Love on Call Read Online Free PDF Page A

ghosts.”
    â€œWell, she was there, and he’s awake now.”
    â€œAnd not a moment too soon, either,” Renee Crandall added.
    â€œWhat are you talking about?”
    â€œJeffrey Amberson woke up.”
    Brad hunched his shoulders. Sometimes he thought women had a code of their own and only let men in on what they knew for very short intervals.
    â€œWho is Jeffrey Amberson?”
    â€œThe young man in the coma wing,” Renee answered.
    â€œThe one she talks to,” Dana added.
    â€œDr. Clayton, I swear the world could end and we would have to send a child to let you know,” Peggy Silverman, the third of the group, said. “You pay attention to nothing that goes on around here except the children.”
    That had been true in the past, but it wasn’t any longer. Since the E.R. incident and his meeting Mallory, he was very aware of things going on now, yethe didn’t think he would let these three in on it. “If I did, what would you do?”
    Dana looked at him to see if he was joking. She must have decided he was, even though he had no smile on his face.
    â€œIt’s uncanny,” Renee said. “She picks one out and that one wakes up.”
    â€œNot all of them,” Peggy corrected. “Remember that woman from six months ago? She’d been in a coma since they opened that wing five years ago. The ghost talked to her, but when they pulled her plug, she slipped away within minutes.”
    â€œThat’s not how it was with Jeffrey Amberson or any of the others she’s chosen.”
    â€œWhat do you mean, chosen?” Brad asked.
    â€œIt’s the same M.O. every time,” Peggy said. Brad could tell she watched too many detective shows. “The lonely, unloved, unvisited. The ones no one comes to see. She picks patients who have no one else, who never receive any visitors. They’re all alone in the world and she’s their savior. And it’s apparently working.”
    â€œWhy is that?”
    â€œNo one knows,” Peggy said. “No one has ever seen her face.”
    â€œMillie over in nuclear medicine saw her one night, but only from the back,” Renee said. “She was going through the door into the stairwell.”
    â€œNo one knows how long she’s been doing this and no one else has ever gotten a glimpse of her.”
    â€œThen how do you know she exists?” Brad asked.
    â€œThey tell us.”
    â€œWho?”
    â€œThe patients. Those who wake up. They want to know who the person was who talked to them,” Dana said.
    â€œSince no one knew,” Peggy continued, “one of them called her a ghost and the name stuck.”
    â€œSo you just let this unknown person roam the hospital at will?” Brad asked. “What we need to do is alert security.”
    â€œCalm down, Dr. Clayton. She’s not doing any harm,” Renee said.
    â€œIn fact, she’s doing good,” Dana added. “The court order was already in hand. Jeffrey Amberson was scheduled to have his plug pulled.”
    Peggy took up the story. “This afternoon when they shut down the machines, he breathed on his own. I’d say the ghost had something to do with that.”
    â€œThe ghost,” Brad frowned. “It sounds like good medicine and a strong survival instinct.”
    â€œThey’d given up on him. If the ghost had nothing to do with his recovery, then neither did medicine,” Dana stated.
    Brad didn’t agree or disagree with Dana. He turned to leave. He had no patients to see, so he was headed for the doctor’s lounge and a cup of coffee. Mallory Russell was approaching the station, several charts in her hands. She didn’t look him in the eye. Brad felt a twinge of guilt for their earlier encounter on the stairs.
    â€œWell, Dr. Russell, what do you think of the ghost?” he asked.
    She stole a glance at Dana, ignoring Brad. “I wason my way up and told Cassie