Peril Read Online Free PDF Page B

nodded and remained silent, partly because he could relate emotionally to issues of marital discord Scott was doing his best to hide. Unfortunately, Scott’s glossy eyes and reddened cheeks betrayed the bubbling caldron inside. The effervescence of a marriage disintegrating traveled to others like mist in the wind.
    â€œI don’t know if I can help you understand how my memory worksnow. It’s like a running calendar of events, but also with it is the exact emotion I felt at the time. So every argument my wife and I had, not only do I remember what I said but I can see in her face how I made her feel.”
    â€œDon’t you think that would happen normally?” Tyler asked. “Events that are highly charged release adrenaline into our bodies. We know this cements memories more quickly and deeply and that emotions tied to those situations erupt when they’re revisited. This is the basis of Dr. Reeves’s research into post-traumatic stress disorder.”
    Scott smiled thinly. “It’s different than that. I know guys who have PTSD and it’s nothing like what I’m experiencing. It’s more like having your own personal analyst. You go back through these events, over and over, reliving and analyzing the bad decisions you made and what you could have done differently.” He ran his palms over his pants. “You begin to see your part in the total destruction. People are so quick to put blame on someone else, but I know that I have hurt her very deeply.”
    â€œYou’re still together then? Isn’t there hope?”
    Scott leaned his chin into his hand and looked out the window. This side faced west into a broad valley just as the mountains grew from foothills to stone guardians of solitude. “I’m making some decisions now that may ultimately end my marriage.”
    â€œBut you’re not divorced yet. There’s still a chance. There’s always hope,” Tyler said.
    â€œAre we going to talk about G-O-D now?”
    â€œDo you want to?”
    â€œAre you a minister as well as a surgeon?”
    Tyler laughed, partly at the remark and mostly to relieve the tightness in his chest. “Definitely not, but there are things I’ve seen . . . miracles that can only be explained by my belief in God. The human body is an amazing organism. It’s so intricate that I don’t think it could have ever come together in a pile of goo lit by a strike of lightning.”
    â€œYou say that out loud very often?”
    â€œIt might surprise you how many people there are who work in medicine and believe in a higher power.”
    â€œSounds very impersonal.”
    â€œHow do you mean?”
    â€œSome big presence in the sky.” Scott stopped, his mouth open, hisbreath held in his chest. He shook his head and the icy gaze returned. “Did you know she was here?”
    â€œWho?”
    â€œMy wife.”
    â€œWhen?”
    â€œBefore my surgery. A couple of weeks before.”
    Strength leeched from Tyler’s muscles. “Do you know why she came?”
    Scott kneaded his hands together. “I only know it wasn’t her first visit. She’d had one a couple of months prior.”
    â€œDid you ask Dr. Reeves about it?”
    â€œNot yet. I thought you’d know what the reason might be. Reeves isn’t always forthcoming with information.”
    Tyler reflexively glanced at his watch; his soul cried for him to leave. Will Morgan understand if I’m late again?
    He looked back at Scott. “One, no, I never knew that she came to visit. Two, if she was seen in a doctor-patient capacity, it would be a breach of her privacy rights for me to look at her chart since I’ve never provided direct care to her.”
    â€œYou don’t find it strange that a woman—” He closed his eyes.
    What is really going on?
    â€œScott, what is it that you really want to know?”
    The alarm on