“I will,” she said with a short nod. Maybe sleep would help him be more himself. Maybe— The rest of what he said hit her then and she looked down at the phone. “I can’t promise you that, not right now. I’ll… I’ll make a judgement call but don’t ask me to decide right now if I’m going to let you die.”
“Just give me a second.” A gesture with her phone and she moved to the other side of the room. She quickly dialed a number, waiting, then sighed with obvious relief as she glanced at Leo. “Lock, listen to me, don’t say a word. I want you to leave the house now. Upstairs in my closet, third floorboard in there’s some money. Also what looks like just a rock on a leather cord. Take the money and go some where. Don’t tell me where. Take the rock and keep it on you. Got it?”
He hardly heard her phone call with the next wave of chitters that felt like slime rolling off his back. They had him rest his face in his hands and agitated fingers rubbed over the drying blood. He’d forgotten about his earlier episode. Maybe he hoped it was a dream. From her conversation, he heard small bits. Like the scratched CDs that Mic sometimes brought.
“What’s the rock?” he announced once she hung up with him. His voice was louder than he anticipated.
