Wish Club by Kim Strickland

Author:Kim Strickland
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
Published: 0100-12-31T22:00:00+00:00

The crowds at Children’s Memorial Hospital were gone and, at this hour of the night, Gail and John had the waiting area to themselves.

John sat in his chair and waited. After ten years of marriage and a total of twelve years together, he knew better than to say anything to Gail while she cried. It was best to let her purge her system uninterrupted.

His arm was resting on the back of Gail’s chair and now that her sobbing had started to subside, he moved his arm down and enveloped her shoulder in his huge hand. He held some Kleenex in the other, and when she seemed ready, he handed it to her. She wiped her eyes and cheeks and blew her nose.

“You know he’s going to be okay, right?” he asked, as if maybe she hadn’t understood the doctor.

Gail shook her head. “I know. I know.” She sniffed, then started shaking her head in the negative. “It’s just that…that…” She turned her blotched face up to him. She took a deep quivery breath in through her mouth. “I…I just…I feel like I shouldn’t have…”

“Shouldn’t have what?”

Gail started sobbing again.

“Gail, what…? You’re acting like all this is your fault.”

Fear popped into her eyes and stayed there.

“Gail? What is it? How could you be responsible?” He paused. Tried a smile. “What? Have you taken up a secret life as an arsonist or something?”

Gail didn’t laugh. She exhaled a huge breath of air. “It’s Book Club. I think Book Club did this.”

“Your Book Club has taken up a secret life as arsonists?”

“No.” She shook her head, and this time she did allow a smile to pass across her face, very briefly, before she said, “John, there’s something I need to tell you.”

A woman came into the waiting room with her young son while Gail explained to John, through her tears, the recent turn of events at Book Club.

The woman and her son sat in the opposite corner of the waiting room, as if they were trying to get as far away from the crazy crying lady as they could. The boy appeared to be about two and was astonishingly awake for this hour of the night. He tugged on the fringe of a pink blanket she had in her arms, within which, presumably, a baby sister slept.

“Agua mami. Agua.” The boy pulled and tugged at his mother and pointed to the drinking fountain. She whispered something quickly to him in Spanish and his face contorted into tears.

“So you think it’s because you wanted more time to yourself,” John pulled his eyes from the little boy and looked back down at Gail, “and you made this, er…wish and that’s what caused the school to catch fire?” He shook his head, made a face as if to say, that’s goofy. “I don’t know anything about these types of things—psychics and fortune-tellers and—well, basically I think it’s all just a crock. And these wishes you’re talking about—the witchcraft stuff. I don’t know, but if you’re asking

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