Tell Me What Is Priceless (Siren Publishing Classic) (30 page)

“That sucks. I got the house all clean and did some work on the book. Are you coming home, or staying up there?”

“I should be home. I don’t know how long this claims guy is going to tie us up. If it’s too late, I may just stay up here. It’s an hour’s drive home, and I’m tired. Do you mind?”

“No, of course not. I wouldn’t want you falling asleep while you were driving. As long as you come home tomorrow. Don’t forget that we have that appointment on Wednesday.”

“I haven’t forgotten. I’m dreading it, but it is a necessity. I’ve got to go. I love you, and I am sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. I’ll see you when you get home.”

Blaze hung up the phone, staring at it sadly. “Shit. Nan is gone for the holidays. So I get to sit here alone and feel sorry for myself as our dinner dries out in the oven. This sucks, guys,” she said to the two sleeping dogs. Choey looked up at her and thumped her tail. Blaze pulled the pan from the oven and went in to sit and pet the dogs for a while. When Zar arrived home in the middle of the night, she was curled up between them, sleeping.

He softly shook her, startling Choey awake. Blaze groaned, sitting up and flexing her neck. “Ow, it was a bad idea to sleep on the sofa. I have a massive sore neck, and my head is throbbing.”

“Can I do anything?” he asked as he yawned sleepily.

“I need to go to bed with a couple of Advil. Hopefully it will help.”

Zar helped her up, grimacing for her as she winced in pain. “It’s bad, huh?”

“Yeah, my heartbeat sounds like a base drum thumping inside my brain. Every movement makes it thump louder.”

“You said that coffee helps sometimes. Do you want me to make some?”

“Yeah, if you are not too tired. The hot caffeine speeds up the pain pills.”

“Go lie down. I’ll bring it in.”

“Thank you,” she said, her eyes tearing up from the pain in her skull. She walked slowly into the bedroom, each step sending a shot of pain through her body. Zar put half a pot of coffee on to brew and then went to get washed up for bed. He brought Blaze in a cup and handed her two Advil. “Are you sure you don’t want the prescription ones?”

“No, if it doesn’t clear up by morning, I’ll take one then.”

He waited until she had finished the cup and then set it on the table. Her face was ghostly white against the black rings around her eyes, and Zar urged her to lie back. He massaged her neck with his fingers, slowly trying to ease away the tightness there. Blaze drifted off into sleep, and he lay back with her in his arms, closing his eyes.

It was light outside when she sat up gasping for air. Her head throbbed unceasingly, and Blaze lay back down, each breath a renewal of agony. Zar rolled over, rubbing her back softly with the palm of his hand. “It’s still really bad, huh?”

Blaze’s reply came in the form of a soft moan as she tried to catch her breath. “Could you get me two pain pills and make a pot of coffee?”

“Sure,” he said, rolling from the bed and getting up. “Do you want something to eat so the pills won’t make you sick?”

“Plain toast might stay down, but I am not sure.”

Zar headed out into the kitchen and flipped on the coffeepot, putting in two slices of bread. From her purse he got her pills and then cleaned out the bathroom trash can in case she got sick. Blaze was curled up on her side, the pillow thrown over her head to block out the light from the windows. He pulled the light-blocking shades down and tightly closed the black curtains, plunging the bedroom into semidarkness. Zar slowly removed the pillow from Blaze’s head and looked down at her. She reached up her hand for him and gave him a weak smile. “Thank you. I tried to get up and shut them, but I got too dizzy.”

“Stay put,” Zar said. “Roll over and I will massage your back. It might help.”

She shifted over onto her stomach, jumping as Zar poured cold hand cream onto her back. “Shit!” he said as he got up. “I will be right back. Your toast should be ready. Are you all right on your stomach?”

“Yeah.”

He returned a few minutes later with her toast and two cups of coffee. “I let Choey and Moosey out. They almost got a squirrel that was stupid enough to come inside the fence. I don’t think it will make that mistake again.”

Blaze smiled, the expression showing clearly how much pain she was in. Zar thought that she appeared washed out, as if the life had been drained from her smile. She sat up slightly, nibbling at the toast before swallowing the pills with some coffee. “Hey, come down here and kiss me. I will be gone for the rest of the day.”

“Yeah, I know. Sleep and feel better. I’ll take care of the dogs, and maybe I can get going on that game I had an idea for. Call if you need me.”

“I will,” she said as he leaned down and gave her a soft kiss. Blaze closed her eyes, moaning softly as he began to slowly rub her back. The feel of his gentle hands lulled her into a deep sleep, and Zar stopped, waiting to see if she was going to react. When she didn’t, he headed out to the computer to start on construction of the game.

The day was punctuated with the times he woke her up to eat. He helped her to the bathroom and then quickly got her back to bed.

It was late when Zar finally joined her, and Blaze rolled over, her eyes red and puffy looking. “Set the alarm clock. Your appointment is at ten. I should have only taken one pill. I’m going to be so dopey in the morning. I want to go with you.”

“We’ll see how you feel. I’m capable of taking myself, and I promise to go and tell him the truth. How is your head?”

“Better,” she replied in a sleepy voice.

“I’m glad to hear that.”

Blaze laid her head down on his shoulder, dropping back into sleep. Zar lay for a long time thinking about the things the doctor might tell him in the morning. He preferred not to have Blaze go with him. It might be easier in the long run to face the news alone.

Blaze lay in bed thinking. She had been so sleepy when the alarm went off that Zar had convinced her not to go. She was regretting the decision to stay home now that he was gone. She had to get up and use the bathroom, and she wanted a cup of coffee. Zar had left her some in the carafe in the kitchen.

Her body ached from stiffness as she pushed herself out of bed. The headaches and the pain pills always left her feeling drained, as if she had been hit by a truck. Blaze avoided the bathroom mirror. She already knew what sight would greet her. Her hair would be a tangled mess, and her eyes would look black and sunken.

She walked cautiously into the kitchen, making a point to avoid sudden movements. After she poured herself a cup of coffee, Blaze headed to the computer. Zar had left a note taped to the screen, and she opened it, reading the contents.

Dear Blaze, I’m going to take a ride up and close up the house when I’m done at the doctor’s. I love you. Never forget that.

“Why would I forget?” she asked the computer screen as she turned it on.

Blaze pulled up her e-mail and saw one from her brother. The sight made her heart race, and she clicked it open.

Well, it’s about time you read your e-mail. I’ve been trying to call you for days. You are never home, and I hate leaving you messages. I have some information for you and Zar.

First of all, you need to get him to the doctor. My friend says that if he has been on even small doses of Xzarant for any length of time, the area of injection is in bad condition. He is probably suffering from a multitude of small bone fractures that could give way at any time. Even the slightest impact to the damaged sections of bone could cause them to split dramatically. I know this sounds horrible, but keep reading before you get upset.

Considering the fact that the Xzarant continues to cause erosion, a doctor would be wise to suggest amputation of all the affected bone. The area will not hold any kind of reconstruction surgery, and Zar would be horribly disfigured if not crippled.

The good news is that I have been chatting with the guys who were doing the research. They are on the verge of a breakthrough for a drug that would work with Xzarant to counteract the negative effects of it. Not only would it keep the subject from losing bone mass, but also it would help regenerate any damage that is done. The problem is that they have no one they can test this drug interaction on. All computer-generated tests and simulations have had excellent results. The government won’t let them inject anyone with Xzarant until they can prove the antidrug safe. They can’t prove it safe because they have no one to test it on. If Zar is willing, they can do the tests on him and see what happens. We need to get him started before his body falls apart on him. Call me as soon as you get this. We are all waiting with our faces turning blue. Zar could be healed and be the proof that provides pain relief for millions all over the globe.

Blaze reached for the phone with the intent of calling Art. It rang before she could pick it up, making her jump. She snatched it and put it to her ear, hoping to hear Zar’s voice. “Blaze, this is Dr. Stern. I’m calling you with the battery of tests that we have scheduled for Zar. Can I give them to you?”

“I can take them for him. He called me and told me what you said, already,” she said in a testing voice.

“Yeah, I thought he might call you. He is really upset, and I can’t blame him. That doctor friend of his lied to him, Blaze. He was convinced that he was fine. We did preliminary X-rays, and there is so much damage in his left hip. The upper connection bones in his thigh are just as bad. He pushed me for worst case scenario and then was visibly shaken when I gave it to him. I know the idea of living with only one leg and a plastic casing protecting his body in lieu of his hip is a scary idea. It may be the only choice he has. If those bones shatter, it is going to cause muscle and artery damage, and he could very likely bleed to death. I told him to go home and stay put until we could get these tests done. They will give us a clearer picture of where we stand and how much bone we are going to have to remove to save his life. He has an appointment tomorrow at noon for an MRI and another at three for an ultrasound. In the meantime, he can go have an EKG and blood tests to get him ready for surgery. This is a dangerous thing to play around with, Blaze. Zar needs to decide what is more important. Does he want to walk or want to live?”

“I gotta go,” Blaze said, abruptly hanging up the phone. She looked at the note again, and tears formed in her eyes.
Don’t ever forget that I love you.
“Oh shit!” she said, getting quickly to her feet. The living room wavered in her vision, and Blaze dropped back into the chair. She was still too sleepy and dizzy to safely drive a car, but she had to do something. “Kale. I will call Kale, and he will take me.”

She dialed the number and sat bouncing in the chair with irritation as it rang. Blaze slammed down the phone and got up, this time more slowly. She walked carefully into the bedroom and slipped her robe off to pull on a pair of jeans and a sweater. As she struggled to get a pair of socks on, Choey let out a howl of welcome and then began to bark. Blaze smiled and sighed in relief. “He changed his mind and came home,” she said as she headed back out into the living room. Kale’s SUV was in the driveway, and he was backing out as if he thought no one were home. Blaze gritted her teeth and ran for the door, running out into the snow in her stocking feet. She waved her hands, racing across the lawn to stop Kale. His brake lights went on, and he backed down the street, stopped, and rolled down the window. “Where is Zar?”

“Kale, we have to get up to the house and stop him. I think he is going to try to kill himself.”

“I know. Get in.”

“I have to go lock up the house and put some shoes on. I will be out in a minute,” said Blaze as she ran back for the house. Her head was screaming again, and she tried to ignore it as she closed up the doors and did a fast check to make sure everything was shut off. She grabbed a dry pair of socks and, after kissing the dogs, ran out the door with her shoes in her hands. Blaze leapt into Kale’s SUV and screamed, “Drive! Head toward the house in the mountains. I hope we are not too late!”

Kale took off as she stripped off her soggy socks and replaced them with dry ones and her sneakers. Kale pulled out onto the main road. “What do you know?”

“I know that my doctor told him that his hip and leg need to be amputated to save his life. They can’t replace the damaged bone because a graft or pins wouldn’t hold. I think what he is suggesting is a skin graft protected by some kind of hard-cast-type apparatus. Zar would be in a wheelchair and need care for the rest of his life. He has already told me that he would rather die than live like that. I also know that it doesn’t have to happen. My brother is a research chemist for a college down south. He is a big shot and knows everything about drugs and chemicals. He wrote me an e-mail that says he can get Zar into a test program that may repair the damage done by the Xzarant. If he is dead that can never happen. What do you know?”

“Zar gave me a copy of one of your books to read. I thought it was great and that the woman sounded so real and heartbroken after her husband’s death. When I got to the part where her husband’s brother is seducing her, it stuck in my mind. When the brother told her that they had her husband’s blessing, I sat in shock. If you want the honest truth, as I read, I heard Zar saying the words to me. I dropped the book and came over to talk to him. I didn’t want to discuss it with you, and when I saw his SUV gone, I wasn’t going to come in. Obviously, when I looked in my mirror and you were in the snow waving me down, I backed up. Do you really think he is going to do this?”