The Dream Ender Read Online Free

said. “Why don’t you come over here?”
    “I don’t want to upset Jonathan. I know what a softie he is,” he said, and I could tell he meant it as a joke. It didn’t work.
    “It’s no bother at all,” I said. “And he’d feel bad if you didn’t.”
    There was a long pause, then a sigh. “Yeah, but it’s a work night for him and…”
    “Don’t worry about that,” I said. “Just come over.”
    He paused only a moment before saying, “Okay. I’ll be there in about twenty minutes.”
    “I’ll keep the beer cold,” I said.
    Jonathan said, “What’s wrong?” before I’d even put the receiver down.
    “Jake’s in the hospital. He’s got pneumonia. It’s probably nothing,” I lied, noting the look of shock on his face…
    “Bullshit!” he snapped. “Damn it, Dick, I wish you wouldn’t always try to protect me! I’m not made of glass!”
    The sharpness of his tone, and the fact that he almost never swore, not only pulled me back to reality but made me realize he was right—I was trying to protect him. I was always trying to protect him and Joshua. That’s what I was there for.
    Oh, come on, Tarzan , several of my mind-voices said in unison, Jonathan’s your partner, not your kid.
    I reached out and pulled him toward me, wrapping my arms around him.
    “I’m sorry, babe,” I said. “It’s just that I’d do anything to keep you from being unhappy. You know that.”
    He raised his head off my shoulder and looked into my eyes. “I know that and I appreciate it…I do. But we’ve got Joshua, and one kid in the family is enough.” He kissed me on the tip of my nose and broke our hug. “Come on,” he said, indicating the scattered books and newspapers around the room. “Let’s pick up some of this mess before Jared gets here.”
    *
    “So what happened?” I asked as I handed Jared his beer and sat down.
    He leaned back in his chair and shook his head. “He’s been trying to juggle two big jobs at the same time, and he just bit off more than he could chew. He was working sixteen hours a day and weekends, and about two weeks ago, after all that rain you had down here, he caught a really bad cold. But he wouldn’t let it slow him down, and then one of his foremen up and quit, so Jake had to work even harder to fill in for him. I kept telling him to talk to Stan, and when he did, Stan put him right in the hospital.”
    “So it’s just regular pneumonia?” Jonathan asked. “Not…that other kind?”
    “Pneumocystis?” Jared said, then shrugged. “Yeah, I’m afraid it is.”
    “But that doesn’t mean…?” Jonathan began, but couldn’t bring himself to say the word.
    Jared shook his head. “We don’t know. It might just be the overwork that’s affected his immune system. Stan says he’s going to try to get that test they’re working on for him as soon as it’s available, but he doesn’t know when that might be.” His voice was calm, but the strain was clearly evident.
    “How long will he be in the hospital?” I asked.
    “It depends on how he responds to the treatment. Probably a couple of days. He just needs to rest up.”
    “We’ll go see him tomorrow, if that’s okay,” I said.
    “I’d rather you didn’t. He doesn’t want anyone to know he’s in the hospital or make a big deal out of it. When he gets a little better…”
    “Of course,” I said. “Just let us know, though. We do want to see him as soon as he’s up to it. I assume you haven’t told the rest of the gang?”
    “No, there’s no point in worrying them. Everybody is so skittish about this…this whole business, they assume the worst when someone sneezes. So, please don’t say anything.”
    “We won’t,” Jonathan and I said in unison.
    “I’m taking some time off from work,” Jared continued, “just to make sure that Jake takes it easy when he gets out. I know damned well he’s going to want to go directly from the hospital to work, and I’m going to make sure that doesn’t