Read Online Like a Charm by Candace Havens - Free Book Online

conductor
Biophysicist
Architect
Astronaut
Librarian
Dance therapist
Museum curator
Gymnastics coach
Truck driver
Design magazine editor
Magician
Teacher
Artist
----

Chapter 6
    For life be, after all, only a waitin’ for somethin’ else than what we’re doin’, and death be all that we can rightly depend on.
    DRACULA
    By Stoker, Bram, 1847–1912
    Call #: F-STO
    Description: vi, 326 p.; 21cm
    I ’m not sure what woke me at three a.m. I’d had a series of strange dreams. Funny, since I can’t remember having a dream since I left Sweet for college.
    It’s unusual, but true. When I moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, for school, I stopped dreaming. I was barely seventeen at the time. I think the pressure of trying to fit in and the hours of study kept me from any frivolous thinking. Or perhaps it was that I spent most of my waking hours in the Langdell Reading Room of the Harvard Law School Library, and by the time I made it back to my dorm all I could do was pass out from exhaustion.
    For me dreaming was a luxury, and my first one back in Sweet had Caleb, dressed in a letterman’s jacket and jeans, asking me to go steady. I wore a pink poodle skirt that was very itchy on the inside. He kept asking, and giving me this strange look, but I couldn’t get my mouth to work. All I could think about was scratching.
    The next dream was weirder. During a job interview I suddenly realized I didn’t have on any clothes. I kept trying to hide my boobs and other parts with a carefully placed Marc Jacobs tote.
    Then the dream shifted to the truly bizarre. I looked down to find myself on the stepladder at the library. I tried to shelve books, but I couldn’t remember the alphabet. A fog had entered my brain and I could barely remember my name.
    There were men and women standing all around me, whispering, but I didn’t understand what they were saying. Then I saw Mrs. Canard in the biography and nonfiction section. “It will be okay, dear, you’ll learn it all soon enough. I’ll be here for you when I can.”
    Then I woke, sitting straight up in bed and gasping for air.
    Sweat dripped down my face and I was twisted in the sheets.
    My cell rang in my bag across the room, and I jumped out of bed to grab it, stumbling on the sheets as I went.
    â€œHello?” I said as I tried to catch my breath.
    â€œKira, it’s Sam.” He sounded sad.
    I looked at the clock. It was exactly three a.m., and nothing good ever happened this time of morning. “What’s wrong?”
    â€œIt’s Mrs. Canard; she’s had a stroke.”
    Making my way back across the room, I sat on the bed. My brain wasn’t fully functioning quite yet. “How bad is it?”
    He cleared his throat. “I don’t think she has long. It hit the brain stem. She has a DNR, so there’s not a lot we can do.”
    â€œDNR?” I knew what the letters meant, but I couldn’t believe it.
    â€œDo not resuscitate. We’re having trouble finding her family. I know how close you two are and I thought maybe you’d want to come down to the hospital.”
    â€œOf course. I’ll be right there. And, um, she said something about the family being in Vancouver.”
    A sinking sadness overwhelmed me and the tears fell the minute I clicked the off button. I wouldn’t let myself lose it. Mrs. Canard needed me. My hands shook as I threw on clothes and shoes. I pulled my hair into a ponytail, grabbed the keys, and took off.
    Though it was only a ten-minute drive, it seemed to take forever. I pushed away tears the entire trip. She had believed in me and loved me at a time when I didn’t think anyone else did. My heart ached. She’s going to be okay. You just saw her. She’s going to be okay.
    Outside the emergency room I dug around for some tissues in the console of the car. Finding one, I cleaned my face, got out, and then headed inside.
    No one sat behind the