Fort Morgan Read Online Free PDF Page B

the
hallway.
    “ Let’s get you cleaned
up,” Alex said. “We have to get Gino back to prison.”
    “ Prison?” Dionne
asked.
    “ He’s only out to help
us,” Alex said. She nodded to the man. “On his deathbed, Gino’s
father realized the mistakes he’d made. He made Gino promise that
he would clean up the family business and make sure his sons were
never in it. Today, he’s accomplished a pretty big goal, and helped
us out at the same time.”
    She smiled at Yvonne.
    “ I’d bet you want to call
home,” Alex said.
    Yvonne smiled and Dionne nodded. Grinning,
Alex led them into a locker room where they could shower and
change. Alex, with Tanesha stuck in her hair, stayed with Dionne
and Yvonne until a Phoenix police officer came to get their
statements. Alex left with a wave and a smile.
    “ Did you hear what they
said?” Yvonne asked.
    “ They say we can fly home
tonight,” Yvonne said to Dionne.
    “ In the morning,” Dionne
said.
    “ Morning, night, who
cares?” Yvonne smiled. “It’s over.”
    “ I sure hope so!” Dionne
said. “I sure hope so.”
    ~~~~~~~~
     
    Heather was sound asleep when the phone
rang. Her heart jumped for fear that something had happened to
Blane. She tried to roll over but her round, pregnant belly
wouldn’t allow such ease of movement. She scooted on her rear until
she could sit on the side of the bed.
    “ Hello?” Heather
asked.
    “ Heather?” a woman’s voice
said on the phone. “It’s Amber. You remember, I’m Blane’s night
nurse at St. Joe’s.”
    “ Blane,” Heather said in a
whispered exhale.
    “ He’s unconscious again,”
Amber said. “He seems to be fine. Healing, gaining white cells, I
mean. Everything’s on track.”
    “ You don’t know why he’s
unconscious,” Heather said.
    “ That’s what’s weird,”
Amber said. “He was asleep. He woke up when you called. After
talking to you, he ate a snack, and went to bed again. He was
upright, reading a book when he fell unconscious.”
    “ You tried to wake him?”
Heather couldn’t keep herself from asking the obvious.
    “ Of course,” Amber
said.
    “ And?”
    “ He’s in a coma,” Amber
said. “The doctor said not to call it a coma because we don’t know
why it’s happening.”
    “ But it’s a coma?” Heather
asked.
    “ Yes, yes, I think so,”
Amber said. “Unofficially, of course.”
    “ But he’s
alive?”
    “ He’s definitely alive,”
Amber said. “Healing well, too, so don’t be
disheartened.”
    “ Um. . .”
Heather said.
    “ Yeah, easier said than
done,” Amber said.
    Heather looked at Mack, who was sleeping in
his crib in her room, and Tink, who was sleeping on the futon near
the door.
    “ What can I do?” Heather
asked.
    “ We just have to wait it
out,” Amber said.
    “ You don’t know if he’ll
come out of this,” Heather said.
    “ He did last time,” Amber
said.
    “ And this
time?”
    “ There’s no way to know,”
Amber said.
    Heather nodded and then realized Amber
couldn’t see her nod.
    “ Thanks for letting me
know,” Heather said.
    “ We’ll call in the morning
and give you an update,” Amber said.
    “ Thanks.”
    “ Oh, and Heather?” Amber
asked.
    “ Yes,” Heather
said.
    “ I’m really sorry,” Amber
said.
    “ Me too,” Heather replied,
but Amber was gone.
    Heather looked at the handset for a moment
before setting the phone down in the cradle. She stared at the wall
for a moment trying to decide what to do.
    “ God damn serpents,”
Heather said under her breath. “Hera?”
    A transparent apparition of the Queen of
Olympians appeared.
    “ I’m ready,” Heather
said.
    “ It’s about time,” Hera
said. “What about. . .?”
    She gestured to the children sleeping in the
room. Heather went to Tink and shook her shoulder.
    “ Tink?” Heather
asked.
    Tink opened her eyes.
    “ I have to take care of
some things,” Heather said. “I’ll be back.”
    “ You’re sure?” Tink asked.
She looked in the