Johnny Angel by Danielle Steel Read Free Book Online Page A

little better now,” his mother reassured him, and he nodded, as though he knew more about it than she did.
    “She's going to be fine. She just doesn't know it yet. And so will you, and Charlie, and Bobby, and Dad. If you'd just do what you have to do to get over it, and if Dad would go to Charlie's games, things might get better a little faster than they are. You guys sure aren't making this any easier for me,” he said, looking a little tired, and very concerned. She noticed that he seemed to be fading a little as she talked to him, as though he'd stayed long enough and was worn out.
    “I'm sorry, sweetheart. I didn't mean to let you down,” she said apologetically, hoping the dream wasn't about to end. She had an odd sense that he was going to slip away and she was about to wake up.
    “You never have let me down, Mom. And I know you won't now. Right now, just get well, and then we'll talk about the other stuff.”
    “When?” She wanted to know when she'd see him again. She had never had a dream like this since he died.
    “I told you, when you get well. Right now, I don't want you to worry about anything.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because you're sick, and I don't have my assignment yet anyway.” He was speaking cryptically, and she was confused. But they were still strolling along, and he looked as real as he ever had.
    “What assignment?”
    “Don't worry about it, Mom.” He looked very adult as he spoke to her, and she was relieved to see how well he was.
    “Are you in school?”
    “I guess you could call it that. Maybe I have to earn my wings.” As soon as he had said it, he laughed. And then he gave her a kiss and walked off, and she wanted to run after him, but suddenly she found she couldn't follow him. It was as though a wall had come up, and she had to stop. She watched him disappear, but she didn't feel as sad as she had, and when the nurse woke her up the next time she took Alice's blood pressure, she smiled when she woke up. It had been the most beautiful dream she'd ever had.
    “You look like you're feeling better, Mrs. Peterson,” the nurse said, looking pleased, and after she left, Alice drifted off to sleep again, but this time she didn't see Johnny in her dreams. And that morning when Jim came to see her with the kids before he left to get dressed for work and they went to school, she almost told them about the dream she'd had, and then thought better of it. She didn't want to frighten them, and she sensed that she should keep it to herself. It was hard talking about things like that with Jim anyway, and she suspected that Bobby was afraid of ghosts.
    The doctor decided to have her stay in the hospital one more night, and Pam came to see her that afternoon, and they talked for a while. And Jim called to tell her that he had decided to stay home that night with the kids. Alice reassured him that she was fine, and that night when she went to sleep, she saw Johnny in her dreams again. She loved the new dimension she'd discovered with him, and she wanted to sleep all the time. And he seemed happy and in a great mood, and they talked about a lot of things, Becky, and school, the jobs he had had over the years, and why his father drank so much. They both knew it was because of the accident five years before, but Johnny said it had been long enough, and it was time he stopped. It was as though Johnny had suddenly become wise beyond his years.
    “That's easier said than done,” Alice said to her son quietly. “I don't like it either, but as long as Bobby can't talk, your father is going to be consumed with guilt.”
    “He'll talk one of these days, when he's ready to. And then Dad won't have any excuse anymore.”
    “What makes you think Bobby will talk?” She had given up all hope of that about two years before. They had done everything they could for him, and nothing had improved or changed. Nor would it now, she felt sure.
    “He just will. You'll see.”
    “Do you have that from a higher