Angel of Mercy by Andrew Neiderman Read Free Book Online Page B

through the living room, adjusting furniture, fixing pillows, brushing crumbs off the coffee tables.
    “Most of my father’s extra money went toward medical bills in those days.”
    He closed his eyes and the moment he did, he swayed. Faye was at his side instantly.
    “Easy,” she said. “You’re far more mentally and emotionally exhausted then you realize. Come on, get to bed. I want you to rest.” She had looked around the house when she first arrived, so she knew where to lead him. He followed obediently, surprised and frightened by his weakness.
    “All of a sudden,” he explained, “my legs felt like they had turned into sticks of butter.”
    “Not unusual.” She brought him to his bed. He sat down, dazed, and watched as she began to undo his tie and then unbutton his shirt.
    “Got my own private duty nurse, huh?” he said, smiling.
    “Oh,” she said, pulling back suddenly, “I didn’t mean to…”
    “No, no, that’s all right. I appreciate what you’ve done and what you’re doing, Faye. Thank you. I’ll undress myself and lie down awhile.”
    “Did the doctor give you any sedatives?”
    “No, I don’t think I’ll need any.”
    “Yes you will,” she said authoritatively. “You’re exhausted, but sleep isn’t easy to come by when you’re as emotionally wounded as you are now.
    Believe me, you’ll drift off, but you’ll keep waking up with a start, hoping this has all been a nightmare.”
    He stared at her. What she said made sense.
    “Sylvia must have had some sedatives. I’ll look in your medicine cabinet,” she said. She already had and knew what was there. A few moments later, she returned with two red-tinted gelatin tablets and a glass of water.
    “What’s that?” Tommy asked. He had taken off his pants and was under the blanket.
    “Chloral hydrate. It’s a common sleeping pill,” she added to relieve any anxieties he might have. She wouldn’t tell him that this compound when given in larger doses was more famously known as a Mickey Finn.
    He nodded and smiled.
    “Forgot I had a nurse.” He took the pills and chased them down with some water.
    “You just sleep,” Faye said. “I’ll stay as long as I can before leaving for the hospital.”
    “You shouldn’t spend your time here, Faye. I’m sure you’ve got better things to do with your time off than care for a grieving husband,”
    Tommy said. He closed his eyes when he felt her hand on his forehead: It made him feel secure and relaxed and he drifted off.
    Faye stared at him and watched him sleep. He reminded her a little of her father after he had come into her room and crawled in bed beside her, moaning about how lonely he was. Mother hadn’t let him sleep with her for some time. He always began by telling her he just wanted to feel someone he loved beside him.
    He just wanted to hold someone he loved, touch someone he loved. She kept her eyes closed but it happened anyway, and then afterward he fell asleep and looked just like Tommy Livingston, dead to the world.
    When Susie thought Daddy was too lonely and should join their mother in heaven, Faye didn’t stop her. He should be dead to the world, she thought angrily; and then afterward she thought, maybe Susie was right, if not about Daddy, at least about other people. Maybe people who were really in love and together so long really couldn’t stand being apart.
    She never told Susie, but she wished there were something like eternal love between two people, because if it existed, maybe it would exist for her one day.
    She looked at Tommy Livingston again and recalled how he had shuddered and cried when he came into that room and looked at his wife’s picture, and then she was struck with an idea.
    Wouldn’t it be wonderful, she thought, if when he woke up, Susie was already here caring for him, easing his suffering. She knew how anxious Susie was.
    She rose quickly to call her, but at the phone, she hesitated.
    I shouldn’t do this, she thought. She knew