The Dream Thief, Kari Kilgore [reading well TXT] 📗

leaving without changing clothes first, partly for that reason.

This time he'd been too worried about running into Loretta to take the chance of going back to his own blasted apartment.

He stared at his feet at the stop for Loretta's house. If her Building had caused this, or at least contributed, that had happened weeks ago. He couldn't blame her for that, and there wasn't even any way to know for certain.

But she'd been gone more and more lately, even after the deliveries she had stacked up should have been finished. Karl had started to suspect she wasn't spending the night out at Gemma's during the week after all.

He had a terrible suspicion she'd been Building again, outside of the Builds they did together with patients. He was in too deep with her already, too afraid to ask any of the questions blazing through his mind.

Unless she'd changed her spiral pattern, something he didn't think Loretta was likely to do, she'd likely passed close by Rethia's house again over the last couple of nights. That shouldn't make any difference if she hadn't aimed her blasted Dragon at his sister, but he couldn't dismiss the horrible possibility.

When Karl stepped off the trolley, he tried to convince himself the other passengers weren't relieved, but he didn't pay close attention. That was just another truth he didn't want to risk seeing. Standing on the porch of his parents' house, he'd run out of time to avoid anything at all.

He knocked before he realized that was yet another thing he'd never done before. He started to open the door, but his mother beat him to it.

"Oh, Karl."

Klia Gilmore pulled him into a hug, but not before Karl saw her red eyes, her blotchy face. Her curly graying hair hung loose almost to her waist, just about long enough to touch the full black skirt she wore. The same kind of skirt Loretta often wore.

"Mother, what happened? Is Rethia okay?"

She drew back, wiping at her eyes with a lacy black handkerchief.

"She's sleeping right now, poor thing, just going to pieces. Of course I understand why." She stopped, covering her eyes and reaching out for Karl's hand. He held tight. "She woke up this morning in labor. It's a little early, but no one thought it was anything to worry about. The doctor was there before everything got started. He screamed so loud when he was born."

Karl had known that was coming from the letter, that the baby would be a boy, but his heart stopped anyway. He stepped forward to close the door, then took his mother's arm to walk her into her correspondence room. He hoped she'd draw comfort from her own private space.

"He was absolutely perfect, Karl," she said, sitting on the loveseat beside him. "The cord wasn't round his neck, no marks or bruises, nothing. He was smaller than he should have been, but he looked as normal as you did. He was fine, for a little while. Then he stopped moving. We thought he was asleep, but he stopped breathing before the doctor even left."

"Did the doctor have any idea what happened?"

"No, except that he'd seen it a few times," she said. "Almost like the baby got so far and something stopped developing. Maybe his brain, but they're not sure. He was okay as long as Rethia's body was supporting him. He couldn't make it on his own."

Karl was relieved she covered her eyes again. He had no illusions he'd be able to keep up the appearance of mourning and worry. He didn't have to ask the doctor or anyone else if the trouble had been in his nephew's brain, or when it had stopped developing.

He knew. Down to the day and the hour.

He knew.

"I'm so sorry, Mother. Did that cause any trouble for Rethia?"

"Oh no, the doctor said she's going to be fine, thank The Crown. Physically, anyway. I'm more worried about Gerald than her. He's not doing well at all."

"Is he here?" Karl said. "I can try to talk to him."

She shook her head, her normal brisk motion. As was so often the case, a suggestion she thought inappropriate helped bring her back to herself.

"He's with Rethia, and just as well. He was nearly passing out on his feet." She started to get to her feet, then she froze, starting at Karl's chest. "Please tell me you didn't read that."

Karl looked down, with no idea what she was talking about. He reached for the envelope with the dark green seal, but she plucked it away.

"I sent that yesterday," she said, wincing. "I said the most horrible things, certainly with what's happened. Hard to believe I was upset about something as minor as you not visiting for a while when everything was about to fall apart."

Karl clenched his free hand into a painful fist, trying to give his aching jaws a break. It had been way past his normal pathetic schedule of once a month, and he hadn't even bothered to let his mother know why. Mainly because he'd lost all track of the days and nights.

"Well, I didn't read it," he said. "I deserved it in any case. I'm sorry. It's been a little crazy at work. Listen, what can I do to help?"

She smiled a tiny bit.

"Everything is calm for now with the two of them asleep," she said. "I'm sure Andy would appreciate the company upstairs. He's been a dear watching all the younger ones and the cousins for me all day. His patience only goes so far, though."

"I'll go right now, but only if you promise to get some rest, too."

She smiled and patted his hand.

"I will now that you're here, I promise. This is probably the best chance I'll get for a few days."

Chapter 50

Loretta pushed the door to Gemma's house open, glad to be out of the sour-smelling tunnel. She'd helped her grandmother install the charcoal air cleaner, but she wasn't quite sure why it worked. She didn't care. Anything that removed the