She frowns. “Knew what?”
“I saw us running in one of Jaden’s visions. At the very end, I realized it was Daniel, not Cregg. But I couldn’t warn Deo. I couldn’t keep myself from yelling for him to go faster. From saying I thought it was Cregg behind us, even though part of my brain knew it was Daniel. Jaden says that’s just how the visions work. Whatever you saw happen, that’s what happens. I forgot about Deo having the gun. It wasn’t in the vision. And once I reached that part of the vision in real life, the words just wouldn’t form in time. If they had, Deo would never have shot Daniel. That’s why I was going after Deo. He’s kicking himself for something that’s not really his fault.”
“Well, I’m not surprised.” Kelsey’s mouth does this thing, where it kind of squinches up on one side. I’ve seen it dozens of times, and it means she’s about to hit me with some insight that’s almost certainly right but isn’t what I want to hear. “You’ve given him an excellent role model.”
“What?”
“You’re doing it right now. Blaming yourself for something over which you have no control. Trying to shoulder all of the responsibility. He’s not a child anymore—”
“I know.”
“Then let him take some responsibility for his actions.”
“But it wasn’t—”
“If you only see what happens, if you can’t change it, then the vision is irrelevant. The mistake you made was thinking the man chasing after you was Cregg. The mistake Deo made was firing the gun based on that information. He was terrified that Cregg might get into his head again. Make him turn the gun on himself or even on you. And he made a very understandable mistake, as you did. If you want to help Deo get through this, let him own his mistake.”
“And if Daniel dies? That’s a big mistake for a fifteen-year-old kid to own.”
“So you should take on both halves? With everything else you have on your . . .” She stops, probably because my attention is now elsewhere.
Ashley’s here. She stands in the middle of the corridor, eyes darting nervously.
“Ashley?”
“Anna.” She doesn’t seem surprised that we made it out. “I’m looking for Daniel. Is he okay?”
“His condition was just upgraded to serious. You’d know what that means better than I do. All I know is that he lost a lot of blood.”
“What happened?” Her eyes are red and swollen, and her hands work nervously at the strap of the purse on her shoulder. She seems on the verge of even more tears. That makes me wonder if Taylor’s assessment that Daniel was seeing someone wasn’t correct after all. Ashley looks way too upset to simply be checking up on a coworker, even if they were also coconspirators. “Is he conscious? Can I see him?”
Her volume rises with each question. Several other people in the waiting room give her an annoyed glare before going back to their books, naps, or iPads.
“I’m so sorry.” Kelsey is using her soft voice, the one she seems to slip into naturally when someone is in emotional distress. “It’s only immediate family right now, but when they get back, they might be able to put in a special request for you to see him. Why don’t you sit down over here? Anna, could you get . . . ?” She pauses, waiting for me to fill in the name.
“Ashley,” I say. “Ashley Swinton.”
Ashley physically startles. I have no clue why my remembering her last name sets her off, but it obviously does.
“Could you get Ashley something to drink, Anna?”
“Sure. I’ll be right back.”
Whoa, she’s freakin’ out. I did not know she and Daniel had a thing.
Why would you?
Jaden laughs.
The morning after you arrived, Maria took great pleasure in telling all the guys in the place that the new blonde on the Highside wasn’t going to be impressed with their sorry asses ’cause she had a thing for someone on the outside. But . . . Ashley might just be upset about her sister. Maybe she was one of the wabbits they decided not to transport. I think I’d believe that before I’d believe Maria missed a hookup between two Fudds.
Aaron shoots a questioning look over the officer’s shoulder. I don’t know if it’s because I’m standing here, spaced and blushing, or because he’s wondering about Ashley. Either way, I can’t really answer him.
Ashley mumbles a thank-you when I give her the water, but her eyes keep shooting over to the police talking to Aaron and Taylor.
“I’m glad you escaped before the fire got out of control. I never got a chance to really thank you for helping me when Lucas—”
“You thanked me already.” Her tone makes it clear that she really, really doesn’t want to discuss it, and I’m actually okay with that.
“Do you know what happened? Was the place on fire when you left?”