“But, sweetheart.”
“No,” I bite out. “When you were told I was in here, how quickly did you leave the house?”
“She was walking out the house still talking to me on the phone,” Emmie answers, and my mum glances at her then back to me.
“Exactly.” I shake my head. “Anyway, I don’t want to talk about him. When can I go home?”
My mum brightens.“Well, the doctor said she would come and see you around six, and if you were awake by then, you’d be able to go home. She’s fudging your notes to say you weren’t as bad as you looked when you came in...” My mum’s voice peters off, and she stares out the window for a moment, tapping her index finger against her lips. “It’s weird, though…how you healed so quickly.”
“So, Mum, are you staying in the London flat still?” I ask, changing the subject.
“Yes, you can come home with me.”
“What, no!” I sit up forcefully.
“Glad they took all the machines off you before you started jumping around like that,” Emmie mutters, and I try to scorch her with my gaze, but she just rolls her eyes and grins.
“Juniper, you need to be close so I can keep an eye on you,” Mum says, trying to gently push me back down on the bed, but I refuse.
“No, Mum.” I sigh when I see the sadness in her eyes. “I love you, Mum, so much, but I need to get back to normal, surely you understand…”
I let the words hang in the air, and I see the thoughts flitter through her eyes. When she was sick before Jacobi saved her, not that she remembers that now, she hated people fussing over her. She wanted to live as normal a life as possible.
“I know this is hard for you. I’m still your baby,” I say, trying to soften the blow, “and I will visit on…” I look towards Emmie. “What day is it?” I ask her.
She smiles. “Sunday morning.”
“Tomorrow, after school?” I offer.
Mum sighs and then nods. “Okay, but I’m going to spoil you with salted caramel ice cream after dinner.”
I giggle. “I think I can manage being spoiled with ice cream,” I say, giving her another hug.
My mum has literally just left my flat. Emmie stayed behind under the guise of sleeping over and having a film night, but there’s something weird going on with her, and really I just want to be on my own so I can try and get hold of Jacobi.
“So, you want to watch a film?” I question Emmie.
“No!” she states, standing and throwing her arms in the air.
My eyes widen with shock, not sure why she’s raising her voice.
“What’s wrong with you?” I snap. My head feels tight, and I’m irritable.
“I saw him,” she snaps back.
“Who?” I’m confused.
“Jacobi.”
My breathing gets slightly harder when I realise where this is going. “W-what?” I stutter.
She nods and purses her lips. “Yeah, I saw him.” She folds her arms. “He saved you,” she whisper hisses, looking around as though someone may appear any minute and drag her away for knowing such a big secret.
“How…” I can’t speak. My throat is dry and scratchy.
“I walked into your hospital room, and he was saving you. I mean, at first I thought he was trying to kill you. You know, finishing Taya’s handy work,” she growls. “But then his hand was here,” she says, placing her palm against her own heart, “and he was giving you something, like a magic elixir.” She shrugs. “Anyway, I asked him what he was doing. He told me he was saving you, and then he left, but Juni…he was…he was blue, and he had wings,” she whispers, like it’s a secret and someone might be listening.
I laugh. “I know, and yes, he did save me.” My laughter slips away, along with my smile when I remember he’s gone again.
I know he was there, and I know he saved me. There’s no question in my gut that he was the one. I even vaguely remember him being there in his beautiful angelic form, but I also know he left, and I don’t understand why.
He kissed me again. He must have done to initiate the change, and I’m sure he mumbled some words, but my mind can’t quite access that information. It’s like the whole episode is blurry and muffled.
“What the hell is he?” Emmie asks, her eyes wide as she lowers herself onto the sofa next to me.
“So, no movies?” I tease.
“Ugh!” she shouts, flapping her arms about.
I laugh again and steal myself, knowing I have to tell her. Jacobi allowed her to see him. I know he can make himself invisible, but he allowed her to see him, so I’m not going to lie to her.
I take a deep breath in then let it out in a rush. “Okay, he’s called a Guardian.”
“A Guardian,” she breathes out.
“He can save people or kill them,” I continue.
“Kill them?” Her eyes widen as she slams a hand over her mouth.
“I seem to be the catalyst.”
“The catalyst?” she repeats.
“Are you going to sit there all night copying me?” I huff out.
“Copying me,” she reiterates then breaks into a fit of laugher which is wholly inappropriate right now, but I can’t help laughing along with her before hitting her around the back of the head.
“This is serious.”
“No shit, Sherlock,” she retorts. “I thought he was an arse. Yet all this time, he’s been saving people.”
“Or killing them,” I remind her. It’s something I try to remember.
“So, he’s a good guy?” she questions quietly.
“I…I…” I shrug. “He is to me.”
Her mouth drops open. “You like him.” She points at me and jumps up on the sofa, bouncing around like an idiot.
Snorting out a chuckle, I let my head drop back onto the sofa and look up at her. “I’ve loved him since we were fifteen,” I finally admit to my best friend.
She jumps down and sits next to me. “No wonder you never got with Sebastian.”
I shrug. “I’m pretty sure he doesn’t feel the same way about me, though.”
“Who? Sebastian?” she asks, her eyebrows pulled in tight.
“No, Jacobi,” I reply, exasperated.
“Oh, yeah. He’s kind of busy being the king of the school with Taya… although, didn’t they break up?”
I shrug. “Who knows?” I look at Emmie seriously. “I bet nothing happens to her. You’ve all avoided talking about the fact she ran me over. That tells me all I need to know.”
Emmie looks down at her lap. “Her dad.” Her eyes meet mine again. “I guess he spoke to your dad.” She shrugs. Emmie, like most of us, has no idea how Taya can get away with the stuff she does.
“Great! I could have died, and she’ll be prancing the halls of Caspian tomorrow without a care in the world.”
Emmie doesn’t respond, because we both know it’s the truth.
“Come on, let’s watch some films and veg,” I encourage, and Emmie smiles sadly at me, a glisten of tears in her eyes.
“I’m just going to call James and let him know what’s going on, okay?” she murmurs.