Chapter Eleven

“You do know where Memorial is don’t you?” Alex asked, sitting next to her.

She looked over at him once again. “How are you able to travel in the car?”

He gave her the same answer as when he had said he could feel her touch, “I don’t know.”

“Eve.” He pressed. “Do you know how to get to Memorial?”

“Of course,” she snapped back. “I used to work there.”

“Then why are we taking the long way?” She could feel his blue gaze on her. “I…I don’t like hospitals,” she sighed.

“I thought you were a nurse?”

“Ex- nurse.” She glanced quickly at him.

“Is there such a thing? Take the highway it’s faster.” He switched topics pointing to the on ramp, then swore when she ignored him and continued on her present course. “Isn’t a nurse always a nurse?” he pointed out.

He was right of course, a nurse didn’t just stop caring for the weak or injured, they simply shifted their focus. She lied to him anyway. “No…I don’t think so. When it’s time to move on, it’s time.”

“And you’ve moved on?” he asked slowly, “To merging souls and providing therapy to wounded soldiers?”

She gripped the steering wheel. Why did he have to point out the very thing she was trying to lie about? She ignored the second part of his statement but answered the first, “I was trying to move on until you had to share your story with me. Now I’m going back and not liking it in the least.”

“You said you have patients at Memorial? Don't you visit them to see how they are doing?”

“No,” she said too quickly. “They come to me. I told you, I don’t like hospitals.”

There was blissful silence for a minute or two. “What happened Eve?”

No! She couldn’t tell him. That would mean talking about it, and talking about it would lead her to think about it and she did not want to do that. So she answered him by shaking her head. Right from the start Eve knew Alex wasn’t used to being denied anything, and now wasn’t any different. But it had to be this way.

“Did I give you the impression I give up easily? Turn left up here,” he ordered again.

Ignoring his order for a second time Eve turned right at the intersection taking them further away from the hospital.

Trying to hold onto his patience was worse than getting shot. Why couldn’t she just answer his question? And why did she try to hide the fact that going to the hospital terrified her? She was such a contradiction, always willing to help but never allowing anyone to help her. He shared his thoughts.

“That’s not true.” Was she hurt by his allegation?

“Who helps you?”

“Gran. Gran helps me, whenever I need it.”

“But she’s the only one. And I bet you don’t ask her for much.”

Her hands tightened on the steering wheel as a frown pulled at her delicate brows. Alex gazed over at her. He couldn’t stop looking at her today. She looked good, stylish with her white button shirt and jeans. Maybe it was the low heels and beige fall jacket that caught his interest? Or maybe it was because her hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail which accented her hazel eyes and pretty face. Whatever the reason she looked damn good.

He took note of her stiff posture and sighed. “Eve, you can’t go in there like this. Someone will pick up on it.”

Focusing on the traffic in front of her, she simply nodded.

“Is it death that bothers you or the sight of blood?” he guessed. “Bad luck with a patient? Bad luck with a merge?”

Her eyes widened and her arms went stiff as she clutched the wheel. Alex narrowed in on her face, finally understanding.

He began slowly, “A merge gone wrong?”

“You could say that,” she replied.

“What happened?” She remained silent, gripping the wheel until her hands turned white. “That bad huh.” Still no response. “Jesus Eve. Do I need to start slamming things again?”

“Fine,” she snapped, closing her eyes while stopped for a red light. “You are so stubborn.”

“Eve,” he demanded.

“All right! I was working in hospital a few years ago when a young teenage girl was brought into the ER with internal head and abdominal injuries. She had been in a car accident. After she was stabilised she was moved to surgery and then to ICU where, due to her head injuries, she was put into a medically induced coma.”

She swallowed hard but continued, “I was covering a friend’s shift when I first saw her. I was at the nurses’ station filling out a chart, when I turned to leave she was standing there staring at me. It scared the hell out of me.” Eve flipped on her signal and turned right.

“That was the girl Emily Spencer?”

“Yes!” she sounded surprised.

“You mentioned her before. Keep going,” he encouraged.

“She asked me if I could see her. When I nodded she started to cry. I wasn’t sure what to do and there were so many people around that day and I couldn’t stand there like an idiot so I continued on with my rounds. She cried harder and chased me into another room.”

They took another right. “Eve, we’re going around in circles.” If she heard him he couldn’t tell.

“Come to think of it, she was a bit dramatic.” They stopped at a red and she turned to him, a serious look on her face. “I hope Noelle doesn’t grow up to be like that.”

He realised then that her anxiety level was very high. Her nervous chatter and driving around aimlessly were clear signs. How could he have missed them? Because he had been concerned with himself, his needs and hadn’t bothered with Eve’s fear. Which, if he had been paying attention, had been present all along.

She stared at him waiting for an answer. He answered her with what he believed to be the truth. “I don’t think you need to worry about that, Noelle isn’t a dramatic kid.”

“You don’t think so?”

“I’ve been around her for over a week. That’s plenty of time for her to show her true colours. I haven’t seen anything dramatic.” That was the truth. Once Noelle had got used to him, they’d talked more and more when Eve wasn’t in the room. She was a bright kid, very observant with a great sense of humour and she loved her mother very much. He actually enjoyed her company.

“Light’s green,” he pointed out. “What happened next?”

“Once I got her calmed down, I told her to wait in her room. When I finally got around to checking her vitals and made note of them I could see she was a mess. She looked so lost and confused. I felt terrible for her, she was so young. I read over her chart and saw she was making a very good recovery and that she was scheduled to be taken off the meds that induce the coma she was in. I explained why I could see her and what I could do and that because she was doing so well I could merge her back into her body. She was so excited. But I had this gut feeling something wasn’t right, I didn’t feel…she didn’t feel strong enough.”

“What do you mean strong enough?”

“Every soul is different and each soul has its own energy. Some souls are young, some are old, and some are in-between. Young souls are new souls. Their energy level is low and therefore they are not very strong. Old souls are the opposite. Their energy level is high which indicates how strong they are. Emily looked so tired for someone so young. I could tell her soul wasn’t strong enough to re-enter her body and help repair the damage.”

He knew that Eve was able to feel his presence but he’d had no clue just how sensitive she really was, until now. “You can feel the strength of different souls?” he repeated, amazed.

“Yes.” Her cheeks flushed.

He nodded his head. “Keep going.”

“She must have noticed I was unsure and then begged me to help her. She was so young and so pretty. Lying in a hospital was no place for her to be, she didn’t deserve that. So I agreed, and told her that once the meds were decreased I would merge her.”

“Why wait for the meds to be cut?”

“Remember what I said. When you’re back in your body then you’re back in. If the docs planned on keeping her in a coma longer, then she would be trapped until her body either died or woke on its own. I wanted to give her the best chance and make it easier for her.”

He shook his head sorting out the Intel. “And then things turned bad,” he guessed.

“Yah! Real bad. When I began to merge her back with her body another soul attached onto hers.”

He blinked, looking at her, and saw how pale she was. “Pull over, right now!”

She did as he asked and her hands shook as she threw the car into park. “Explain that last part to me.”

“Because her soul wasn’t strong enough. Another soul,”—she paused taking a shaky breath—“a dead soul attached itself to her. And I merged both into one body.”

Alex did not know what to say to that.

“The rule is…” Eve closed her eyes. “One soul to one body. No exceptions. The flesh and bones of a living body can’t handle two souls, let alone one that is dead.”

He didn’t want to upset her more but something didn’t make sense. “You said you can’t see the dead. How do you know it was a dead soul?”

“I can’t see them. I…I should have performed the calling faster, but Emily was scared. So I moved slower than I normally would have. I felt this sickening feeling right before I merged her, but I’m not sure if that had anything to do with it. I only knew it was a dead soul because I saw someone…on her face.” She made a pulling gesture in front of her face with her hand. “It was a man’s face. It was angry.”

Alex didn’t need her to continue to know the outcome was bad. But he asked anyway, “What happened?”

“Have you ever seen the part in The Exorcist when the demon jerks the kid’s body around on the bed?”

“I remember.”

“Well”—she tightened her hands on the steering wheel—“it was kind of like that but worse. Her body twisted and heaved, it looked like the two souls were fighting under her skin, inside her body. Her screams were horrible, like the dead soul was killing her.” She swallowed hard. “By the time it was over, her body was distorted and bruised, her skin was torn. It finally stopped when her body died from the trauma. It was…” She blinked away the tears in her eyes. “I’ve never seen anything like that before,” she whispered.

Alex placed his hand on top of hers as she held the steering wheel, giving her the only comfort he could give, his heat. Although it didn’t seem to be enough, because she drew in a shaky breath. Fuck, he wished he was in his body, she needed more than his pathetic attempt at compassion. She needed a man to hold her and tell her that everything would be all right. He wasn’t sure if he was that man, but he was willing to try. “You okay?”

“No.” She sniffed, turning her flushed face to him. The tears that shimmered in her hazel eyes brought the green flecks to life. “I’m not. I did that Alex. I caused that. And you want me to do that to you.” She shook her head, turning away.

“Hey, look at me.” He placed his hand on her thigh and squeezed. She spun to face him, her hair flying into the side of her face, then looked down at her leg. “Look at me,” he ordered.

When she complied he saw that her eyes where bright, her pupils large.

“You said you can feel the strength of a soul. How do I feel?”

“That’s not the point.”

“Answer me,” he demanded. “Do I feel tired or weak?”

No he didn’t. She couldn’t feel any sort of weakness in him at all. The truth was, strength radiated off him. It was so powerful at times she was surprised he hadn’t been able to get back into his body on his own.

“Your grandmother said I was a very, old soul. And you said the older the soul the stronger the soul.” He squeezed her thigh a second time and for a second time a jolt of heat flew through her. “When you merge me, nothing will happen, I will not allow it.”

“I told you, I have to see your body first before I…”

He cut her off. “You will merge me Eve. I can’t afford for you not to.”

She didn’t comment, just pressed her lips together as she pulled back into traffic, once again slowly making her way to Memorial.

‘I can’t afford for you not to’. The words stirred something in her she hadn’t experienced before. She wished she didn’t cut her nails so short, because the urge to scratch something or rather someone’s eyes out would feel pretty satisfying right about now. Not that it would happen. Alex wasn’t hers, in fact she was under the impression that Alex didn’t want to belong to anybody. Clearly, that assumption was wrong.

“Don’t you mean the pregnant secretary can’t afford for you not to?” Geez. Eve rolled her eyes. That couldn’t have sounded any more jealous if she actually tried.

“I suppose.” Eve checked her rear-view mirror and could see his puzzled look out the corner of her eye. “But I was thinking more of myself. I don’t want the death of an innocent woman on my hands.”

“You don’t want her death on your hands, but you’re willing to sacrifice yourself for her?” Wow! This broad had better know what she had in Alex, there weren’t many men out there that were willing to sacrifice themselves for a woman.

“Yes.”

“I’m so jealous…” Her face heated before she finished the thought. She had meant to mumble that in her own head not out loud.

“Of what?”

She answered him truthfully. It was too late to lie now, when she had put her foot in her mouth. “Of the secretary. I wish I had what she has.”

Confused, he asked, “What does she have?”

“A man that loves her.” Eve waved her hand and feeling like an idiot she began to babble. “All the guys I’ve met are twelve-year-old boys stuck in thirty-year-old bodies. Besides my life focuses on Noelle and my practice, most guys hate the competition.”

“She doesn’t have me.”

Now it was Eve’s turn to be confused. “Sure looks that way. Look at all the stuff you have been doing and people you have been tormenting. She must mean something to you.”

“I don’t even know her. She was a woman that was in the wrong place at the wrong time and was witness to a murder. I don’t love her,” he clarified. “I just want to keep her and her child safe.”

A self-sacrificing male. She had read of them in stories, heard about the odd one in the news, but to meet one in person was…strange. “You’re doing this for a person that you don’t know?”

As Alex shrugged it caused his shirt to move and Eve caught sight of the bullet hole as it slid up and down along with his movement. “Doing nothing would have been the same as shooting her myself. I’ve done a lot of bad things in my life, but not one of those acts was done on an innocent person.” He pressed his transparent fingers into her leg for a third time. “I need you to help me keep it that way.”

* * * *

For close to two weeks, Jillian had ambled around the old cottage. When she’d first arrived she had been terrified that Rick had followed her. That he would burst through the door and shoot her in cold blood. Then as the days passed, she had realised that Alex had kept her safe from Rick. Now all she had to do was wait for Alex to come and get her, but sadly, that might not be a possibility now. She had learnt from a reliable source that he had been shot and was in a coma. Now she was stuck in northern Quebec and had no idea what to do. She had asked her ghostly informant—who had been making appearances—what would happen, and what she should do? The only answer she received was to wait for Alex.

Wait for a guy who was in a coma? That made no sense, but what else could she do?

The days had crawled by slowly, she’d been used to being kept busy at work, it had been hard to suddenly slow to a snail’s pace, but she soon found things to keep her occupied. She had spent time each day searching room by room for any information on the man that had sent her here. When she hadn’t found anything useful she had gone out onto the porch, sat in the whitewashed rocking chair, and read a book she had found in a box she’d discovered in her room.

Today was no different. Once she had finished reading a long-winded detective novel, she had made herself dinner that consisted of canned ham, canned beans and canned potatoes. She was almost canned out.

“Hey!” The familiar voice made her smile.

Jillian looked over her shoulder and forced a dirty look. “Finally decided to come back have you?”

“Give me a break. It’s harder than you think to get away from those guys. They’re always watching me.”

“Not really surprised by that.” Rolling her eyes, Jillian turned back to washing her plate and glass in the sink. “But as usual you were able to charm them, because here you are.”

“Didn’t work. I had to break the rules and skip out.”

Jillian turned and laughed. “Escapee already! That has to be some kind of record.”

She received an impassive shrug. “I’m sure it won’t be the first time. How’s it going?”

Jillian reached for her glass and began drying it. “I heard a car drive up to the house this morning. It totally freaked me out. So I hid upstairs and peeked through the curtains. Other than that, everything’s fine”

“Well…who was it?”

“Local police. They checked out the area and left shortly after.”

“Don’t scare me like that.”

Jillian grinned, placing the glass in the cupboard and shrugged. “You asked.”

“That’s not funny, Jilly. So much stuff has happened, I wanted to know how you are, not have a heart attack.”

Closing the cupboard Jillian turned back with a sad smile. “Well, you don’t have to worry about that now, do you?”

“Sorry. You know what I mean.”

“I know. I’m fine, don’t worry,” Jillian soothed.

“I’ll worry until Alex gets you out of this.”

“Oh yah!” She couldn’t keep the sarcasm from her question—she didn’t want to. “And how’s that coming?”

“He’s working on it.”

“Oh…good.” That was not the answer she was hoping for. Better than she expected, but not ‘he’s was on his way’, or ‘everything is fine’, or even to hear that Rick had decided to not kill her. Oh boy that would be nice.

She had to be patient. She had to put her faith in Alex, a man she had just met and who was also a killer, but at least he was trying to help her. Most people wouldn’t have bothered to help and just looked the other way.

She sighed inwardly. She could wait.

“Want to go sit out on the porch with me?”

“Yes.” Justine grinned back at her. “I need some Jilly time before these jokers come looking for me.”