Remember the Stars Read Online Free PDF Page A

under her arms and pulled her forward and unzipped her dress. The feel of her warm, wet body brought back another feeling he hadn’t experienced in a very long time—desire.
    She wiggled out of the dress and her underwear. “Put your tongue back in your mouth,” she said drolly. “It’s just a naked body. One that apparently looks as if it’s been mauled by a bear.”
    He snapped back to reality. He hadn’t meant to stare, but he hadn’t seen a naked woman in years. What did she expect?
    “Let’s just get on with it and get you dried and into bed.”
    “Okay,” she agreed. “I’m anticipating waking up in my own bed, you know. This is going to end soon, I can feel it. But thank you for taking care of me—even though this is just a dream.”
    How could he tell her she was just fooling herself? It was best to say nothing. She would adjust to this life over time just as he had. He grabbed a towel and held it up.
    “Remy, I can’t get out of this bath. My entire body feels like…like dead weight.”
    “It’s okay.” He held the towel under his chin, and lifted her naked body out of the bath and set her on her feet. As she leaned heavily on him, he wrapped her in the towel and lifted her into his arms.
    By the time he’d laid her on the bed, she was unconscious. He went about drying her with a clinical attitude. He was a funeral director after all. He had washed, dried and dressed bodies on countless occasions.
    But Leah wasn’t dead—not really. She was warm, and breathing…and beautiful.
    He noticed the deep bruising that covered her entire body. It looked as though it was caused by a car accident. He had woken up to similar bruising all over his body as well. He just hoped that someone hadn’t murdered her. When she finally remembered what happened to her that would be the worst.
    Rifling through a dresser drawer, he found an old, stretched out T-shirt and went about slipping it onto her body. But as he tucked her into bed, she suddenly jerked awake and covered her eyes.
    “What’s wrong?”
    “That light. It’s burning my eyes.”
    He had become comfortable over time with not turning off the lights in the flat. Part was safety; part was because he was afraid the lights might not come back on.
    “I’m sorry, Leah. The electricity here—it’s not like normal electricity.” He glanced at the bulb burning above them. He couldn’t leave her to suffer. “I have candles in the funeral home. I’ll be right back.”
    She seized his hand and clutched it tight. “Don’t leave me alone! Please!”
    He stroked her arm. “It’s fine, Leah. This is a safe place. “I’m not leaving you. I’m just going down the stairs. It won’t take a minute. I promise you that.”
    Her body began to tremble and his heart ached. She was absolutely terrified, and yet she still didn’t comprehend what was really happening to her—that this was real, and it was unpredictable. He caressed her cheek with the back of his hand. “I’ll be right back, I promise. Close your eyes and try to sleep. You’ll be able to think more clearly when you’ve slept.”
    He hurried from the flat and down the stairs. He grabbed a handful of candles, holders, and a box of matches from one of the viewing rooms and ran back up the stairs three at a time.
    As he placed the candles around the bedroom, and lit each one, he sighed heavily with the realization that the candles and the matches were from his emergency supplies. If the electricity decided to go out permanently, they would be left to fend for themselves in the darkness.
    Still, he couldn’t allow her to suffer unnecessarily. If the candles brought her a small amount of comfort, then it was worth it. He grabbed a wing chair and moved it close to the bed. As he sank wearily into it, he took notice of the way the candles lit Leah’s face. She looked like an angel.
    He blinked heavily. He was so tired, he had to sleep now. As he drifted off he thought of how nice it was to have