The Faerie Path Read Online Free PDF Page A

been barges and launches and wherries on the river.
    There should be life!
    But as she soared skyward, with tears flooding down her cheeks and a sense of wrenching loss in her heart, she felt the strength fading from her wings.
    The muscles seemed to waste away on her back.She glanced in alarm over her shoulder: The rainbow-colored gauze of her wings had become dull, and the glorious gossamer spread was shriveling and withering.
    And even as she looked, the wings shredded and fell away from her back.
    She clawed the air in terror, tried to remember which muscles she had flexed to lift her.
    But she no longer had the power of flight.
    Her wings were gone.
    Turning over and over in the air, she plunged earthward like a stone.

III
    “Anita? Come on, dear—up you get.”
    She felt chilled to the bone. She was sprawled face down on a cold, hard surface.
    Gentle but strong hands lifted her and turned her so that she was sitting up.
    She opened her eyes. The night nurse was crouched at her side, holding her shoulders. She was back in the hospital bathroom.
    “What happened?” she asked.
    “You fainted, Anita,” said the nurse. “Can you stand on your own, or should I call someone?”
    “No, I think I can get up.” Using the nurse’s shoulder as a support, Anita got to her feet.
    “You should have called someone if you were feeling giddy,” said the nurse, looking closely at her.
    “I didn’t,” Anita said. She blinked, still woolly-headed. “Feel giddy, I mean. How long have I been in here?”
    “Ten minutes at most,” said the nurse. “You seemed to be taking a long time, so I came to check. Do you still need to go?”
    “Sorry?”
    The nurse nodded toward the stalls.
    Anita shook her head. She twisted her head to look at the window. It was closed and locked.
    She let out a breath of astonished laughter.
    It had been so real.
    She glanced at herself in the mirror.
    No wings.
    Of course not. Are you out of your mind?
    “Let’s get you back to bed,” said the nurse. She put an arm around Anita’s back. “What’s happened here?” she exclaimed, drawing back. “You’ve made a real mess of your pajama top.”
    Anita stiffened. “What do you mean?”
    “There are two long tears,” said the nurse, running her finger down the ripped fabric. “What a shame. You must have done it when you fell over.”
    Anita looked at the nurse. “That’s where my wings came through,” she said.
    The nurse gazed quizzically at her. “Well, that would certainly explain it,” she said. “Shall we get you back to bed?”
    “Is there anything on my back?”
    The nurse smiled. “You don’t have wings, if that’s what you mean.”
    “No. Anything. Red marks.”
    The nurse opened the tears in the top and examined her back. “There’s nothing there,” she reported. “Clean as a whistle.”
    Anita turned and looked into her eyes. “What’s it like when you go insane?” she asked softly.
    The nurse studied her for a long moment. “You’ve had quite a rough day,” she said. “Come on, let’s get you back to bed.” She guided Anita out of the bathroom and across to her bed.
    Anita held her gaze. “Will you tell me the truth about something?”
    “Certainly, if I can,” the nurse said.
    “Is Evan going to be all right?”
    The nurse gave her a thoughtful look. “The doctors are a bit puzzled that he hasn’t woken up yet,” she admitted finally. “He’s had a CT scan and there’s nothing wrong that they can see.”
    “A CT scan?”
    “It means that they’ve had a good look at his brain. It’s working fine, as far as they can tell, but he doesn’t seem to want to wake up just yet.”
    Anita swallowed. “I heard somewhere that the longer a person is in a coma, the more chance there is for something to go wrong inside their head.”
    “That’s generally true,” the nurse agreed. “But your boyfriend isn’t in a coma. He’s just fast asleep.” She smiled. “He could wake up at any