Deadly Obsession Read Online Free PDF Page A

Gage’s stomach. “I don’t see as I have much of a choice.”
    “I could go back…alone.”
    “Thanks, but I think I need to go…it might help me better understand what happened.”
    “Whatever you say.” Sam got back up. “I’ll go grab us some really bad coffee and something that resembles a Danish . Then we can both sit here and watch her sleep.”
    “You don’t have to stay, Sam.”
    “Sure I do.” He headed for the door. “Be right back.”
     
    * * * *
     
    Voices. Familiar. Close.
    Brooklyn heard two deep voices echoing through the fog. She felt strange, heavy and weak, and she wasn’t sure she had the strength to open her eyes. She started to fade again when she heard her name. She turned her head slightly, prying her eyes open. The images were fuzzy and out of focus. She could see a man sitting directly in front of her, his body only an arm’s length away. There was another man beside him, his chair turned to the side. She felt she knew them, but couldn’t seem to remember their names.
    She closed her eyes, hoping the moisture would sharpen the images, but the edges were still faded when she peered at them again. She focused on the man in front of her, drawn to the familiar curve of his jaw.
    “Gage.” She hadn’t realised she’d spoken until he stopped and turned towards her. Relief flooded his expression, tears gathered behind his blue eyes, as he reached out his hand, gently caressing her cheek.
    “Brook.” His voice was rough, and she could hear the edge of fear in it.
    She tried to lean forward, say his name again, but the small movement ignited a pain in her back and the word came out as a strangled moan. Darkness edged her vision until she was forced to close her eyes. She could feel her consciousness slipping away, taking her away from the pain and back into the fog.
    “Brook!”
    She opened her eyes again. Gage was dabbing a damp cloth on her forehead. The colour had drained from his face and she could see a single tear rolling down his cheek. “Gage.”
    “Easy, darling. Don’t try to talk. Just relax. I sent Sam to fetch the doctor. Get you something for the pain.” He bit at his bottom lip as her eyelids fluttered and rolled, the pain pulling her back into oblivion. “Brook.”
    She forced herself to look at him. Her chest hurt when she breathed, and she was finding it hard to swallow. “Where…am…I?”
    “Harborview,” he said, still brushing the cloth across her skin. “They brought you in yesterday.”
    She closed her eyes. “ Hos —pi— tal ?” she finally forced out, groaning between syllables. “Why?”
    He feigned a smile. “We can talk about that later. You need to rest.”
    She shook her head, clenching her jaw to hold back another moan. “Want…to know.” She tried to catch her breath. “Oh God. Why…why does it…it hurt so much?”
    He leaned over her, kissing her forehead. “Don’t you remember?”
    “No.” She screamed this time as a sharp pain sliced through her torso.
    He grabbed her hand, patting it as if he didn’t know what else to do. “Hold on, darling. Sam should be back any second.”
     
    “She’s awake.” Nick O’Brian walked into the room a few minutes later, a knowing smile on his face. “That’s a good sign.”
    “Forget the sign, damn it. She’s in pain!” Gage shifted enough for Nick to manoeuvre beside the bed. “She needs something.”
    Nick nodded, tapping the syringe. “Your partner already expressed that need. Though you might want to advise him we’re really not out to watch our patients suffer. Fisting my shirt wasn’t necessary. I’d have given her morphine either way.”
    “Sorry. Sam gets passionate when his friends are in trouble.”
    “So I’ve seen,” he said, slowly injecting the liquid into Brooklyn’s I.V. “It’ll only take a few minutes to take effect. Then she’ll be much more comfortable.”
    Brooklyn moaned, and Gage watched her slump on the bed.
    “Better?” asked Nick.
    She