Illumine Her by Sieni A.M. Read Free Book Online Page B

machines, he frowned and set his eyes on Alana.
    Clearing his throat to speak, his voice was hoarse, his face filled with suspicion. “You resuscitated him?”
    Alana stared back unblinking and she opened and shut her mouth to form a response.
    Without waiting for her, he turned and noticed Chase for the first time. “Mr. Malek? What are you doing here? You should be at the luncheon.”
    “I was touring the grounds,” he replied nonchalantly, his eyes never leaving Alana’s. She swallowed hard and shriveled at his intense glare. What was this man’s story?
    The room became a hub of loud noise—cries of disbelief and expressions of shock coming from the members of Mr. Filipo’s family rushing to his side and grabbing his hands.
    “Papa!”
    “Is he going to be alright?”
    Dr. Fetu waved them away to check on his vitals.
    Alana couldn’t be in that room anymore. She needed to get out and let Dr. Fetu deal with the questions. Mr. Filipo was medically dead when she left, and now he had been resuscitated, his heart beating strong, but not by any medical means. When the reality of what she just witnessed swirled in her mind, she swayed and began to breathe rapidly, air coming in choppy bursts. Air. I need fresh air .

Chapter 5

    A lana quietly backed up and slipped away from the room. She had to get away from that suffocating space and everything contained in it. Walking briskly down the hallway that connected to the outdoor breezeway, she pushed through the doors and was out, but not out far enough. Hitting the pavement, she ran across the car park into the grassy mound behind the hospital. When she stopped, her breaths were coming in rough gasps. With her hands on her hips, she paced back and forth before nausea rolled over her. Reality hit her hard again, knocking the air out of her, and she bent over dry heaving on the grass. Covering her mouth, she sat down, head between her legs, arms resting limply on her knees. Trembling, the questions poured in again. What in the hell just happened? What did I just witness? Who is Chase Malek? And what did he do to Mr. Filipo?
    “Are you alright?”
    Astounded out of her thoughts, Alana looked up to see Chase standing a short distance away, hands in his pockets. How did he find her so fast? The fear hit her quickly. Scrambling off the ground, she backed away with wide eyes, and then turned to run. She didn’t make it two paces before strong arms grasped her from behind, holding her still. Chase wrapped his forearms around her shoulders and drew her back to his chest, trapping her. Alana felt warmth through her uniform and shook. Reminded of the warmth emanating from his arms in the hospital room, she panicked.
    “I’m not going to hurt you, Alana,” he spoke gently near her ear in an attempt to ease her fears. It didn’t work.
    “Let go of me,” her voice quivered, and she cursed inwardly for it revealing her distress.
    He made no move to free her, and she made a mental list of all the moves she could do to break free from his stronghold. With her heart thundering away in her chest, she threw all her weight down and stomped on his foot, pushing her arms upward out of his grasp before slamming her elbow into his ribs. When he loosened his hold, she spun around and saw that her actions made no impact on him. She panicked some more on the inside. She expected him to be doubling over, gasping for breath. Chase stood back instead, his hands in surrender, eyes tinged with mild surprise. Now Alana was really terrified. Her heart slammed against her ribcage, elbow pulsing with pain from the force she used to ram into his body, and she backed away slowly to keep a safe distance between them.
    “Alana, don’t be afraid of me,” his voice lowered. “I wanted to check up on you to see if you’re okay. You look…pale.”
    Yeah? No kidding! I just witnessed someone die and then brought back to life by some voodoo blue lights!
    Confusion masked her face. “Who are you?” she