Dark Desire Read Free

O’Halloran liked it; only the body on the table had a bright light shining down on it. Her unusually acute hearing picked up voices outside the room: a nurse consoling the patient’s parents. “You’re lucky Dr. O’Halloran is working tonight. She’s the best there is. She has a gift. Really. When there’s no chance at all, she still pulls them out. Your little boy couldn’t be in better hands.”
    â€œBut he looked so awful.” That was the terrified, already grieving mother.
    â€œDr. O’Halloran has been known to work miracles.Truly. Have faith. She just never stops until she saves them. We think she wills them to live.”
    Shea O’Halloran couldn’t have any distractions right now, certainly not a nurse promising parents she could save this child with his chest crushed and his internal organs a jigsaw puzzle. Not when she had spent the last forty-eight hours solid doing research, and her body was screaming at her for sleep and nourishment. She blocked out all noises, all voices, and focused completely on the task at hand. She would not lose this little boy. She wouldn’t. It was that simple to her. She never gave herself any other choice, never allowed any other thought into her mind. She had a good team, knew they worked well with her, meshing like a finely tuned machine. She never had to look to see if they were reacting to what she wanted or needed; they were always there for her. If she was able to save her patients, where others couldn’t, it wasn’t by her efforts alone.
    She bent closer to the little boy, pushing out everything but her desire for this child to live. As she was reaching to take the instrument her nurse was handing her, something struck at her. Pain gripped her, consumed her, sweeping through her body like a terrible fire. She had felt such agony only one other time, a couple of years earlier. She had never managed to discover what had been wrong with her. The pain had simply disappeared after nearly twenty-four hours. Now, with a child’s life hanging by a thread, depending upon her skills, she did not have the luxury of fainting. Agony gripped her, twisted her insides, and took the breath from her lungs. Shea struggled to control herself; years of forcing her mind to remain under strict discipline stood her in good stead. As she did with every other distraction, she forced the pain out of her mind, took a deep breath, and concentrated on the child.
    The nurse closest to her regarded the doctor with complete shock. In all the time she had worked with O’Halloran, admiring her, almost idolizing her, she had never seen the surgeon lose her focus, not even for a second. This time, Shea had stood perfectly still—a few heartbeats, that was all—but the nurse couldn’t help noticing because it was so unusual. Her hands had trembled, and she had broken out in a sweat. Automatically the nurse reached up to wipe the moisture from the doctor’s forehead. To her horror, the cloth came away stained with blood. Droplets were beading up, seeping through her pores. The nurse wiped the surgeon’s forehead a second time, attempting to hide the cloth from the others. She had never seen anything like it.
    Then Shea was once more herself, snapping instantly back to attention. The nurse swallowed all her questions and returned to work, the images of what Dr. O’Halloran needed coming into her mind so fast, she had no time to think about the strange phenomenon anymore. She had long ago become used to knowing what the doctor needed before she asked for it.
    Shea felt an unfamiliar presence in her mind, felt the dark malevolence beating at her for one more heartbeat before she closed it out; then her attention was completely taken up with the child and the shredded jumble that was his chest. He would not die. She would not allow it. You hear me, child? I’m here with you, and I will not let you die, she silently vowed.