Love Bites Read Online Free PDF Page A

find Tony kneeling over her, weak, pale, and claiming he’d caught her flu bug because he didn’t feel well, either.
    Rachel didn’t recall much about fainting. She had a vague dreamlike memory of Dale and Fred bringing someone in, but didn’t recall anything more than that, and there had been no new bodies about when she regained consciousness. Positive that it had all been part of some fever-induced hallucination, Rachel had decided bed was the place for her and called in a replacement. She’d asked if Tony wanted a replacement as well, but he’d felt better after a couple of moments and insisted he would be fine.
    Rachel had been sick as a dog for a week. She’d suffered some of the strangest dreams too, filled with handsome, silver-eyed corpses that sat up on gurneys and spoke to her. But those had stopped as she started to feel better, and for the first time since she’d got the job on the hospital morgue night shift, Rachel was glad to be coming to work.
    Well, mostly glad. She was a morning person andgenuinely hated working nights. She liked daylight. Working all night then sleeping all day was annoying and made her moody, and she couldn’t seem to sleep in the evening. It was only after her shift, when Rachel dragged her exhausted self home, that she was able to sleep, and then it was interrupted slumber, up and down, waking then falling back to sleep.
    â€œI hear you were pretty sick. This isn’t much of a welcome back. Sorry,” Dale said as Rachel grabbed a table and wheeled it over next to the stretcher.
    â€œWhat is it?” she asked curiously.
    â€œCrispy critter.” Fred tugged the sheet free to reveal the charred remains of a burn victim.
    â€œHouse fire?” Rachel asked with a grimace.
    â€œCar explosion. He was caught in the blast,” Dale answered.
    â€œYeah.” Fred stared at the body, then shook his head. “Strange thing was, we thought there was a heartbeat. We got him in the ambulance, no beat. Then, halfway here, there’s another beat. Then no beat again. The guy couldn’t decide if he was dead or not, I guess. The doc pronounced him dead when we got here.”
    Rachel glanced curiously at the corpse, then took the clipboard Dale held out.
    â€œWhere’s Tony?” the EMT asked as he watched her sign the necessary papers.
    â€œHe’s off. Sick.”
    â€œCaught your flu bug, did he?” Fred chuckled.
    â€œNot from me. From his nurse friend.” Rachel watched them shift the body to the steel table, then she returned the clipboard.
    â€œSo, I hear we’re not going to have your smiling face around here at night anymore,” Dale said. “Congratulations.”
    â€œCongratulations?” Rachel stared at him blankly.
    â€œOn getting the assistant coroner job. Tony told us about it last time we were here.”
    Rachel’s jaw dropped. “What?”
    Fred and Dale exchanged glances, but it was Fred who finally said, “Er…Tony said Bob was going to tell you as soon as you got back to work. Bob told you, right?”
    Rachel just stared. Bob was Robert Clayton, the coroner. He worked the day shift but often dropped in to give instructions and get reports at the beginning of the night. He hadn’t done so tonight. “Jenny told me he called in sick today too. I guess it’s his turn to have the flu,” she said.
    â€œOh, shoot, we ruined the surprise.”
    Rachel continued to stare, but she found herself grinning. She had gotten the assistant coroner’s job. She would be off the night shift soon. She’d got it! “Guys!” Rachel began excitedly, then hesitated and asked, “This isn’t a joke, right? You aren’t pulling my leg?”
    Both men shook their heads but looked apologetic. “Nope. You got the job. Just try to act surprised whenBob tells you. I don’t want to get Tony in trouble.”
    Dale grunted as she launched