Part 3 (1/2)
Debbie barely refrained from hitting the man. ”My husband died of lung cancer several years ago. It's just Henry and me. I don't need help making the right decision. I've already made it. We're NOT turning off his life support!”
”I understand, Mrs. Harris. You want to do what's right for your son.”
”d.a.m.n right I do!”
”Then you should seriously consider what I said.”
To give him credit, Gardner didn't look away from her when he said it, Debbie thought. At least he had the b.a.l.l.s to face her even if he was talking nonsense.
The doctor rose from his seat. ”I've got some other patients to look after, so I need to get going. I'll send up a nurse and perhaps the chaplain to sit with you a bit, all right?”
But Debbie wasn't listening. She was staring into her son's room, staring at her son lying there in that hospital bed, and thinking there was no way in G.o.d's creation that she could ever pull the plug on him...
Two hours later.
Debbie was sitting in a chair in the corner of the hospital room, half-asleep, when a shadow pa.s.sed across the nearby window.
It took her dozing mind a moment to register that she'd seen something and by the time she pushed herself upright to take a closer look, it was gone. All she was left with was the lingering image of a large, manlike shape with wings.
Wings? Yeah, right.
She shook her head as if to clear it of such a ridiculous notion.
You're losing it, girl.
She got up and walked over to the edge of the window, where she leaned against the wall next to it and stood peering out into the night. With the lights off in the room behind her, it was easy to see the hospital parking lot spread out below. Of course, the big arc lights set up around the lot's perimeter helped in that regard as well.
Debbie stared at those lights for a moment, thinking.
A bird must have pa.s.sed in front of those lights, she thought. The distance probably made the shadow look bigger.
She searched the sky outside, but couldn't see anything past the arc lights.
If it had been a bird, it was probably long gone by now.
She turned away, shaking her head at her own foolishness, and headed back to her seat.
Behind her, the window exploded inward with a thundering crash.
Debbie screamed and fell to the floor in shocked surprise, as gla.s.s was flung in every direction from the impact. The sudden pain she felt in several places told her that she hadn't escaped unscathed, but a quick check told her that none of her injuries were too serious. The fact that she was off to the side of the window had no doubt s.h.i.+elded her from most of the debris.
Henry!
The realization that her son's bed was directly in front of the window brought her scrambling to her feet, but when she turned in that direction she received her second shock that night.
A figure stood over Henry's bed, a figure with large leathery wings that swept out to either side and rose at their tips almost to the ceiling.
Debbie screamed at the sight she couldn't help it and the thing standing over Henry whirled around to face her. In the light from the shattered window Debbie could see that it was a woman in her mid-thirties, with a narrow face framed by chestnut-colored hair dressed in jeans and a tattered t-s.h.i.+rt. She would have been beautiful, possibly exceptionally so, if it wasn't for the eyes that stared out of that face, eyes as black as pitch with no sclera or pupil. Just the sight of them made Debbie's blood run cold and she found herself overwhelmed with fear, struggling even to breathe in the face of it. Her body went rigid, unable to move even the slightest muscle, and she could feel panic building up inside her with nowhere to go as the thing stared her down.
The angel, demon, whatever-it-was must have decided she wasn't any kind of threat for it finally dismissed her, turning back toward Henry. Debbie was relieved to find that she could breathe again when she was no longer faced with that horrifying visage.
That relief was short-lived, however, for in the next moment alarms began blaring from the monitors surrounding Henry's bed as the intruder ripped the various electrical leads from Henry's body then yanked the breathing tube out of his throat.
”Hey!” Debbie shouted, all thoughts of her own safety forgotten now that she was faced with threat to her son's welfare. ”You can't do that!”
She hurried forward and grabbed the other woman's arm, intending to pull her away from the bed and prevent her from doing any further harm.
Doing so proved to be a mistake.
Debbie had a second to wonder about the icy coldness and steel-like strength of the woman's flesh and then she was found herself sailing across the room as the intruder flung her away like an errant insect. She slammed into the far wall with incredible force. The impact shattered several of her ribs, sending their jagged edges lancing through her lungs like razor-sharp pieces of shrapnel. By the time she hit the floor she was bleeding to death internally, but was unable to feel any of her injuries thanks to her severed spine.
Debbie watched as the intruder scooped her son's body up in her arms and turned toward the window.
”No. Please no,” she begged. ”He's all I have.”
The other woman didn't even bother to look in her direction. She took a few steps forward and then, spreading those leathery wings, launched herself out the window with Henry clutched securely in her arms.
”Nooooooooo!”
CHAPTER FIVE.
”Another cup of coffee, love?”
Riley looked up to find the waitress hovering over him with a pot of coffee in hand. He smiled, nodded, and held up his mug for her to refill.
”Looks like it's going to be a beautiful night,” she said while pouring and Riley had to agree. Stamford's Seaside Diner had been built on the ocean's edge with the back deck, where he was now seated, jutting out over the waters of Long Island Sound. It gave the two of them a marvelous view of the sunset spreading across the water. The sky was streaked with red and orange, the air crisp and clear, and it was just what Riley needed after yesterday's events. He'd take the tang of sea water over the stench of blood any day of the week.
The slight chill in the air kept the diner's other patrons inside and so he had the outer deck to himself. The television mounted in the corner by the door into the restaurant proper was droning on about a comatose Marine who'd been abducted from a hospital in nearby Fairfield, but Riley didn't pay it much mind; he had enough problems of his own to deal with.
He returned to the commandery around seven that morning and had crashed in one of the ready rooms for a few hours of sleep. Duty called in the early afternoon, but the lead they had turned out to be a dud. Wanting to avoid answering any questions that might arise from Echo's presence at the hotel the night before, Riley decided to avoid the commandery for the rest of his s.h.i.+ft, figuring that ”out of sight, out of mind” was best where the Preceptor was concerned. He had his mobile with him in case there was an alert and he could be onsite in less than fifteen minutes, if necessary. As senior commander, he had a bit more leeway in his ability to be away from headquarters than the men in the ranks and he figured now was a good time to exercise that option.
The waitress brought his food and Riley dug into his porterhouse steak with gusto. The day's efforts in tracking the Adversary had come to naught but he'd worked up an appet.i.te just the same.
He'd barely taken three bites, however, when a tall, lean, dark-haired man with an eye-patch covering his damaged right eye sat down across from him.
”G.o.d in heaven, Cade!” Riley exclaimed. ”Are you nuts? You can't be here!”
His friend glanced around conspiratorially and then leaned toward the table. ”Why?” he asked sotto voce, ”Did they suddenly stop serving white people here?”
Riley, who was far from white, didn't even smile. ”I'm serious, Cade. There's a 'shoot on sight' order out for you! If one of the other knights sees you sitting here...”
Unconcerned, Cade picked up a fork, stabbed a piece of steak and took it off of Riley's plate. Then, leaning back, he popped it into his mouth. ”Given the size of the mob surrounding us,” he said, ”I'll take my chances.” He chewed contentedly and made no move to get up.
”Stop s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g around and listen to me. Johannson wants your head on a platter and if you're not careful he's going to get it. He's not playing a game; that 'shoot on sight' order is serious business!”
Cade waved Riley's concerns away. ”Johannson's an idiot and you know it. n.o.body from Echo is going to obey that order.”