Old Souls Read Online Free PDF Page B

loop. I could see it all so clearly, and yet, I still wasn’t entirely sure what had happened. Staring unseeingly at the florescent lighting, I listened to the people milling about the halls and the steady drone of my heartbeat on the machinery. I was concentrating hard on trying not to think.
    Suddenly, the curtain was thrown back and Mark appeared. The second I laid eyes on him I had the ridiculous urge to burst into tears, but I managed to fight it back. His face was etched with concern as he rushed to my bedside, stopping short at the edge. After scanning me thoroughly from head to toe he let out a pent up breath, his tension easing when he realized I was unhurt.
    He’d been worried about me.
    I was so touched by his concern I hadn’t notice him moving again. The next thing I knew, I was engulfed in powerful arms.
    “Alyssa,” his voice was shaking. “Are you all right? I was so scared.”
    “I—”
    “What happened?”
    “I—I don’t really know.”
    “They said you and Colin were in a car accident. Is he okay?”
    My eyes filled with tears, blurring my vision.
    “Oh god, he’s not—”
    “ No . He’s fine. He’s in the bed on the other side of the curtain. I think he’s asleep. “I swiped at an errant tear on my cheek. “It’s just—”
    “Something happened?”
    Incapable of answering, I nodded.
    “It’ll be okay, sweetheart.”
    “I’m not so sure about that, you don’t know what happened.”
    “Why don’t you tell me?”
    I shook my head. “I don’t think I can.”
    “Everything will be alright…as long as you’re okay.” He cupped my cheek and fixed his blue eyes on mine. “You can trust me.”
    “I know, just, not now okay.” I knew I could trust him, felt it so deep inside. It was same way I knew how to breathe…instinct. Still, this wasn’t the right place to discuss it.
    “Sure, but later.”  Tenderly, he leaned his forehead against mine and closed his eyes. Then slowly he raised his hands, cupping the sides of my face. “Dear God. That was the worst phone call I’ve ever received. When they said you were in a car accident. I… I can’t lose you again.”
    “W—what do you mean, again?”
    His body stiffened and he struggled for a response. Before he answered my question though, voices whispered from behind the curtain in the partition next to mine. The urgency and tone of the whispering drew our attention from our conversation.
    “Colin McNaughton.”
    “Why are you whispering?  Release him, he’s fine. The scans are clear. No concussion.” I heard papers flipping and then, “in fact, he’s lucky. I can’t believe he was completely uninjured after they told me about the wreckage.”
    Mark looked at me, brows pulled together. From my reaction when he asked about him, I think he expected Colin’s injuries to be serious.
    “That’s just it Doc, he was dead.” Another voice behind the curtain sounded, and at his words Mark’s eyes widened, locking onto mine. Why did I suddenly look away and feel as though I should be ashamed of something?
    “There was no evidence that someone performed CPR,” the doctor sounded confused.
    “No CPR.”
    “Then it’s impossible.”
    “Doc, I’m telling you.” The man’s whispering became louder, more agitated.  “They had to cut him out of that vehicle. I monitored his condition as the rescue team worked.  I was talking to him, heard him struggling for breath, badly. I couldn’t examine him because he was trapped in the car, but from the sound, I’m positive he’d punctured a lung. I felt his pulse weaken until it eventually stopped altogether. Not only that, but how do you explain the fact that there was blood all over the scene and neither passenger of the vehicle has a cut or scratch on their bodies to account for it?”
    For a long time, the silence hung heavy in the air before he continued. “Something weird is going on here.”
    “There was no one but the two of them in the car?” the doctor