Wanton With a Vampire (3 page)

Grabbing her purse, Trish headed out the
door, feeling more than a little relieved when Alek didn’t follow
her. That might have sent her over the edge, making her give in to
the temptation to either hit him or kiss him. Funny how she wanted
to do both things at the same time.

It was a mistake to think her evening
couldn’t get any worse, because it did in a matter of seconds. When
she reached the crosswalk, someone bumped into her from behind. The
heel of her shoe picked that moment to break off, and she was flung
forward into the path of a car pulling through the intersection.
She heard the screeching of brakes and her own scream as the car
slammed into her body. It was a surreal moment where she felt as
though she were falling in slow motion, just before hearing the
crash of her head against the asphalt. The pain tore through her
body as the world around her faded to nothing.

That’s when things got really weird.

“Trish!” Alek shouted when he saw her fall in
front of the oncoming car. He raced out the door with Tempest,
Caitlin, and Justin right behind him. Caitlin was already on her
phone calling for paramedics, while Justin and Tempest, both
doctors, started checking Trish’s condition.

“No heartbeat,” Tempest said, squatting
beside Trish awkwardly. With her protruding pregnant belly, it was
amazing she could get down there.

“You count,” Justin said, immediately
starting CPR.

Alek watched as they worked to save Trish’s
life, feeling the unfamiliar weight of his own guilt. She’d been in
a hurry to leave because of his behavior.

“I’ve got a pulse,” Tempest said, just as the
paramedics arrived.

Trish’s eyes shot open, and she looked
terrified.

Justin stepped aside so the paramedics could
load her into the ambulance, while Ivy, a psychologist, moved
forward to try to comfort Trish. It was no exaggeration to say
Trish was freaking out.

“The horses,” Trish said, pointing a shaky
finger at the sidewalk. “Where is the restaurant?”

“It’s the head injury,” Justin said as he
approached Alek. Tempest could get away with ordering the
paramedics around, but Justin couldn’t because he wasn’t
technically a doctor. While he’d been through medical school
several times, every few decades, he went again so he wouldn’t have
to explain why he didn’t age.

Ivy had been ordered away from Trish and now
stood beside Justin. She shook her head. “It’s not the head
injury,” she said. “Something isn’t right.” Ivy was an empath who
could also read minds to some extent.

Caitlin, who shared that talent, also looked
worried. “Ivy’s right. This isn’t about a head injury. Something
happened when she died.”

Alek moved closer to Trish. “What’s going
on?”

“Sir, you need to stand back,” one of the
paramedics said forcefully.

Alek pushed the compulsion toward the minds
of both paramedics. “You want me to ride to the hospital with
her.”

Lydia was already stalking toward him like
she was going to argue, but Roman caught her arm. Alek was glad his
brother wasn’t planning to fight him on this, because he had
absolutely no intention of letting Trish out of his sight.

Both paramedics nodded and said nothing more
about his proximity.

Trish was thrashing around as they strapped
her to the stretcher, so Alek reached out and took her hand in his.
“Be calm,” he said. He hated using any kind of mind control when
she was going through so much already, but he feared she was going
to hurt herself.

“Don’t you dare tell me what to do!” Trish
spat out. “That building shouldn’t be there.”

Alek’s eyes widened. Ivy was right; something
was very wrong. As he climbed into the back of the ambulance, he
almost smiled at the way Trish clutched his hand like it was a
lifeline.

“Don’t leave me,” she pleaded.

Fully immobilized, she’d stopped struggling.
Leaning forward, he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. “I’m
right here, honey, and I’m not going to leave you.”

Trish was staring at the window in her
hospital room, wondering if she’d gone insane, because no matter
how many times she told herself she was hallucinating, she knew
what she was seeing was very real. According to the doctors, she
had a serious concussion that could account for her hallucinations.
They’d opted not to sedate her because of the concussion. That was
also why they’d kept her overnight for observation. If the doctors
figured out she thought her hallucinations were real, she’d likely
find herself in a padded room.

Alek had slept in the chair beside her bed
the previous night, so waking up alone had come as a surprise.
Every time a nurse had come in to poke and prod her, Alek had been
in the room. His absence this morning was somewhat of a relief, but
it also made her a little sad. She wasn’t in the mood for his
guilt, and he clearly felt a lot of it, but she’d found it oddly
comforting to have him with her.

Hearing footsteps heading into her room,
Trish braced herself for a visitor. Getting Caitlin and Lydia to go
home had been a challenge. While Trish was grateful she had such
loyal friends, she wasn’t in the mood for Caitlin’s bitchy attempt
at comforting her or Lydia’s nervous ramblings. Hannah, she could
deal with, but Hannah wasn’t likely to bring her baby to visit her
delusional friend in the hospital.

She was relieved when Ivy walked into the
room, even though Ivy had most likely been asked to talk to Trish
because of her job as a psychologist. When someone went this far
off the deep end, it was best to send in a professional.

Ivy was usually perky and upbeat, much like
Trish, which was probably why they didn’t hang out. They were too
much alike. Trish spared her a quick glance before looking at the
window again.

“What are you seeing?” Ivy asked.

While Trish knew admitting the truth made her
sound crazy, she couldn’t bring herself to lie. “There’s a man
standing at the window, struggling to open it,” Trish explained.
Just like the other times she watched this scene play out, the
terror in the man’s eyes was impossible to miss. “He’s going to
jump, but I don’t think he wants to.”

A passing nurse heard her and stepped into
the room. “Who told you about that?” she demanded. “We’re not
supposed to tell patients about that unfortunate suicide.” The
nurse was a stout woman in her sixties with a drill sergeant
demeanor.

While she wasn’t sure what had prompted the
man to jump out the window, Trish had spent the last twenty minutes
watching his death in a continuous loop. There was no denying that
the man had jumped out the window, but Trish was pretty sure there
was more to it. The man had been terrified of something in the
room. No matter how many times she watched his death, when Trish
looked toward the corner the man was staring at, all she saw was an
empty chair. It was frustrating to see the past in one part of the
room, but not the part she wanted to see most.

“I’m going to get the doctor, dear,” the
nurse said, shifting from drill sergeant to sweet grandmotherly
type. That’s when Trish realized she’d said some of that out
loud.

“You might want to keep that stuff to
yourself,” Ivy said with a conspiratorial smile. “Otherwise, people
will think you’re crazy.”

“I am crazy,” Trish said. “When I got up to
look out the window earlier, I saw the parking lot and the medical
buildings across the street. For just a moment, everything was
normal. That is, until I saw open fields and a farmer yelling at
his wife. The craziest part of this is that those things are easier
for me to see than the stuff that’s really there. Guess I still
hallucinate in 20/20 vision.”

When she looked back at the window, the man
was gone.

“Do you remember what happened?” Ivy
asked.

“Someone bumped me, and the heel broke off of
my shoe. I remember getting hit by the car, and I remember dying.
Despite what some people might want to tell you, dying hurts a lot.
No angel came to release my soul early so I wouldn’t suffer.”

“Do you remember what happened after that?”
Ivy asked. “Before you opened your eyes.”

Trish nodded. “I saw my dad. He told me he’d
made a mistake and taken something that belonged to me. The next
thing I remember is waking up in the middle of the street.
Suddenly, things didn’t look right. Honestly, they don’t look right
most of the time now.”

“How do they look?” Ivy asked in what Trish
realized was her psychologist voice.

“You think I’m crazy,” Trish said with a
resigned sigh. “It could be the head injury. What am I saying? Head
injury or not, I’ve gone off the deep end.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Ivy said with
a laugh. “You’ve met my sister, right? My whole family has strong
psychic abilities. Why in the world would I assume you were
crazy?”

“I’ve never had any psychic abilities,” Trish
pointed out.

Whatever Ivy was about to say was interrupted
when a nervous looking young doctor walked into the room. Maybe she
wasn’t used to treating crazy people. “Good morning, Ms. Williams.
I’m Doctor Hollis. How are you feeling this morning?”

“Like I got hit by a car,” Trish said. “Other
than that, I’m okay.”

Doctor Hollis didn’t seem amused. “I need a
few moments alone with Ms. Williams. There should be time for you
to grab a cup of coffee,” she said to Ivy.

“I want her to stay,” Trish said firmly.

“That’s fine,” the doctor said patiently.
“How much pain are you in?”

Trish shrugged, which made her wince. “I’m
still in some pain, but I’ve already been told nothing is broken.
Can I go home?”

“Have you had more hallucinations?” the
doctor asked.

“Just after she woke up, she was a little
confused,” Ivy answered for her. “She’s been lucid since then.”

Doctor Hollis spared Ivy a brief impatient
glance before returning her attention to Trish. “I’d like to keep
you an extra day to monitor your condition. While nothing is
broken, you’ve suffered a serious head injury, and I’m more than a
little concerned about your hallucinations.”

“She’ll be coming home with me,” Ivy said
with a smile, reaching out a hand. “I’m Dr. Ivy St. James.”

The young doctor shook her hand and
recognition lit in her eyes. “You work with crime victims,
right?”

Ivy nodded, and Trish sensed Ivy trying to
calm the doctor using more than just comforting words. In fact, she
could see the soothing blue waves of energy pulsating out of Ivy
and swirling around the room. That had never happened before.

“I’ve met your sister,” the doctor said.
“Will she be there to help with Ms. Williams?”

“She’ll be staying with me,” Alek said from
the door. “There’ll be a doctor close by, a family member of
mine.”

Ivy flashed a tight-lipped smile. “As you can
see, Trish is wanted in two homes with doctors available to help if
she needs anything. Naturally, Trish will decide which she
prefers.”

“I’d rather go back to my home,” Trish
said.

“Someone needs to stay with you,” Doctor
Hollis insisted. “I’ll draw up the release papers, and you can work
this out and let me know where you’ll be staying before I sign
them.” With that, she walked out of the room.

Trish opened her mouth to argue, just as her
phone rang. “That might be my mom,” she said. “Can one of you bring
me my purse?”

Alek handed it to her, and she rifled through
the bag until she found her phone, not at all sure why she’d
stuffed it in the main pouch last night instead of the little
section designed for her cell phone. As it turned out, putting her
phone in the wrong pouch had probably saved it from being broken
when her purse fell onto the street. Thankfully, she hadn’t used it
much the previous day, so she still had a charge.

“Hello,” she said without looking at the
number.

“Trish, oh my God!” Nathaniel sounded near
panic. “I just heard what happened. Are you okay? I’m trying to
arrange a flight back now. I know you probably want to stay at your
own home, so I’ll sleep in the spare room at the condo.”

“No!” Trish said quickly. Nathaniel was
translating the writing on the wall of a recently discovered
temple. Being selected for this project meant a lot to him, and
Trish would feel terrible if he missed out on this opportunity.
Knowing him, he’d insist it wasn’t that important, but Nathaniel
wouldn’t have agreed to spend two weeks away from Hope if that were
true. “I’m staying with my mom until I’m better. She’ll be angry if
I don’t let her take care of me.”

There was a long pause. “Are you sure?” he
asked.

“Absolutely,” Trish said. “How’s the work
going?”

“Fantastic!” Nathaniel said enthusiastically.
“I’ve worked on some exciting projects in my life, but nothing like
this. I wish you could be here to see it.”

Nathaniel had invited her along, and Trish
had wanted to go but needed to work extra hours to pay for books
for the upcoming semester. They chatted for a few more minutes
before ending their call with a promise that she’d call him if she
needed anything.

When she looked at Alek, his lips were
pressed into a thin line, and it was obvious he was upset about
something. “Don’t even try that line with me. I already know your
mother is on a cruise and won’t be home for three weeks.”

Trish sighed. “You’re both right,” she said.
“Staying alone is stupid when I have a concussion. Still, I want to
stay at my own home. Things are creepy enough without having to
stay in a strange place.”

“Then I’ll stay with you,” Alek said.

Hands on her hips, Ivy glared at Alek. “The
last thing Trish needs is you staying with her.”

Alek raised an arrogant eyebrow. “And why
would that be?”

“Give us a minute,” Ivy said to Trish as she
grabbed Alek’s arm and dragged him out of the room.