Fearless: Complicated Creatures Part Three Read Online Free PDF Page A

get here, Jack?” she asked after a moment, her fingers tracing the warm planes of his cheekbones.
    Jack smiled down at her, rubbing her nose with his. “I convinced you to take a chance on me, remember?”
    Remember…
    Samantha stared up at him, unable to recall anything beyond how good it felt to be in his arms.
    …Remember?
    Jack looked so serene, so at peace. Nothing like the ravaged, furious man she’d left in Chicago—desperation burning in his eyes as he’d begged her not to go to Afghanistan.
    — Remember?
    So much unsaid—
    So many things left undone—
    Sam felt the discordant edges of her memories blur with the alternate reality of her imaginings. She stared into Jack’s handsome face, making a sound of distress as he began to waffle and fade before her very eyes.
    No —not yet—
    Sam held Jack’s apparition tighter as she felt the pull that would drag her back down into darkness, but the tighter she held, the more she lost him. It was no use—she couldn’t hold onto the vision—she couldn’t hold onto him —she couldn’t hold onto any of it—
    “Here, Mommy! My pictures—”
    “I love you, tesoro —”
    She struggled against the encroaching darkness.
    Sam fought to claw her way back, but the void that awaited her was too strong—too powerful to fight—
    *
    Same Time
    Asklepios Klinik Barmbek, Hamburg, Germany
    J A C K
    “I love you, tesoro, ” he whispered against Sam’s forehead, his eyes squeezed shut as he released her.
    Jack startled at the sudden intensified bleeps of the heart rate monitor, the urgent sound in the cool quiet of her hospital room. He searched Samantha’s face, looking for signs that she might be awake, that she might be able to hear him as the jagged line of the electrocardiogram flickered across the screen by the bed.
    The door to Samantha’s hospital room flew open as Carey, Rush, and Talon came in, moving immediately toward the bed.
    “What happened—?” Rush asked, checking her vitals and lifting her eyelids as Talon turned on the overhead lights, flooding the room with interminable brightness.
    “I don’t know,” Jack responded, bewildered. “She wasn’t responsive, and then all of the sudden her heart rate just spiked—”
    “Did she open her eyes; did she wake up?” Carey asked urgently as Rush continued checking her vitals.
    “I don’t know—” Jack stared down at her in shocked worry. “I didn’t see it if she did. She didn’t make a sound—”
    “You need to clear the room!” The night nurse and doctor commanded as they came into Samantha’s room, accompanied by a flurry of staff.
    “Pulse is at 130. BP is at 70 over 30 and falling—” Rush told them as the doctor leaned over her.
    “ Wait —what’s happening—?” Jack asked, bewildered as Carey and Talon dragged him back.
    “She’s in critical condition. Going into shock—we need you to clear the room!” The doctor ordered over his shoulder.
    “No! No, you have to tell me what’s happening—” Jack struggled against Carey’s and Talon’s grip, but in his current state, it was useless. He felt as weak as a kitten, as the pain of his withdrawals washed over him again, leaving him shaking and juddering in its wake.
    “Just let them do their jobs, Jack,” Carey said gruffly, though there was clear worry in his eyes, his mouth compressed in a thin line as he pressed Jack against the wall outside her room.
    Jack struggled for a moment, trying to see in, but the shakes were giving away to something stronger. He slid to the ground, the world tilting as he felt close to passing out. He felt like he was swimming against a wickedly powerful current, his fight to stay conscious weakening even as Carey and Talon crouched over him anxiously, trying to prop him up.
    “Get another doctor,” Carey ordered Talon. “Go now!”
    Talon was up like a shot, racing down the corridor as another wave of nausea had Jack dry heaving while Carey tried to keep him from falling