Awake at Dawn

Sara opened her eyes. "The oncologist said he'd try to get me into experimental trials, but ... he thinks it's too late." A sheen of tears filled Sara's eyes. "Mom says I'm doing it, but..." Sara swallowed. "I don't want to die." Her lips trembled. "But I can still hear my mom saying dozens of times that if she ever got cancer, she'd rather die than go through what they put her mama through. She said they butchered her mom. I don't want to deal with that. The one surgery was bad enough."

Kylie recalled the dreams of knives coming at her. She looked at Sara's abdomen. "When did you have surgery?"

"Last week," Sara answered. "I'd missed so many periods. The clinic doctor felt a mass when she was checking me. Two days later, I was in the hospital."

"Why didn't you call me?"

Sara bit down on her lip. "I did. I didn't tell you that I thought I had cancer, but..."

Guilt filled Kylie's chest. The ghost, Sara's grandmother, had been trying to get her to listen to the message. The same message she had played earlier.

"Couldn't they take it out?"

Sara shook her head. "There's too much. It's everywhere."

The ache in Kylie's heart doubled. She recalled Trey's message that had been sent to everyone at the B&B. Why had the ghost sent Trey's message? "Trey?"

Sara looked down at her hands. "I'm sorry. I swear I didn't mean it to happen. I'd drunk too much. He'd drunk too much."

"What?" Kylie asked.

Sara looked up. "Shit. He hasn't told you, has he?"

It took only a second to digest what Sara said-it took less time for Kylie to know it wasn't important.

"I asked him to tell you because I couldn't stand it. He promised he would."

"He tried. I didn't take his calls. But I don't care, Sara." She took Sara's hand in hers and squeezed. "Trey and I are ... so over. You're what's important."

Another tear crawled down Sara's pale cheek. "You're not just saying that because I'm dying, are you?" Sara tried to make it a joke. Kylie didn't laugh. "No."

Sara pulled her hand out of Kylie's. "You're hot."

"You can do it." The ghost's voice came right behind Kylie's ear. "It's your touch."

Kylie looked back at the spirit. "Do you mean ... like Helen?"

"What?" Sara asked.

Kylie continued to stare at the ghost.

"Do it," the ghost said. "Please. Heal her. Before it's too late."

"I don't know how," Kylie muttered.

"Am I hallucinating or are you talking to yourself?" Sara asked. "I mean, I am on some pretty good drugs right now."

Kylie looked back at Sara. "No." She felt the cold of the ghost inch closer.

"No, I'm not hallucinating or no, you're not talking to yourself?"

"No to both." Kylie tried to think. Could she really do this? She looked down at Sara's grandmother's picture. "What's her name?"

"Fanny Mildred Bogart." Sara laughed. "I'm glad Mama didn't name me after her." It obviously hurt Sara to laugh because she moaned and dropped back on the pillow. When she opened her eyes, she stared at the photograph. "Do you want to hear something crazy?"

"What?" Kylie asked, but she thought she already knew what Sara was going to say.

"Sometimes I think she's here."

"She is here." Kylie took Sara's hand again and struggled to know how much to tell Sara.

Sara chuckled. "Now you believe in ghosts, huh?"

"Yup." Kylie inhaled. "You'd be surprised what I believe in now."

"Like what?" Sara asked.

"Like miracles." Kylie looked at Fanny.

"I could use a miracle." Sara smiled and tried to pull her hand away. "Why is your hand so hot?"

"How do I do this?" Kylie asked the spirit, holding on to Sara's hand. "Do what?" Sara asked, her voice sounding as tired as her eyes looked. "I don't know how, I just know that you have the power."

"That's not helpful," Kylie responded.

"You're talking to yourself again," Sara said, but she'd stopped trying to pull her hand away.

"I know," Kylie told Sara. Then Kylie remembered how Helen, the fairy who had the ability to heal, had touched Kylie's head when she'd checked her for tumors. And Helen had said that's what she'd done when she had healed her sister's cancer.

Dropping Sara's hand, Kylie scooted up to the head of Sara's bed. She brushed Sara's bangs from her brow. Then she reached over with her other hand and touched both of Sara's temples.

"What are you doing?" Sara asked, looking at Kylie and making a funny face.

"Trying to help you relax," Kylie said, knowing it sounded lame. "Okay, this camp has turned you weird," Sara said, and started to reach up to move Kylie's hands.

"Tell her that your mom did this for you when you weren't feeling good," Fanny said.

Good idea. "My mom used to do this to me, and it really made me feel good."

Sara dropped her hands down. "Okay, but if you try to kiss me, I'm screaming for my mom." Sara giggled.

"What? I'm not your type?" Kylie asked, and giggled, and then she tried to concentrate on positive healing thoughts.

It was after nine that night when Kylie left Sara's house. When she'd been there for about an hour, Kylie had slipped into the bathroom and called her mom. She cried when she told her mom about Sara's cancer. Her mom said she'd call Mrs. Jetton tomorrow and that Kylie should stay with Sara as long as she wanted but to call before she started home. Kylie didn't leave until Sara went to sleep. She had forgotten to call her mom, but since she lived close, she didn't worry.

Her neighborhood was dark, no streetlights-no lights on in the houses, either. A power outage, Kylie told herself as she fought an urgent sense of unease.

And that's when it happened.

Something large hit the windshield of her car.