Walking Ghost Phase Read Online Free PDF Page A

Your internal organs can heal most of the damage without long-term effects, but the brain is not as repairable. You will have lapses in your memory, potentially worse than you already do, and I cannot estimate how much you might forget. That is the risk. But I can guarantee you ninety days of doing whatever you want, be it spending time with your family, maybe taking a vacation.” He glanced at the window blinds. “A real vacation.”
    “ So instead of a week or two, I'm going to die in three months?”
    “ No,” Logner said. “Your three months are a courtesy. After that, the treatment has a price.”
    “ We have some money saved. My college fund. We don't need it now. We can pay.”
    “ I doubt you'd come close to the monetary costs. But money is not the required manner of payment. You may wish to read the fine print.”
    She studied the form. The first page detailed the consent for treatment, legal jargon about holding the Army harmless for any complications resulting from said treatment. Then she flipped over the page. “Trial? Experiment? What is this?”
    “ Your cost. But before you ask questions about this trial, I don't know specifics.”
    “ Will it kill me?”
    “ I have been made aware of such a risk.” Logner sat on the edge of the bed. “Look at it this way. You get your three months instead of a week or two. The Army might get the rest.”
    “ But I'm still going to die?”
    “ Emily, we all die. Whether you are old and frail, if it happens today, a week or even three months from now, it is unavoidable.”
    She tapped the pen against the paper. “I should call my mom.”
    “ It may be a day or so before you can reach her, and your level of radiation exposure is already eating away at your body. This treatment has a small window of effectiveness.”
    She hesitated.
    “Everything I told you today was the truth. I don't want you to die alone. I also know I'm not the prime company for your last moments, and I think you know it, too. Sign the form, and I promise you this—I will make damn sure you are home with your mother by tomorrow night.”
    Emily stared at Logner as she lifted the pen. She imagined her bedroom, the way the sun shined between the purple curtains in the morning. Her mother in the kitchen, making eggs and toast. Her house, which she always complained was too small. Would she remember any of it? But Emily would still be there. All those things would exist whether she recognized them or not. Those things made her feel safe. Secure. Happy.
    It 's worth the risk . She slid the pen across the signature line, trying to keep the tip from punching through to the sheets. Looking at the paper, she barely recognized her own name. Logner snatched the form off her lap and rushed out of the room, slamming shut the door.
    Alone again, Emily imagined her mother 's embrace. The tears of happiness, not misery. Three months to spend together. Anything to forget about the end. Still, her mind pounded with another thought.
    Faust.
    A man who also wanted the unattainable—a disruption in the natural course of events. The Devil granted those wishes, and in the end Faust lost his soul. Now Emily had made her own deal, but unlike Faust, she didn't know the payment.
    At least I 'll see my mom again.
    At least…
    Faust probably said the same.
    Minutes later four soldiers p ushed a gurney inside the room, and a blond-haired soldier switched her IV bag with another drug “This is Versed, so you might begin to feel light-headed.” The other soldiers helped her on the mattress, wheeled her to the hall, down the winding corridors, and into an elevator. By then, her eyes were growing heavy. The blond-haired soldier pressed the Roof button. As they went up, the muffled thumping of helicopter blades rattled the metal walls.
    A flash radiated across her mind—bright, clear—a candle burning in the center of a dark room. She clutched the blond-haired soldier's arm. “I…I remember them…”
    The world