Love Immortal (21 page)

“Oh, I see.” Jewell commented cynically. “So
he thinks he’s found the Fountain of Youth in this Telomerase
enzyme.”

“Awesome!” Ashley chimed in. “Of course, I’ll
probably be dead and buried before they figure out how to make this
stuff work, but imagine it Jewell, immortality!”

“A German philosopher once said ‘To desire
immortality is to desire the eternal perpetuation of a great
mistake’. I tend to agree with him.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot that you’re the eternal
pessimist.” Ashley snorted in disgust.

“Anyway, I still don’t see why he would want
a sample of Collin’s DNA.”

“Yeah, weird.”

“Well, I know I need some sleep if I’m going
to be able to work tonight and so will you. Pick you up at
five?”

“Yup, sounds good. See ya.” Ashley closed the
door behind Jewell.

* * *

When Ashley and Jewell walked up to the door
to the hospital at five thirty, Collin was waiting for them in the
darkness beside it. Jewell thought about how creepy it was the way
he could just appear and disappear in the shadows.

“Hey Honeysuckle,” he said grabbing her
around the waist. “Hi Ashley. How are you tonight?”

“Good Collin. Thanks for noticing me. I’m
surprised you actually know my name.” She crossed her arms over her
chest.

“Of course I know your name. Other than me,
you’re all Jewell talks about.” He smiled as he put one hand on
Ashley’s shoulder. “I appreciate everything you’ve done for Jewell
and I’m sorry I’ve been too occupied to speak to you before
now.”

Ashley grunted. “Whatever. Apology accepted I
guess.” Her tone was joking, she really liked Collin and it hadn’t
bothered her that Collin had ignored her on all of their previous
encounters.

Collin took both girls by the hand and led
them into the shadows of the parking garage so that they wouldn’t
draw attention. “So, what did you figure out?”

“Not much,” Jewell said dejectedly.

Ashley wasn’t so negative. “Not much?” She
turned to look at Collin. “We only found out that there is some
mass conspiracy at the hospital involving you, Dr. Babineaux and
your uncle, and that some people have taken great pains to cover it
up!”

“Give me a break Ash. Sandstrom could have
just been a coincidence, and just because Babineaux took some of
Collin’s DNA for research doesn’t mean there’s a conspiracy.”

“Wait.” Collin interjected. “He took what? A
sample of my DNA? Why would he do that?”

“Just research,” said Jewell. “Apparently
there’s this enzyme called Telomerase that he thinks is the secret
to immortality.”

“So what does that have to do with me? And
how is my uncle involved?”

“We don’t know.” Jewell said, shrugging her
shoulders. “What we do know is that information has been removed
from your file, and that some of the information has been
changed.”

“Well, you did your best.” He bent over and
gave Jewell a kiss on the forehead. “I appreciate your efforts.” He
turned to include Ashley in his gratitude. “You ladies need to go
to work. I’ll see you,” he turned to Jewell, “in the morning.” He
picked up her hand and kissed the inside of her wrist. She
shuddered. Ashley smiled. After he had turned to leave, Ashley held
out her hand. “You might as well just give me your keys now. It’ll
save you time when we leave.”

Jewell laughed and dropped her car keys into
Ashley’s upturned hand.

Collin was waiting at Jewell’s car when she
and Ashley left in the morning. He took her hand and started
walking toward where he was parked. Jewell smiled and waved at
Ashley with her other hand as she walked away. Over breakfast at
Café du Monde, they discussed the file in more depth.

“So, what were you saying yesterday, about
information being changed?” Collin asked, brushing powdered sugar
from the front of his shirt.

“Well, here’s what’s interesting. The name of
the attending doctor has been changed and has relocated to
Baltimore.”

“That doesn’t seem like much. What else was
changed?”

“Well,” Jewell said, sipping on her coffee,
“they had called your time of death. That should have been in the
file. It’s happened before, where a doctor makes a mistake and
calls it, but it turns out that the patient actually survives. The
fact that it was called always stays in the file; along with
details of the resuscitation. Those details are extremely important
if there are complications later, which, unlike with you, there
usually are.”

“So what does it say about the whole
thing?”

“It just says that you were in cardiac arrest
when you arrived, CPR was being administered by emergency
personnel, and that they were able to restore a sinus rhythm after
five minutes of continued CPR and oxygen.”

“What’s a sinus rhythm?” He pointed to
himself, “history major, remember.”

“Oh yeah. That just means that your heart
started beating normally again.”

“So then, there’s nothing in there about
me…well, dying?”

“Nope. Not a word. According to this, there
was nothing abnormal at all. You were brought in, your injuries
were documented – it looks like those are all accurate, all
procedures performed during surgery and your follow up care until
you were transferred to a private facility. Where did you go
anyway?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I checked out Jaffa Continued Care
Facility. It didn’t check out.”

“You were spying on me?”

Jewell blushed. “Well, um…I was following up
on your transfer?”

“Yeah right. From the time I left the ER I
was no business of yours. You were looking for me because you
missed me.” He grinned and poked her in the side.

“Oh, and this coming from the guy stalking me
at my job every night!” Jewell countered.

“Okay, you got me. What can I say? I am
totally, completely, and irrevocably in love with you.”

Jewell pushed up from the table. “You’d
probably better get me home. I have to work again tonight and I’m
beat.”

Collin got up and followed her as she walked
towards his car. “What did I say?”

“Nothing. I’m just tired.” She crossed her
arms over her chest as Collin reached for her hand. He put his arm
around her shoulders instead. She stiffened, but didn’t
protest.

Collin opened Jewell’s door and then walked
around to the driver’s seat. He put the key in the ignition, but
didn’t start the car. Instead, he looked at Jewell. She was looking
out the window. “Jewell,” he whispered. “Jewell, what’s wrong?”

“Collin, this is just getting stranger.
Instead of finding answers, I’m just coming up with more questions.
Your uncle knows something, how do I know that you don’t know
something you’re not telling me. I don’t know what to think.”

He reached across the seat and put his hand
on her shoulder. “Jewell, look at me.” She turned and looked at
him. “Look at my eyes. I’m not lying. I’m just as confused about
this as you are. If I knew something else, I swear I would tell
you. Can’t you see that I’m telling you the truth? I’m scared too,
and confused. Imagine how this feels to me, to find out that not
only are secrets being kept from me and by my family no less, but
secrets about me are being kept from everyone.”

Jewell suddenly felt selfish. He was right.
This wasn’t about her at all, this was about him. She could just
walk away, at least in theory. He couldn’t walk away from his
secrets. “You’re right. I’m sorry. It’s just so overwhelming.”

“You know, I would understand if you didn’t
want anything more to do with me. I wouldn’t try to stop you if you
wanted to walk away.” He looked down, as if he thought that might
be what she wanted.

Jewell reached out and took his face gently
in both her hands. She leaned over and kissed him lightly on the
lips. “You know I can’t leave you. Not even if I wanted to.” She
leaned back and laughed. “I mean really, I spent an entire day
driving around Lake Charles looking for some imaginary place just
so I could see you again. Where did your uncle take you
anyway?”

“Honestly? Just back home. He is a doctor
after all.”

“Speaking of home…I checked out your home
address, too. It appears you live at a florist in Lacombe.”

“My, my; you sound a little obsessed. Are you
stalking me?”

“Just a little.”

* * *

That night she dreamed of Collin. In the
dream, Collin was standing in the sunlight. She could see him, but
it looked like he was looking for her. She was engulfed in shadow.
She tried calling to him, but when she called his name her voice
made no sound. She tried to walk forward, but couldn’t move. It
felt like she was tied down, her arms pinned to her sides. She
kicked her legs, but could not escape her bindings. She started to
panic. Her panic pulled her from sleep, breathing hard, her
blankets twisted around her arms fixing them against her body.

Chapter 24

Ashley and Jewell walked together into the
hospital. As they walked towards the hospital, they joined a crowd
of other employees arriving for work. Collin had promised to help
his uncle with some things tonight, so he didn’t meet Jewell as
usual. Suddenly, something caught Jewell’s eye. She quickly moved
to Ashley’s other side, and pulled Ashley to the outside of the
crowd.

“What’s going on?” Ashley asked.

“Don’t turn your head, but look over by the
wall, in the corner.”

“What, the guy?”

“Yes, does he look familiar to you?”

Ashley tried to look without looking as they
moved towards the hospital doors. It was difficult to get a good
look at him because he was in a shadow, and partially obscured by
the wall. Also, the people in the crowd kept passing in front of
her view. “No. Should he?”

“Ash, it’s the same guy from the Burger King
in Lake Charles. The same guy from the emergency room I told you
about, the idiot with the coffee. Now do you remember?”

“Yeah, I remember you telling me about him.
Are you sure that’s him? How do you know?”

“Well, the brace on his leg for one thing.
That guy broke his leg. Do you remember the guy in Lake Charles; he
was having trouble getting out of his car because his leg was in a
cast?”

“I don’t know I wasn’t paying attention.”

Jewell huffed in exasperation. “Besides,
there’s something about him. Trust me, it’s the same guy. I think
he’s following me.”

“You’re being paranoid. It’s probably not the
same guy, or maybe he’s here for another reason or something.”

“Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean
the world isn’t out to get you.” Jewell quoted as she kept Ashley
between her and the stranger while she passed through the doors
into the hospital. The man was looking the opposite direction
towards some other employees who were just arriving. Jewell
shivered. “The hairs on the back of my neck are standing on end!”
She reached up and rubbed the back of her neck. “I don’t know,
maybe you’re right. Maybe I’m just being paranoid. I’m so tired I’m
just not thinking straight.”

Jewell tried not to think any more about the
man she saw outside the hospital until she was checking some
information on a patient with Lea, who works at the front desk.
“Hey, Jewell; some guy came by, I think he might have been looking
for you.”

“Really?” Jewell’s suspicions flared to the
surface. “What did he look like?”

“I don’t really remember I didn’t look at him
much. He was asking for a blonde nurse that usually wears a pony
tail. Since you’re the only blonde on night shift, I figured he was
talking about you.”

“What…what did you tell him?”

“I told him that I couldn’t give out any
information on employees of course.” She turned to look at Jewell.
“You look really pale. Do you feel alright?”

“I’m not sure. Did this man…did he have a
brace on his right leg?”

Lea thought for a minute. “Actually, now that
you mention it, I think he did. He was walking with a cane. Do you
know him? He didn’t seem to know your name.”

Jewell leaned against the counter. Lea got up
and moved her chair behind Jewell prompting her to sit down.
“What’s wrong? You do know him, don’t you?”

“He came in about two weeks ago. It was a
single car MVA; he had spilled coffee in his lap. I remember seeing
him as they pushed him past me in the hall. When he looked at me,
it was just…I don’t know, creepy.” Jewell rested her head in her
hands for a minute, trying to slow her heart rate and her
breathing. “I was in Lake Charles a couple days later, I saw him
there. I didn’t think too much about it at the time; I thought it
was just a coincidence. He didn’t seem to notice me. But then, him
being here tonight…I saw him standing outside. I thought it was
weird, but now that you said he was asking for me…”

“He was here tonight?” Lea sounded
worried.

“Yeah, outside waiting by the employee
entrance, why?”

“Because he was asking for you last night.”
Lea reached for the phone, quickly dialing the number for security.
“I think we have a problem. There’s somebody here that may be
stalking one of our nurses.” She waited for a minute, listening.
“Jewell McKean. She’s right here with me. She can probably give you
a better description than I can.” Lea handed the phone to
Jewell.

“Hello?” Jewell described the man to security
who told her that they would look into it. She turned to Lea, “Can
you pull that file for me? I want to know who this guy is.”

“I’m really not supposed to…”

“Please, this guy is stalking me. I should at
least know who he is. Maybe I can go to the police and get a
restraining order or something.” She was on the verge of tears. The
idea of this man following her was spine-chilling. She had heard of
people being stalked before. All of the stories she read ended
badly.

“Let me see what I can work out.”

“Thanks Lea. Do you know where Nurse Yohanan
is?” Jewell asked standing and looking towards the treatment
area.