Immortal Flame by Jillian David Read Free Book Online Page B

details. Let me just say that my lovely wife, Jane, God rest her beautiful soul, was my inspiration. Now I’ve said too much already, my boy.”
    Barnaby’s deceased wife had been the love of the recent, natural portion of his life.
    “But what about now?” Peter continued. “How do you feel now that you’ve reached the end of your own life?”
    “Breaking the contract and becoming mortal was completely worth the risk and the pain and the loss of immortality. Don’t get me wrong. My joints ache, the pate is bald, and I can’t remember my last decent erection. I’m a defective mess. But I get to live a
life
to its natural conclusion. There’s a satisfaction in finally moving on.”
    Peter shoved his hand through his hair, cursing when he hit the line of staples. “Yeah, I see what you mean.”
    “You’ll get there, my boy.”
    “Thanks, old man. I appreciate it.”
    “I’d say any time, but at some point in the future, that won’t be the case.” Barnaby coughed again. “But as long as I’m here, I’m always happy to help.”

Chapter 5
    At noon on Monday during her next twenty-four-hour shift, Allison picked up the doctor’s workstation phone and dialed Peter Blackstone’s contact number. Her heart thudded, and she had to take a deep breath. On the second ring, he picked up.
    “Hello?” His low voice sent chills up her arms. She relaxed her death grip on the phone.
    “Mr. Blackstone, this is Dr. La Croix from the Grande Ronde ER. I was calling to check on you after your accident.”
    “Do you call all of your patients?”
    She rocked back on her heels at the gruff reply. “Uh no, but if they’re seriously ill or injured or they leave AMA, then we try make sure they’re doing okay. My personal policy is to call all AMA patients myself on my next shift.”
    “Oh. Yes, then I’m fine.”
    Stammering a reply, she struggled to salvage the conversation and maintain her professionalism. “Um, all right. If you have any other problems or notice new symptoms, please feel free to return to the ER. You can always be re-evaluated.”
    The silence stretched out.
    Is he still on the phone?
    “There’s this one problem you might be able to help with,” he finally said.
    “Sure.” She gulped. “What’s the problem?”
    “These staples are driving me crazy. Can you take them out?”
    “Possibly. It’s a little early to remove them, but if you want to stop in today, I’ll see what I can do.”
    “Until then.”
    The line went dead. Allison’s hands shook. She was going to see him again. She shivered, anticipating his dark eyes, his touch. Almost craved it, almost felt it, which was bizarre, not to mention unprofessional.
    Another horrible thought occurred to her. What if he truly knew about her visions? Would he reveal the secret? She pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose and tried to concentrate on the chart in front of her.
    That afternoon, Allison put the finishing touches on a bright red forearm cast for an unlucky, eleven-year-old trampoline victim. He preened beneath the attention of the nurses, who signed his cast with lots of XOXOs. Allison smiled at his mother, who, with two other young boys in tow, returned a weary grin. She bet it wouldn’t be the last trip this mother made to the ER with an adventurous kid.
    And throughout the encounter, Allison managed to keep one eye on the security monitor for the reception area.
    The family had just signed off on the paperwork when the ER doors whooshed open on the monitor.
    Allison’s heart jumped. She peeked down the hall.
    Her niece dodged past Sarah into the reception area, stopped abruptly, and planted her toes on the line painted perpendicular to the reception desk.
    “Hi, Marcie!” Pigtails askew, the girl waved at the ER receptionist.
    The older woman smiled. “Quincy! How’s my favorite princess?”
    Quincy unselfconsciously fluffed her satin and lace dress and dropped into a curtsey. “Sierra had a birthday party today. I won