The Taint Read Online Free PDF Page B

hips, she glared at him. “You look like hell. How much sleep did you get last night?”
    “Enough.”
    “I doubt that.” She sat facing him, her eyes concerned. “There were times I didn’t think you’d make it until she got back.”
    “But I did,” he said mildly. “I appreciate your worrying about me, but I am all right.”
    Emma leaned forward, lowering her voice. “Nathan, don’t forget—I’ve known you for better than thirty years. I’ve seen the way you work yourself into the ground. You’re a doctor, you of all people should know how important it is to take care of yourself.”
    He reached and patted her hand. “If you weren’t married . . .”
    “And three times a grandmother . . .”
    “I’d marry you.” He stood to leave, glancing at his watch.
    “Ha! The day you marry!” She shook her head, smiling nonetheless.
    As he passed Tyler’s room on the way out he caught a glimpse of the man. It had been barely half an hour since he had examined him, yet the degeneration was astounding. His pallor had increased and the vacant look in his eyes, even from a distance, was chilling.
    Something had happened to him, something he was unable to deal with. But what? The accident report indicated that Earl Wagner had happened upon the scene just minutes after it had occurred, and had found Tyler wandering aimlessly along the road. It was doubtful that the man had seen his wife, dead in the tree. Was he searching for her along the road?
    There were many questions, and so few answers.
     
     

TEN
     
    The Reverend Martin Frey pulled up to the hospital parking lot just as Nathan Adams drove away, raising a hand in greeting.
    He needed to talk to Dr. Adams about Amanda but he knew that the good doctor would probably be back before he had finished his visits. He was concerned about her increasingly frail health, and her insistence on continuing her good works, even as she wasted away before his eyes.
    He gathered up the inspirational pamphlets that he always distributed to the patients and entered through the emergency room door. The department was quiet and he placed some of the pamphlets in the waiting area before heading into the hospital proper.
    Faint music played over the intercom; one of Dr. Adam’s latest additions to the intensive modernization he had begun three years back. The hospital itself was a marvel, clean and bright, with all of the eighteen patient rooms having a view of the courtyard which was enclosed in the center of the building. The sight of green plants, flowers, and the sunshine upon them must be good for the body as well as the soul. These patients were a great deal more cheerful than those he’d seen in the city.
    He walked down the east wing toward the chapel, intending to open the windows, when he saw Emma standing in an open doorway, a troubled look on her face.
    “Good afternoon,” he greeted her and glanced surreptitiously into the room. Nora Samuels was propped up in bed, staring out the window. Nothing odd about that, he thought, and turned his attention to Emma.
    “Reverend Frey,” Emma reached for his arm urgently, pulling him back from the door. She put a finger to her lips and did not speak again until they were at the end of the hall. “Nora has gone peculiar again.”
    “Oh my, what is it this time?” Nora was rather famous for her curious turns of fancy.
    “She’s convinced that we’re under siege, and when I ask her from what or who, she says ‘It can’t be seen.’ “
    “Outer space again?” He chuckled; her last foray into malignant forces resulted in a petition to the President requesting he not allow the space shuttle to land, in case it “showed them the way to earth.”
    “I don’t think this is the same as the others.” Emma frowned, choosing her words carefully. “I’ve always had the feeling that her little escapades were . . . calculated. That she was constructing an elaborate game of some sort, and only she knew what the rules were. But