Phantom Read Online Free

the name of the hospital and ward the ambulance men had
given him. He was to phone in a couple of hours and find out what
the situation was. Now he collapsed on the sofa. He brushed his
hair back and noticed that it was damp and matted. Quite a
wrestling match for a while there, he thought. Thank God she's all
right ... if she is all right.
    What would have happened if he hadn't heard
the sound of the inhaler and then Linda falling to the floor? What
if he hadn't dragged himself from sleep to go and see what was the
matter? Would she have died there on the floor, head sticking out
of the bathroom, a corpse waiting for him or Ned to—
    Ned!
    Dear God, I hope he slept through it,
Michael prayed. It was hard to move from the sofa, but he went to
check on his son. He knew that Ned's door was always left open a
crack, but in all the commotion he hadn't thought to shut it or
make sure the boy was sound asleep.
    "Oh, no," he whispered to himself. Ned was
still standing on his spot, staring sadly ahead. One hand held his
penis through his pajamas. "Hey, what're you doing up?" Michael
forced his voice to come as close to normal as possible. "Do you
have to go pee, Ned?" He scooped his son up in his arms.
    "No." So tiny and forlorn.
    "Well, you should be in bed sleeping. It's
the middle of the night." Michael carried the boy across the room
and set him down on the bed. He brushed the fine light hair away
from Ned's face. "Are you sure you don't have to go pee?"
    "Yes." A little waver. Perhaps close to
crying.
    "Okay, how about sleep then?" Michael hugged
Ned. "You know, the Hulk has to get his sleep, otherwise he won't
be strong in the morning."
    "No, I don't want to."
    "Are you all right, Ned?"
    "Where's my mommy?"
    There it was.
    "Mommy got sick, Ned. She had to go see the
doctor, but she's going to be just fine, and tomorrow you and I
will go see her. Okay?"
    "But where is she?'
    "Gone to see the doctor."
    "But I want her."
    "Hey, come on, Ned. I told you we'd see her
in a little while. You want your mommy to get better, don't
you?"
    "Yes."
    "Well, she has to go to the doctor to get
better, and we have to get some sleep so we'll be wide awake when
we go to see Mommy later."
    "But I want to see her."
    "So do I, Ned, but the most important thing
right now is that she go to the doctor. You love Mommy and I love
Mommy, and she loves us. We all love each other, but Mommy has to
go to the doctor now. You don't see me crying about it, do
you?"
    "No." How could a four-year-old make a word
sound so stony?
    "We should both be happy that Mommy can go
to the doctor and get better, right?"
    "I want my—"
    "I'd really like to sleep here and cuddle
with you, Ned. Is that all right? Can I do that? Then we'll get up
and go see our mommy in the morning. Is that oi5ay? Can I sleep
here with you?"
    Finally: "Okay."
    "Okay, good. Come on now, give me a big
cuddle." Ned hugged Michael's neck but there was no strength in his
arms. Michael pulled the blankets up over them and held his son
close. The gray light in the window made him wonder how much time
had passed. It seemed like hours since that first dreadful sight of
Linda on the floor, but it probably hadn't been very long at all.
The images that filled his mind were too vivid—he had to lose them
in sleep, if that was possible.
    Ned clung tightly to him, which was a good
sign. Michael couldn't bear to think about how much the boy might
have seen. And Linda, dear Linda .... What the hell had happened to
her? She had asthma, yes, but she had never had an attack even
remotely as serious as this one was. What had caused it? She used
her inhaler three or four times a day, a little more on especially
dry days, but that was it.
    Now this. She had been hysterical,
delirious. Off the goddamn wall, with that kicking and punching and
ungodly screaming. The ambulance men thought she was doing drugs,
that's for sure, and not just the inhaler. It hurt him to recall
how they had taken in the view when, in Linda's