Read Online Uncanny Day by Cory Clubb - Free Book Online

thought had never occurred to me. A tumor. My thoughts flashed to Stephanie.
    â€œStephanie Daniels is alive,” I blurted out.
    Dean whipped his head to me, mouth open. “Whoa. Is she okay?”
    â€œShe’s in a coma,” I replied.
    Dean ran his hands through his hair. “That’s major. How did you find out?”
    I broke our eye contact and answered, “Kate Huddy told me.”
    The name went on like a lightbulb in Dean’s mind. He knew what I was going to ask next and spoke. “Look, man. I didn’t tell her anything, and for the record, I barely even talk to her in general. Maybe some school stuff for the paper, but that’s it. I don’t think she likes me very much.”
    I put my finger up to cue my next words. “Specify what you didn’t tell her.”
    Dean shrugged his shoulders. “Dude, come on—you know me. We’re brothers. I didn’t tell her that !”
    I sighed in relief. How could I have read so much into what I had seen in Kate’s notebook? I was becoming more paranoid lately and needed to lighten up. “Good. Because she and I are going to the dance together.”
    Dean threw his head back and let out a laugh that alarmed a few neighborhood dogs. Then he held up his hand. I slapped it.
    â€œWe’ve got to tell Mom and Dad all this!” Dean said.
    The words were said so naturally, just as if they were true. We both knew better. I saved the awkward moment and hefted out a laugh. We both rose to our feet.
    â€œFirst, I need your help.”

Chapter Seventeen
    I WAS HIT IN the face with the sterile smell of white, if that’s even possible, as Dean and I entered the Murray Regional Hospital. The place was pretty nice, and I was sure the pins-and-needles feeling was just nerves. This is going to be just like reading a football player’s mind—quick and easy, I thought. But I couldn’t shake the feeling of the last time I’d been here, in the ER with broken ribs. I had been so totally out of it that I didn’t really remember much.
    â€œThis way,” Dean said, angling down a hall and stopping at an elevator directory. “We need to be on the third floor.”
    I nodded, taking a deep breath.
    â€œAre you sure you want to do this?” Dean asked me for the tenth time.
    â€œYeah, it’s my decision,” I said. I had to be firm with myself.
    Dean and I loaded ourselves onto the elevator, rode it up, and got off on the third floor, the Intensive Care Unit. A nurse sitting at a semicircle desk looked up at us.
    â€œCan I help you boys?” she asked.
    I almost turned around and ran. Why was this so hard? Dean noticed my hesitation and answered, “Yeah, um, we’re here to see Stephanie Daniels.”
    The nurse looked us over. “It’s sort of late and past visiting hours, you two,” she said, a stern look on her face.
    Dean gave her one of his charming smiles. “This is her boyfriend,” he said, slinging an arm around my neck. I did my best to look sheepish.
    She sighed and looked at her watch a second time. “Have a seat in the waiting room and I’ll go check for you,” she said, either defeated or tired. She pointed to a door in the corner of the hallway. Inside, Dean and I took seats across from each other.
    â€œNice save,” I told Dean.
    â€œThe perfect cover,” he replied.
    He was right. I was here for Stephanie, but that pins-and-needles feeling wasn’t because of her. Sitting in that waiting room, I was the closest I’d been to Dad in months. The Murray Institute psych wing was a just a mere elevator ride away. I’d seen the location on the directory. Even being in Dad’s vicinity made me shudder. I supposed there was a part of me that knew this when making the choice to come here. What did I expect? Dad was just going to jump out of nowhere, wielding a knife, wildly swinging at me, trying to finish the job