Deliverance Read Free Page A

mind out of the murk, but nothing works. Everyone who’s here is going to see my dreams. I saw the monitors hanging on the walls. I can only assume my thoughts are already playing on the big screens.
    “She’s not fully under,” someone says.
    After another moment, I drift further away. Deeper. Deeper. Deeper.
    “Hey. It’s been a long time.” Fischer smiles at me and I smile back.
    “I missed you,” I say. I tell myself to wipe the stupid grin off my face, but Fischer’s presence has me way too happy.
    He glances away, his lop-sided grin in place. His brown hair has that curl on his forehead, the one I always want to brush from his eyes.
    “I missed you, too,” he says. “You look beautiful.”
    My stomach tingles and I definitely can’t stop the stupid smile now. “Thank you.”
    I look around and see we’re in the hospital, and not just any hospital, the one from Middle City 3. I turn back to Fischer excitedly. “Is she here?”
    Fischer knows who I mean. His dancing eyes dull some, and his easy grin fades away. He doesn’t speak, only shakes his head. “I’m sorry,” he mouths.
    I take a shaky breath and wrap my arms around my middle. “How can I find her?”
    He puts his finger to his lips and shakes his head again.
    And then I remember. He isn’t real, and my thoughts aren’t safe.
    “When can I see you again?” I ask.
    The last time I saw him was a few weeks ago. He had brushed his fingers across my cheek, protected by the darkness of my front porch. That was the night I learned Supreme Moon was sending me away from Middle City 3.
    Fischer doesn’t answer, but his gaze bores into me. His passion for life emanates from every part of him.
    Why doesn’t he speak?
    I feel like I’m stuck in a swamp of dark ink that oozes through my head.
    “Do you think about me?” I ask. It seems like a safer question.
    His smile returns and I relax. “Always.” His voice catches, and he reaches out to brush my cheek again.
    I shiver.
    “I have to go now,” he says.
    “No,” I say. “I just found you.”
    “Keep trying.”
    “Keep trying what? Can’t you stay?”
    He shakes his head.
    He isn’t walking away, but for some reason he’s getting farther and farther from me.
    “Wait!”
    My eyes are gritty and I blink rapidly to clear them.
    It’s only a few moments before I realize I’m awake. Fischer is gone and I’m alone again in Greater City.
    I see Sindy first. She isn’t frowning, but a slight wrinkle creases the middle of her forehead.
    My gaze drags to one of the doctors across the room. He huffs and begins pushing buttons on the monitors to shut them down.
    “What happened?” I ask. My voice comes out dry and scratchy, and I swallow hard.
    Sindy glides over with a glass of water. “You finished your test.”
    “So soon?” It went much too fast. I take the water and gulp it down. The desert in my throat disappears.
    “You were out for nearly two hours.”
    How is that possible? I only spoke with Fischer for a few minutes.
    If I was out that long, I could have said things I don’t remember. I swing around to the big screen, like my evil doings will be posted for all to see. It’s blank. Empty. I glance up at the windows, but Supreme Moon is gone. What did he hear in my thoughts?
    “You did fine,” Sindy says.
    Her frown has smoothed away, but I can tell she’s unhappy. I don’t know how to interpret that. Is she unhappy because I dreamed about something incriminating? Or is she unhappy because I didn’t dream about something incriminating?
    She doesn’t say either way, so I have to trust that if something is wrong I will find out.
    Of course, if I dreamed about any of the Christians I met in Middle City 3, I will have no way of knowing.
    My stomach churns and my throat erupts with hot, bitter liquid.
    Sindy holds out a trash bin immediately, almost like she was expecting it.
    “It’s the medication that puts you to sleep,” she says. “It’s common. You’ll feel better