Where the Forest Meets the Stars(77)

Word of her sit-in had spread through the hospital. Jo’s surgeon came to talk to her on the third day. He said she was risking infection from stress and maybe a blood clot from sitting too much. Hospital security also came the third day. They told her to leave, but Jo said she wouldn’t until she saw Ursa. They said they’d have the police physically remove her, but that hadn’t happened yet.
Jo watched everyone who went down Ursa’s ICU corridor. She took note of police and official-looking people who went through the doors. A woman with a white-streaked Afro visited frequently, and Jo began to suspect she was Ursa’s court-designated counselor. The woman often looked at Jo while she waited for the ICU doors to open. At first she assessed Jo with apparent coldness. But by the third day, there seemed to be some grudging admiration in her stare.
Gabe came in with lunch on the fourth day of her sit-in. He had dark circles under his eyes, and his cheekbones seemed more prominent. He was in contact with Lacey and his mother, but he didn’t tell them the truth, that Jo had been discharged from the hospital after three days.
Gabe took off his backpack and sat next to her. “Turkey, provolone, avocado, and lettuce on wheat,” he said, handing her a white paper bag.
“Aren’t you going to eat?”
“I’m not hungry.”
“I wish you’d go home.”
“I wish you would stop this insanity,” he said.
“I can’t.”
“She’s probably not here anymore. I’m sure they’ve moved her.”
“She must still be in there. That woman with the Afro went in about an hour ago.”
“You don’t even know if that woman is connected to Ursa!”
“I think she is. She always stares at me.”
“Everyone does—because what you’re doing is crazy. You need to get out of here and find a lawyer.”
“I don’t need a lawyer.”
Rather than argue about that again, he shook his head and looked away.
“Did you bring me clean clothes?”
“Yes, but they’re still damp.”
As she finished the sandwich, he closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. Jo kissed his cheek. “Don’t you want to get back to your birds?” he said, eyes still closed.
“I can’t on crutches, and Tanner and Carly are finishing my work.”
He opened his eyes and looked at her. “I’d think you want to make sure they’re doing everything right.”
“Tanner has to get it right.”
“Why?”
“He’s using my nests to get back in Shaw’s good graces. Shaw was pissed when he dropped me like I was Typhoid Mary after my diagnosis.”
“I still can’t believe he did that.”
“I can. Tanner is—”
The ICU doors opened. Jo looked into the sharp eyes of the woman with the Afro. She was wearing a light-gray skirt with a peach shirt that nicely complemented her brown skin. Her shape was like Lacey’s, full-bodied and strong, but not quite as tall.
She walked straight toward Jo and Gabe. “Joanna Teale, right?” she said.
“Yes,” Jo said.
“And you must be Gabriel Nash,” the woman said, stopping in front of them.
“Yes,” he said with tense vocal cords.
She crossed her arms and looked down at Jo. “So . . . how long have you been out here?”
“This is the fourth day,” Jo said.
“After surgery, no less. You’re as stubborn as her.”
“Ursa?” Jo said.
“Who else? I never met a more stubborn child in all my days.”
“I know how you feel,” Jo said. “She mule-kicked me for a long time before I decided to back off.”
“You know, when I first heard this story, I couldn’t imagine why you did what you did. How could you not bring her to the police for a whole month? How could you not know that was wrong?”
“I knew it was wrong.”
“But the alien got in your head—with her powers—right?”
“She still says she’s an alien?”
“Oh yeah, I know all about her planet. Hetrayeh is its name, and her people’s skin looks like starlight.”
“Did she tell you about the five miracles?”
“She sure did. You know why she didn’t go back to her planet after the fifth miracle?”
“How did she explain it?”
“She said she decided to stay when she found out you loved her. The fifth miracle made her stay instead of go.”
Jo had to look away.
The woman waited for her to recover. “Want to know a little secret? Say Hetrayeh backwards.”
Jo and Gabe looked at each other, trying to work it out.
“It’s not easy, right?” the woman said. “People with regular brains do it slow.”
“Eyarteh?” Gabe said.
“A th sound can’t be reversed unless you put a vowel in. Try that at the end.”
“Earth!” Jo said.
The woman nodded.
Jo tried reversing Ursa’s name. “Ursa Ann Dupree is Earpood Na Asru. She said that was her alien name.”
“You got it,” the woman said. “But she does it fast. Give her a book and she can read the words backward as fast as she can read them forward.” The woman smiled at Jo and Gabe’s confusion. “No, she’s not an alien. But in a way she is—at least to the rest of us. She’s a genius. In first grade, her IQ measured over 160.”
“This explains so much!” Jo said.
“Doesn’t it, though?” She extended her hand toward Jo. “I’m Lenora Rhodes from Children and Family Services.” Jo and Gabe shook her hand. “I’ve been assigned the impossible task of getting Ursa to tell me what happened the night she ran away.”