Whisper by Kathleen Lash Read Free Book Online Page A

job with the tunneling outfit. To date, they’d done right by him. His arms fell limp and a chill raced over him. Damned, he couldn’t feel anything!
    “Are you ready for him?” the nurse asked.
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    The question wasn’t directed at him. He couldn’t answer anyhow. Weird lights danced behind his eyelids and he felt queasy. He kept thinking about the insurance money and how it’d set Mark up for a long, long time. It’d educate Corey and Billy and take care of expenses for years. They had no debt other than monthly reoccurring items. The rentals paid for repairs and kept adding to the bank account. Actually, if they didn’t get a cent from insurance, they’d be well off. Maybe he should’ve quit the job a few days earlier.
    The bed moved and he no longer cared. They could hack off his mangled leg and that’d be all right. He wondered if Mark felt this much pain before he’d had surgery for the appendix. He hoped not. It made his gut clench thinking about any of the kids aching so bad.
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Chapter Five
    Whisper heard a sound before the bedroom door creaked. Not accustomed to the room or bed, she came half awake. When the light glared a moment later, she sat up and shielded her eyes. Keith Manchester filled the doorway. She threw the covers back and hurried to get out of the man’s bed. Why she’d let Mark talk her into staying the night was beyond her at the moment.
    A tangle of bedcovers trapped a leg and with some quick movements, she wound up on the floor with a thump. Additional soft thuds came toward her. “Slow down, you’re still stuck,” he said “You hurt?”
    He finished untangling her leg before she let it join the rest of her body. Still partially asleep, she noticed things, first a black cast. She instinctively reached out and touched the hard surface.
    “Oh, my God.” Whisper struggled to stand. A hand grasped her upper arm and pulled her up.
    “Your leg! What happened?” Ashamed for sleeping in his bed, she added, “I’m sorry. Electricity is out across the street. This side has power. Mark said it’d be all right. We didn’t know when you’d be—”
    “Whoa, take it easy.” He touched the side of her face and the scent of snow and cold drifted to her.
    He’d probably just hobbled in the door. “Better now?” She nodded. He stood balanced on crutches tucked under his arms. How could she have forgotten how big he was? “Please sit down. I’ll change the sheets if you want.” 43

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    She tried to get around him, but the crutches sort of boxed her in. The only route of escape would be across the bed.
    “I scared you again,” he said. “None of the kids were awake or they would’ve warned me you were up here. Crawl back in bed. I’ll see you in the morning.”
    “No, please.” She placed her hand on his arm.
    He gazed down with an amused expression. “It’s your bed. Billy doubled up with Corey and Heather took Corey’s bed. I’ll move in with her.” The grin left as Keith’s eyes closed. The color drained from his face as his fists gripped the padded handles on the crutches. He attempted to bring a hand up and almost lost his balance.
    “Here,” she said, steadying him. Whisper moved beside him and took a crutch away. She fit perfectly in his armpit and wrapped her arm around him.
    “One step back and you can sit. Can you do it?” He chuckled. “One step? Sure.” He took it and sat. Because of how she held him, she sat too. Sliding out from under his arm, she wound up on her knees beside his undamaged leg.
    He pulled a bottle from the breast pocket of his flannel shirt.
    “Overdue,” he said. “Flight delayed with the snow. Afraid to take it and drive home.” She took the pill bottle and read the label. She recognized the name of the pain medication. The instructions indicated one or two pills every four hours.
    “How many do you take?”
    “Two.” Of course he did, he was twice a normal person’s size.
    “How