Catch Me When I Fall Read Online Free PDF

shrugged. “Probably. Hey, you want to get food?”
    I chuckled at her sudden change in thought. “Sure.”
    We evaporated.

    At nine o’clock, Tabbi and I returned to Kayla’s room. She was sitting on her bed, a textbook open in front of her and a notebook in her lap. I guessed I shouldn’t have been surprised that she still had to remain up-to-speed in school. Her large, hazel eyes flicked back and forth across the pages, and her hand scribbled notes with a mechanical pencil.
    Following a knock at her door, Kayla slid her notebook into the pages of her textbook, marking where she’d left off, and set her book on the floor. She stood with a wince as a nurse entered with more medicine.
    “How are you feeling?” the nurse asked.
    “I’m still in a lot of pain. Was there nothing else Dr. Malcolm could give me?”
    “The doctor prescribed you more Vicodin, but if you still can’t sleep, let us know.” She handed Kayla the small, paper cup. Kayla took the pills and downed them in one big gulp of water.
    The nurse turned off the light and left the room, then Kayla crawled into bed. Within minutes her soft snores filled the room.
    “Okay, kiddo. You’re up,” I said to Tabbi.
    Tabbi’s eyes tightened in concentration as she climbed onto the bed, positioning one leg on either side of Kayla’s body. She leaned forward, tucking her red hair behind her ears, held her hands close to Kayla’s face and closed her eyes. The dream Tabbi created for Kayla shone on the wall above her bed.
    At the beach, a young Kayla was carried on the back of a man I guessed was her father. He had the same dark hair and the same hazel eyes, and their smiles were identical. Kayla’s arms linked around his neck, and her legs wrapped around his waist. Laughing, they barreled into the ocean until the water got deep enough for her father to fall backward. With a squeal, Kayla and her dad disappeared under the waves. When their heads popped back up, they were both still laughing.
    What had happened to force this happy child into the one locked away in the asylum
?
    I continued to watch Kayla’s day at the beach until the sun peeked over the horizon here in Ohio. The clock on the other side of the room read seven in the morning. How had we not received a visit from any Nightmares?
    Frowning in confusion, I tapped Tabbi’s shoulder. “Come on. Nightmares only come out when it’s dark. Let’s get some rest.”
    Tabbi’s eyes opened, and she moved her hands away from Kayla’s head. The dream playing above the bed flickered into nothingness.

    I knocked on Tabbi’s door around one o’clock. Lunch would soon be over at the asylum, and Kayla would return to her room. Giovanni demanded we watch our charge for two days to really get to know them. Sometimes I felt like I was going to the zoo.
    Tabbi cracked open the door and glared at me through the gap. “Ten more minutes?”
    I shook my head with a smile. “I know the first few days are rough, but you know how Giovanni gets when we don’t follow directions.”
    She rolled her eyes and closed the door. Ten minutes later, she emerged in sweat pants and a too-big T-shirt. “Okay, let’s go. But for the record, I sleep until four.” She stuck her hand in mine, and together we evaporated.
    An older woman sat on the bed across from Kayla. She had auburn hair that twisted into a bun on the back of her head. She was dressed in very expensive business clothes, and the white coat of a doctor draped over the same rocking chair where Kayla painted. It didn’t take me long to figure out this was her mother. Their facial features were too similar. I listened to their conversation.
    “How are you feeling?” Kayla’s mother asked. She placed her hand on Kayla’s knee.
    “Fine.” Kayla fidgeted with her fingernails.
    Kayla’s mother removed her hand. “The doctor tells me you had a good night last night. She said she put you on new medication. Do you think it’s working?”
    “I don’t