Becoming Forever (Waking Forever Series) Read Free

make any more sense of this grotesque scene than she was.
    Amanda pulled her iPhone out of the pocket of her jacket. “Ah, it’s Dr . Atman.”
    Ash chewed on the inside of her cheek nervously. She had first met D r. Emma Atman nearly three years ago at what had been one of the worst times in Ash’s life.
     
     
     
    Chapter 2
    Ash sprinted through the parking lot of the South Texas Medical Center toward the red, irradiated emergency room sign. She slowed down long enough to allow the automated glass doors to slide open, and then ran down the seemingly endless linoleum tiled hallway. The harsh fluorescent lighting cast a yellowish hue, and made the walls and floor seem surreal.
    Glancing side-to-side , Ash didn’t see her father or brothers in either waiting area. An African American woman who appeared to be at least eighty sat behind a crescent shaped, elevated wooden desk, her face lighted by the computer monitor she stared intently at. Ash took a deep breath before speaking. “Elizabeth Haines? I was told she arrived by ambulance.”
    The elderly woman glanced up at Ash, and then back at her monitor. “Let me see.” Ash fought the urge to turn t he monitor, grab the keyboard and perform the search herself.
    “Yes. She’s in bay three. You’ll need a pass to go back.” The woman slowly turned to her left and began sorting through a stack of name tag stickers. “I can print one for you if you have an identification, and then -”
    Ash sighed, unclipped her detective ’s badge and photo ID from her belt, and thrust the badge in front of the octogenarian’s face. “Is this sufficient?”
    Before the woman could respond, Ash was briskly walking down the hallway into the emergency room itself. Rounding a corner , she saw her brother Jason and his wife Katy sitting in narrow chairs against the far wall. Nurses and doctors bustled back and forth.
    “Jason. What’s going on?” Ash crouched down on her haunches in front of her brother and sister-in-law.
    Jason shook his head. “I don’t know. We just got here, and they told us she was in with the doctors.”
    “Where’s Dad?” Ash stood up and sat next to Jason.
    Katy leaned across her husband and took Ash’s hand. “The station nurse said he was back with her.”
    Ash looked toward where Katy had gestured and saw James Haines coming around the corner. James’ face was red and his eyes swollen. His usually broad shoulders sagged and his head hung. Without a word, Ash knew her mother was dead.
    Jason and Katy stood in unison, and walked toward James. Ash hesitated. She wanted a few more seconds of hope. Hope that her mother wasn’t dead. Hope that her father wasn’t alone. She watched from what seemed like a hundred feet away, as Jason put his arm around their father’s shoulders and Katy took James’ hand in hers. Ash forced her feet to move through what felt like quicksand, and clutched her father’s other hand.
    “What’s happened?” Ash whispered.
    James looked up for the first time, his grey eyes filling with tears. “She’s - she’s gone.”
    Katy cried out first, and then Jason gasped. Ash felt a wave of heat surge through her body . The room began to get very hot, and seemed to close in on her. She grabbed her brother’s shoulder to stop the spinning sensation.
    “How?” Jason managed through tears.
    James shook his head and stared off in the distance. “I had just left for a few minutes, and she was on the floor - I can’t.” James’ chest heaved as he took a deep breath. “She was dead when the ambulance arrived. They have to do an autopsy.” He covered his face with his hands as the sobs ensued.
    Ash realized she was crying too, and wiped at her face. “Autopsy? Why?”
    James sighed. “They said it’s standard when the death is unaccompanied.” James bit at his lower lip. “I - I had just gone to Starbucks to get her morning coffee.” James looked toward the chairs his daughter, son and daughter-in-law had just vacated.