there?” a nurse answered. “This is an empty room.”
“Marsha, it’s Jennifer. Dr. Peptic needs...something. He’s gone into shock.”
“Oh gosh! I’ll be right there.”
The two nurses bustled around the doctor, checking his vitals—blood pressure low, heart rate high—and forcing him to lay back on the bed. Marsha stuck a pillow under his head and once they had him settled in, they moved to the hall to talk.
“What’s wrong with him?” Marsha asked.
“He said something strange about seeing the fog and...oh, I don’t know.” Jennifer covered her face with her hands. She took a deep breath, suddenly wishing she’d never taken the nursing classes. “He’s too young for a heart attack, but the way he runs himself ragged as a doctor, who knows. What bothers me more is what he saw in it that terrified him. Caleb just had an encounter with the fog, too. Said it followed him home.”
Why can’t I see the fog?
She wanted to ask Marsha if she could see the fog, but she was afraid of her answer. What if she was the only one who couldn’t see the fog? How could she protect the people she loved if she couldn’t even see the danger coming?
“I hope this isn’t an omen of what the night’s going to be like. I enjoy our quiet evenings.”
Jennifer chewed her lip.
“What?” Marsha asked. She knew Jennifer well enough to realize she hid something.
“He locked the doors. No one else is getting in the hospital tonight.”
Marsha startled. “He did what? We never close. I thought he was just going to lock the internal doors if necessary. He locked the entry doors too?”
“Yes. He mumbled something about the fog as I came in, locked the doors, and then, well, I already told you the rest.”
“He found Jim Miller in the lobby this morning. Jim suffered a stroke that led to a heart attack. Word is he was pretty delirious, mumbling on about the fog, too.”
“Is he still here?” Jennifer’s soft-soled shoes squeaked on the linoleum as they walked down the hall. They stopped just short of the nurses' station.
“No.” Marsha hesitated. “Well, that’s not entirely accurate. His body is. He died earlier today.”
Jennifer’s heart hammered against her chest. Butterflies fluttered around in her stomach. Nausea threatened to set them loose.
“Jennifer?” Marsha looked at her coworker with concern.
Jennifer pulled her cellphone from her pocket. “I have to make a phone call,” she said, without acknowledging Marsha. She turned away from the nurses' station and made her way back the way they had come.
“Caleb,” she sighed with relief when he answered on the first ring. “Can I talk to Everly?”
“Sure, Ma, but why?”
Jennifer hissed.
Caleb passed the phone to Everly.
“Jennifer?” Everly said.
“Can you see the fog? You can, can’t you?”
“Yes. What scares me is what I can’t see.”
“And what scares me is what the men see. Caleb saw something in the fog, I’m sure of it. Please, will you make sure the blinds are down in all the windows of the house?”
“I already did that, and I know he did. He won’t tell me about it, either, but I’ll keep trying.”
A rush of air filled Jennifer as relief washed over her. Caleb was safe and would remain safe with Everly there.
“Thank you.” Jennifer hoped Everly understood the gratitude behind it. “I have to go. Please, keep him safe.”
“I’ll do my best. I don’t want to lose him, either.”
Jennifer disconnected and decided to check on Dr. Peptic. He was alert and just about to disconnect himself as she walked in.
“Not yet, please, Dave,” she said.
“Why am I hooked up in the first place?” The light caught in his eyes and for a moment, they seemed to have a silver tint to them. She blinked and looked again. They were his normal blue.
“Something happened when I got here. Your pulse raced, and your blood pressure dropped. You went into shock. You froze in place, just staring into the fog. And now I find out Jim Miller died after an incident with the fog, too. I’m worried about you.”