Grim Love - A Novella Read Online Free PDF Page A

Jasper opened his eyes.
    After a
moment of confusion, he sat himself up. “Hello, gorgeous.” Not
answering would be the safer option, so she kept her mouth shut as
she found herself staring at him. “You’re not a nurse, are you?” He
studied her, appearing much more lucid than she'd expected him to
be, and his swollen hazel eyes seemed to find her eyes. “Are you
here to drag me to hell? I'm not scared. I've been waiting a long
time for this?” Evangeline didn't know how to respond, stunned that
he could see her. Is he dead, she
thought as she looked at the monitors indicating that he was very
much alive. He shouldn’t be talking to me.
    There wasn't anything she could do about that
while they were there. “Or, are you my guardian angel?” Jasper
attempted a smile, but thought against it once he realized it'd be
too painful. “Every time I’ve tried to die, I’ve woken up again. It
sucks. I can't even get that right. I’ve chosen death. So, am I
dead now? Is that why you're here? ” Looking defeated, he put his
head back down. Evangeline found herself wanting to comfort him,
but she knew that would be a bad idea. She already had a problem on
her hands. She didn't need to add to it. His eyes closed again.
Relaxing her tense shoulder muscles, Evangeline put her head down
to think.
    Listening to Jasper fall into a deep slumber,
Evangeline struggled to make a decision. Deciding it'd be safe to
look up at him, she took a deep breath, hoping he wouldn't be
staring back at her again. Before she could fix her eyes on him,
the alarms attached to him rang out. He flat-lined.
    A team of people were there within seconds.
While they worked and shouted orders, one put paddles in her hands
and straddled his torso. The shock jostled Jasper's body, sending
chills down Evangeline's spine as she watched in horror. This
wasn't what she'd signed up to see. Although a part of her wanted
him to have another chance to change his life, she needed him to
die for her mission to be accomplished. Feeling emotions were
something she'd not thought possible in the afterlife, but an
intense desire to keep Jasper alive built inside of her. She'd
never been one to doubt herself in life, but she found herself torn
with what to hope for in this instance. She knew Jasper deserved
more time to heal all that ailed him.
    Lucius stared at Evangeline. “He’s not going
to die.” Her voice emotionless, “That’s something I am certain of,
Lucius, no matter what you think.”
    “Evangeline, I've been doing this job much
longer than you have and I say, he's going to die.” Jasper’s spirit
must be too strong to die, but Lucius wasn’t going to tell her that
because she had to discover it for herself. If he told her, she'd
come to rely on it and he didn’t want that to happen. He'd made
that mistake with another once. “You will wait.”
    “Why?”
    “Because I told you to wait, that's why. I'm
in charge. You’ve not been in this position long enough to question
an order. Your know what you're here to do and I expect you to do
it. Arguing with me is not one of your duties, now is it? You may
have gotten away with that in life, but look where that got you.
Don’t leave until his soul is ready.”
    “I may have to kill him myself.”
    Sighing, in an attempt to keep the laugh he
felt from spilling out, Lucius shook his head. “We gather the
spirits of the dead. Killing people isn't part of the job.”
    “Lucius, he's not going to die.”
    “You have no proof of that. The doctor says
he’s stable, but he flat - lined. Death, in these cases, often
comes when you least expect it to, most often, after the doctor's
come to the conclusion that their patient's fine. Until you can
prove otherwise, I will not accept you telling me he’s not going to
die.”
    “What proof do I need?”
    Answering that question wouldn't be easy.
Lucius would have to resort to another not-so-honest response that
would appease the feisty reaper. “You’ll know when