Dark Mind (The Dark Mind Trilogy Book 1) by Matthew Goldstein Page B

finishing putting on his pajamas, it came to him; his self-made agreements had failed. Despite his full-fledged attempts at helping Amy, harm had come to her anyway. He was powerless to control the future beyond completing agreements that were given to him. If he lost those, there could be no redemption, and this feeling of helplessness and disappointment overwhelmed him almost as much as Amy’s plight.
    He lay down in bed but his wandering thoughts would not permit sleep so easily. After a few minutes he gave up, went over to his window to look out over the street – and froze. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he was awake but his eyesight was not deceiving him. Standing on the sidewalk in front of his house, staring up at his window, was the boy from the amusement park. He was unmoving, unblinking, as Cole stared back.
    Cole broke the stare and bolted out of his room to catch the kid in the likely case that he fled. Cole had to talk to him, to find out what the hell he was doing following him home. He flew down the stairs, hoping his mother would not be around to stop him or ask questions, and was almost out the door when something in his peripheral vision made him stop. He released the doorknob and spun around, disbelieving his eyes yet again.
    “Mom?” he called quietly.
    She was on the living room carpet, lying face down, her limbs bent at awkward angles.
    “Mom?” He was frantic now, the boy outside just a distant fragment of a thought. He sprinted for his mother but midstride reversed his step and ran into the kitchen instead.
    “Nine one one emergency,” the operator said over the phone.
    “M-my mom, she collapsed on the floor. I don’t know why. My address is three twenty Fulton Street.”
    “Sending someone now. Is she conscious?”
    “I don’t think so. Just hurry. Please.” He slammed the phone into the receiver and returned to his mother. He grabbed her arm and leaned back, toppling himself over as he rolled her onto her back. She was unconscious but still breathing. He lifted her head up onto his lap and gently stroked her hair, praying that she was okay.
    “Why?” he whispered, choking back tears and rocking back and forth. “Is this my fault too? Come on, Mom. Wake up. Please, just wake up.”

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    He sat for a few more minutes in silence until the sound of sirens penetrated the quiet neighborhood. He gently placed his mother’s head on the floor and raced to open the door for the paramedics.
    “In here!” he called to them.
    They carried a stretcher into the house, strapped Meredith onto it and carried her out, Cole trailing behind. They allowed him to sit in the ambulance while they went to work on Meredith.
    “Is she going to be okay?” he asked after a couple minutes.
    “Your mommy will be fine,” one of them answered.
    “Don’t talk to me like I’m an idiot. Tell me what's wrong with her.”
    The medic lost his composure for a second before going back to work. “I - um, I’m not legally allowed to tell you. Let me work so I can help your mother.”
    “Yeah, sorry.” Cole collapsed back into his seat, knowing he would not be getting much useful information from them.
    They arrived at the hospital shortly after and he spent many agonizing minutes in the reception area. Eventually, just when he was getting up to ask someone if he could see his mother, Beth entered the emergency room. She looked like she had been dragged out of bed and was none too happy for it.
    At that moment, Cole could care less about his hatred for her. “Did you talk to them? Do you know what’s wrong with her? Is she okay?”
    Beth sighed. “Yeah, they said she overworked herself even though she was supposed to be taking it easy. She fainted but she’ll be fine. She just has to stay here overnight.”
    “Thank God.” Cole threw his arms around her and hugged her tight.
    Beth looked down, confused for a second, and then patted his head once. “Let’s get home. I don’t want to lose any more