Page 10 of All Your Tomorrows

“Dammit,” Kyler cursed.

“I’m sorry,” I said, turning to face him. “She just caught me off guard.”

“Try again,” he said. “Make her listen to you.”

I cocked my head. “Kyler. She’s gonna call the police if I push her.”

“Then let her,” he said.

“I want to help you. I really do. But we need another approach.” I noticed movement by the side of the house. I stepped down one of the steps and looked over. A gray-haired woman in light blue scrubs stepped out of a medical van parked in the long driveway. “Who’s she?” I asked Kyler.

“I have no idea.”

She noticed me staring at her and called over, “Can I help you?”

I stepped off the front steps and approached her. “I’m Nora,” I said. “I was a friend of Kyler’s.”

Sympathy shone in her eyes. “I’m Sue. I can let you in.”

“Oh…I…” I glanced at Kyler who shrugged.

Sue watched me as I tried to decide if that was the right move or not. It wasn’t like I could just ask Kyler what I should do. Sue checked her watch. “I really need to get in to see Mr. Fletcher.”

“What’s wrong with my dad?” Kyler asked with fear in his voice.

“Is Mr. Fletcher ill?” I asked her.

Confusion filled her features. “Mr. Fletcher has been in a coma since his accident.”

My eyes widened as I looked to Kyler who seemed just as shocked as I was. “I’m alive?” he said, clearly unable to grasp what she’d just told us.

I looked back to Sue. “He’s still alive?”

“If you call a coma alive,” she said.

Oh. My. God.

“That wasn’t in the article?” Kyler asked me.

“I never finished reading it,” I said to him, just as awed as he was. “My phone alarm rang, and I needed to lock up the café.”

“What?” Sue asked, confused by my mention of things she didn’t understand. Why would she understand?Ididn’t understand. I’d been speaking to a spirit who was still alive in that house!

“Jesus Christ,” Kyler said, still reeling from the news.

I acknowledged Sue and tried to offer her some version of the truth. “The news article about the accident. I thought Kyler was dead. I saw the word coma and never finished reading it. That’s why I didn’t realize he was still with us.”That, and the fact that I’d only ever seen the spirit of adeadperson.But Kylerwasn’tdead.

“It’s certainly been a difficult year,” Sue said.

“Yeah,” I agreed, unable to wrap my own head around how all of this was unraveling. “Does Kyler get many visitors?”

“Melanie seems to be the only one who ever stops by these days. Poor girl. I can’t imagine having been in that car when…well…when you know,” she said.

I nodded.

“Did you want to see him?” Sue asked.

I winced. “I don’t think Mrs. Fletcher trusts me since I haven’t stopped by before.”