letâs dispense with the congratulations and apologies and begin going over this operation. Forty-eight hours should be plenty of time, but Iâll need you all to follow my instructions with absolute precision. As Iâm sure you all know, each one of these messes will require an entirely different method of cleaning.â
Aimless Eyes
A kick to the gut from one of Lokiâs thugs would be a holly jolly Christmas memory compared to this.
Twisted Catharsis
WHY WAS SHE ALWAYS RELIVING the worst memories? Why couldnât it ever be a memory of that trip to Cape Cod with her parents or that cup of Godiva hot chocolate with real whipped cream that she and Ed shared three months ago at Balducciâs? No, it was always the horrors that repeated themselves. The mistakes and the accidents and the Worldâs Most Painful Moments. Right now Gaia could think of a thousand other experiences that would make for a preferable déjà vu. Reliving last yearâs dental surgery would certainly be a treat. A kick to the gut from one of Lokiâs thugs would be a holly jolly Christmas memory compared to this.
Because this momentâthis walk of shame through the cold white linoleum halls of St. Vincentâs Hospitalâ¦this was the déjà vu from hell.
Everything was exactly as it had been the last time Gaia visited Heather in the hospital. The same stink of ammonia, the same garbled voices barking over the PA system, the same phantom faces of the sick floating by in wheelchairs, making Gaia feel guilty for even being able to walk. And once again Gaia was trying to form the appropriate apology to Heather in her head, knowing all too well how meaningless it would be. At least this time the entire senior class of the Village School wasnât lining the hospital halls, staring at Gaia like she was the class Antichrist for letting Heather get slashed. But it didnât really matter if they were there or not because Gaia could still feel them there. She could still feel their eyes ripping her to pieces for being so cold and heartless.
After all, her mistake was, for all intents and purposes, the exact same one it had been the last time. The same mistake that sheâd already spent most of the evening punishing herself for: saying nothing. That night all those months ago when sheâd run into Heather, that was the one time in Gaiaâs entire life that she hadnât opened her big mouth. And thatâs all it would have taken. Just one sentence. Just a few words of warning to Heather about that gang of sicko skin-heads waving their knives around inside the park.
And it was really just the same with Josh. Sure, sheâd tried to warn Heather about him, but what was that really worth? It took a whole lot more than words to deal with Josh Kendall, and Gaia knew that. She should have just sought him out herself and dropped him down a manhole, but sheâd been too busy being trapped in her own succession of nightmares. And yes, Heatherâs new obsession with trying to pick a fight with Gaia had been a most bizarre and troubling pain in the ass. But if Gaia had taken any real time to think about it, she would have considered the likely possibility that Josh had just been systematically driving Heather crazy. Just like heâd done to Sam. Just like Loki tried to do to everyone else.
Loki. It always led back to Loki. There was simply no one else on this planet with such an uncanny ability to infuriate Gaia or make her despise herself. At least that was what she thought. Until she opened the door to Heatherâs hospital room and saw Heatherâs family.
In case Gaia hadnât learned it already, here was a very valuable lesson: No matter how bad she feltâ¦she could always feel worse.
The moment she opened the door, it felt like the fluorescent lights in the room had suddenly gone to black and a glaring white spotlight had nailed her against the wall. Heatherâs entire family