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her nose. “You sure did. You must have been having some real nice dreams.”
    She arched an eyebrow. “I don’t know,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “I can’t remember.”
    â€œYou want some cereal?”
    She nodded.
    â€œOkay, take a seat in the kitchen and I’ll get it for you.”
    I thought my knees were going to give out on me a couple of times as we walked hand in hand. I found her favorite cereal, nearly dropping the bowl as I took it from the cabinet.
    â€œMorning, honey,” Candy said, dressed in her mommy robe and fuzzy slippers.
    Plopping Katie’s cereal in front of her, I said to Candy, “I need to talk to you in the living room.”
    She looked concerned. I didn’t have a good poker face.
    â€œSure. Katie, baby, we’ll be right back.”
    â€œOkay, Mommy.”
    Candy slipped her hands in mine. “What’s up, Peter? You look like you’re having a panic attack.”
    â€œI have something to tell you and I need you to stay calm,” I said. I swallowed hard, fighting back another bout of nausea.
    She said, “I know this is hard for you and even when I tell you we’re going to be all right, it doesn’t feel like it at the moment. I’m glad you’re talking to me. Tell me whatever you’re feeling so we can work through it together.”
    I looked into her hazel eyes and saw so much love there. Would that love remain when I confessed? I didn’t want to lose her. It would be easier if I just shut up.
    No! When I’d taken those lives, I’d already lost her by destroying myself.
    â€œCandy, look, I…I…”
    The tempest of pain came roaring back, shattering my skull like it has been carpet bombed. I strangled out some kind of cry and felt my bowels let loose, shitting myself with such force, I thought I’d ruptured something. I felt Candy’s hand on me but couldn’t hear her.
    Before I blacked out, I saw the fire again, a hundred-foot high wall of flame, consuming everything in its path. Candy and Katie reached out for me within the flames, pleading for help, their flesh turning black, cracking and popping until they collapsed out of sight.

Madness

Chapter Nine
    This time, I woke up in a curtained-off section of Bridgton Hospital’s emergency room. There was an IV in my arm and a cannula under my nose. Candy jumped from the chair beside my bed and brushed the hair from my forehead.
    â€œOh, thank God,” she said. “I was so worried.”
    My head was groggy. There must have been some kind of sedative in the IV.
    â€œWhat happened?” I said.
    â€œYou had a seizure. I called the ambulance. You were still seizing when they got you here. When it stopped, you passed out.”
    I tried to lift my head from the pillow. That wasn’t happening.
    â€œWhat time is it?” I asked.
    She checked her watch. “Almost ten.”
    â€œAt least I wasn’t out long,” I said, attempting to muster a smile.
    â€œIt’s ten at night,” she said.
    â€œI’ve been unconscious for over twelve hours?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œWhere’s Katie?”
    â€œShe’s with Huey and Anne next door. I just checked on her half an hour ago. She’s asleep on their couch.”
    â€œDid…did she see what happened?”
    Candy’s eyes shimmered. “She did. She was scared, but I was able to calm her down. When I told her you were all right, she said she was going to make you some get well soon cards.”
    I felt like I was made of oatmeal. I didn’t think I had the strength to lift a soda can.
    â€œDid the doctors say what happened?”
    â€œThey think you have a viral infection,” Candy said. “You were burning up when you got here, just like yesterday.”
    â€œDid they take a CAT scan or anything?”
    I thought, maybe I had a brain infection or a tumor. That would explain the whole AO