Chapter Two
Nikki’s back
connected with the hospital wall as she struggled to catch her breath. She
gulped mouthfuls of air, feeling the burn in the back of her throat of the
antiseptic scents of hospital disinfectant. Her eyes stung, tears pooled in the
corners.
I will not be sick, I will not be sick,
she repeated, commanding her rebellious stomach. She was not willing to
disgrace herself in front of Lieutenant Evans. Not again, after her graceless
exit from the room. Her hip still ached from slamming into the doorframe on her
rush out. Nothing anyone said and no report could have prepared her for the
horror back there in the hospital bed.
Her hand massaged
her hip, her eyes closed, and the agony of the infected Shapeshifter seared
into her brain. Images of the writhing, twisted being in the room flashed
across her closed eyelids like a Technicolor horror movie. The shock of seeing
the disease in action would stay with her until the end of her days.
Bile rose in her
throat, choking her. She pictured Bella, or heaven forbid, her own sibling,
Katie, in place of the anonymous Shifter infected in the hospital bed. Please let it have been swift, she
prayed to herself.
Darkness passed
between the fluorescent lighting and her closed eyelids. A hand clasped her
shoulder and stayed there. Spicy-scented cologne filled her nostrils, flushing
the antiseptic smell away. She opened her eyes to find Lieutenant Evans looking
down at her.
“Are you okay,
Hill?”
“You could call me
Nikki.” She tried to change the subject to wipe the images from her mind. “Or
Nick.”
His gaze traveled
up and down her body in the first appreciative look she’d seen from him. His
eyes showed an interest she could easily reciprocate. Warmth filled her as his
gaze finally reached her face, and his eyes brightened to metallic silver.
“You don’t look
like a Nick to me.”
“I could be in a
jiff, if you like.”
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