Page 25 of The Most Unusual Haunting of Edgar Lovejoy

Jamie

Emma : Hey. I wanted to apologize for last week. I thought about it, and I shouldn’t have gone along with Mom’s idea to make you a dress. It sucked of us.

Emma : I should have said that to Mom, and I shouldn’t have had that idea in the first place. I got carried away with the whole vision and forgot that it’s not all about me. I’m really sorry, Jamie.

Jamie : Thank you for the apology. I really appreciate it.

7:02 p.m.

Emma : I was talking to my (gay) friend Thomas. He’s in fashion, and he told me that an old classmate of his is now a menswear designer and is going to be doing a pop-up in a few weeks. I’d like to pay for you to have a suit made by him. Anything you want. It doesn’t have to be for the wedding.

7:10 p.m.

Emma : I don’t know why I said he was gay. I panicked.

7:49 p.m.

Jamie : That’s a really kind gift, Em, thank you.

7:49 p.m.

Jamie : LOL I didn’t know you had any gay friends

7:50 p.m.

Jamie : Also how you put it in parentheses haha

7:58 p.m.

Emma : I’ll tell Thomas, my GAY FRIEND, to set it up

7:59 p.m.

Jamie : Thanks, I’ll show my GAY ASS up!

8:04 p.m.

Emma :

***

A week later, when Edgar and Jamie were half an hour into a movie, cuddling on the couch, Edgar’s phone rang. He shot Jamie an apologetic look, then answered. He froze comically, one hand on the way to his face.

“I’m on my way,” he said tightly. “Don’t worry, everything is going to be fine. Text me your room number when you get there?”

Jamie leaned in, trying to hear the voice on the phone, but Edgar hung up and stared at them.

“Allie’s in labor.” His voice was urgent, but he didn’t move.

“Holy shit!”

“I have to go to the hospital.”

But he was frozen to the spot. Jamie cocked their head.

“Are you…okay?”

Edgar nodded.

“That was the most un-okay nod I’ve ever seen.”

Edgar nodded again,.

“Can I drive you?” they offered.

“Um.” A long time passed. Jamie peered into Edgar’s eyes. Rapid calculations were clearly going on behind them.

Jamie took Edgar’s phone from his hand and slid it in his pocket. They rested their hands on his shoulders and leaned in. “Edgar? Look at me.”

Edgar’s eyes focused slowly on Jamie.

“Let me drive you to the hospital. I’d feel better if you weren’t driving. Okay?”

“I don’t drive,” Edgar reminded Jamie.

“Of course. Even better then. Do you need to bring anything?”

Edgar shook his head. “Just a second,” he mumbled and went into the bathroom.

“Are you having a panic attack?” Jamie asked through the door.

“I don’t think so,” came the shaky reply.

Jamie hadn’t seen the sick expression Edgar got when he was scared of a ghost, so that was good at least.

Oh, shit. The ghosts. Of course. Jamie had never considered it, but Edgar’s particular ability would probably make hospitals one of the worst places to be.

When he came out of the bathroom, Jamie asked, “Babe, are you worried about seeing ghosts at the hospital?”

Edgar raised haunted eyes to Jamie. “I’m worried about my sister,” he said. “But now I’m also worried about ghosts.”

Jamie winced, wishing they hadn’t mentioned it. “Shit, I’m sorry.”

Edgar put a hand on the back of Jamie’s neck, fingertips brushing sensitive skin and sending a shiver to the roots of their hair. “I’m worried about ghosts all the time. I never, ever forget that they’re all around me. You didn’t make it worse. It’s always terrible.”

Edgar sounded so matter-of-fact that it broke Jamie’s heart. Knowing that Edgar had to deal with this all the time. That even when he wasn’t seeing a ghost, he worried about seeing one. That the threat of fear lurked within every moment of joy. That it wasn’t something that would ever go away.

But all they could do was nod and lead the way to their truck.

“Jamie?” Edgar said when they’d buckled their seat belts. “Thanks for tonight. And for coming with me. It’s better when you’re there. Here.”

Jamie leaned over the gearshift and kissed Edgar, soft and sweet. Even if they couldn’t make the ghosts leave Edgar alone, at least they could be there for him.

“I’m glad.”

***

The hospital was a maze of elevators, fluorescent lights, and garbled announcements squeaking loudly over the public address system. Two nurses at two different information desks had already directed Edgar to other floors to speak to other people. Apparently they were in the wrong wing.

Edgar was polite and biddable, but he wasn’t aggressive enough to get results. When the third nurse sent them away, Jamie pulled up the hospital on their phone and tried to find the correct wing. It seemed to be above them and to the left.

Jamie grabbed Edgar’s hand and tugged him toward the stairwell.

“Other way, sir!” the nurse called after them, but Jamie didn’t stop. They jogged up the stairs and were met by a doctor coming down.

“Are you looking for someone?” the doctor asked.

When Edgar didn’t say anything, Jamie said, “Yeah, his sister is having a baby.”

The doctor nodded. “Go through the double doors up there, take your first right, then your second left. They won’t let you in unless you’re on the list though.”

“But…” Edgar began.

“Okay, thank you!” Jamie called, hooking their elbow through Edgar’s.

They found the maternity ward where the doctor said it would be, but the nurses at the front desk stopped them. “Who are you here for?”

Edgar began to open his mouth, but Jamie cut him off.

“We’re here for Allie Lovejoy. This is the baby’s father, and I’m the mother’s doula. What room should we go to, please?”

The nurse narrowed her eyes like she might ask more questions; then someone yelled something from behind her, and her nostrils flared. “You got ID?” was all she said.

They showed their licenses, and the nurse waved them down the hallway. It was moments like this that Jamie was grateful they’d legally changed their name, even if Louisiana didn’t allow them to change the gender on their ID.

“Thanks,” Edgar said and reached for Jamie’s hand.

When they found Allie, she seemed comfortable. She smiled but shot Edgar a look. “I told you not to come yet, dude. You’re gonna be waiting forever.”

Edgar scuffed his toe and looked at the floor, hands clasped behind his back, and Jamie imagined they were seeing Edgar the way he’d been as a child.

“I didn’t want you to be by yourself,” he said, taking her hand.

“She’s not by herself,” a voice said from the door.

Jamie turned to see a short Black woman standing there, holding a bottle of water.

“Hey, Edgar,” she said. “Been a long time.”

Edgar’s eyes went wide, and a slow smile crept across his face. “Cameron, hey. I—hey. Welcome back.”

He moved to her stiffly but relaxed when they embraced.

Cameron handed Allie the water and turned to Jamie. “You Jamie?”

“Yeah.” Jamie was thrilled that they had rated a mention. “Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Cameron. I’ve known these two forever.”

They shook hands. Now wasn’t the time to ask Cameron what the Lovejoys had been like when they were younger, but Jamie wanted to later. Cameron sat in the chair next to Allie’s bed and pulled a paperback out of her bag.

Edgar and Allie exchanged information in a sibling shorthand that Jamie had never shared with their sister.

“I guess it’ll be a while,” Edgar said apologetically to Jamie.

“I’m good,” Jamie assured him. They squeezed his shoulder and felt the muscle relax.

Soon, Allie was drifting off, and Cameron stood and motioned them out the door. They trooped to the family waiting room and found a cluster of seats.

Cameron reached into her bag and pulled out a manila envelope, which she handed to Jamie.

“If you need a distraction.”

Inside the envelope were dozens of crossword puzzles. Actual newsprint ones, razored from the paper itself.

“Don’t you want to do them?” Jamie asked, not wanting to waste Cameron’s stash.

“I do them. But my grandmother sends them to me every week, so I have a lot. Go ahead.”

“Awesome, thanks.”

Cameron said she was going home to shower and change and pick up Allie’s phone charger and would return.

“Take care of her while I’m gone,” she instructed Edgar.

“I always do.”

Cameron regarded him for a moment before giving a single nod.

The second she was gone, Jamie turned to Edgar.

Edgar leafed through the crossword puzzles, then stood up and paced the waiting room as he spoke.

“We grew up with her and her brother. They lived across the street when we were little. She and Allie kept in touch after she moved, but I haven’t seen her in a while.”

Edgar kept pacing for a while before dropping into the chair next to Jamie’s. He pointed at the crossword.

“ Eiderdown . Forty-three across.”

Jamie inked in the letters and rested their other hand on Edgar’s thigh.

As they were debating the square shared by twenty-five across and sixteen down, someone ran through the door.

“Where is she?” he bellowed.

Edgar’s head snapped up, and he stood, crossword puzzle floating to the floor.

The man wore faded black jeans and an elbow-cracked black leather jacket. He was smaller than Edgar and slighter, with the same dark hair falling in a tangle of waves down his neck. His brown eyes were ringed with kohl.

Edgar swallowed audibly, and Jamie almost missed the word he choked out.

“Poe.”