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Chapter 1
“Miss Kendall, can you hear me? I’m Dr Metcalf, and you’re at Good Sa to take you out of the aency room”
Shivering uncontrollably, Leigh Kendall reacted to the insistenther back to consciousness, but she couldn’t Seeth to open her eyelids
“Can you hear me, Miss Kendall?”
With an effort, she finally ed to force her eyes open The doctor who had spoken was bending over her, exa a clear plastic bag of IV fluid
“We’re going to take you out of the aht at each of her pupils
“Needto tellhusband I’ed in a feeble whisper
He nodded and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze “The state police
will take care of that In thefans at Good Sa to take excellent care of you”
Voices and iurney was lifted froainst a gray dawn sky People in uniforms flashed past her line of vision—New York State troopers, para open, the hallway flew by, faces crowded around her, firing urgent questions at her
Leigh tried to concentrate, but their voices were collapsing into an inco off their faces, dissolving into the same blackness that had already devoured the rest of the room
WHEN LEIGH AWOKE AGAIN, it was dark outside and a light snoas falling Struggling to free herself fro into her arazed dazedly at what appeared to be a hospital room filled with a riotous display of flowers
Seated on a chair near the foot of the bed, flanked by a huge basket of white orchids and a large vase of bright yellow roses, a gray-haired nurse was reading a copy of the New York Post with Leigh’s picture on the front page
Leigh turned her head asfor so, she was alone with the nurse Experiled her toes, and was relieved to find theood working order Her arht, but as long as she didn’t eneralized ache throughout her body, a sharper ache in her ribs, and a throat so dry it felt as if it were stuffed with sawdust
She was alive, and that in itself was a miracle! The fact that she was also whole and relatively unharratitude and joy that was al whisper from her parched throat “May I have some water?”
The nurse looked up, a professional s her face “You’re awake!” she said as she quickly closed the newspaper, folded it in half, and laid it facedown beneath her chair
The na on the nurse’s uniforh noted as she watched the nurse pouring water from a pink plastic pitcher on the tray beside the bed
“You should have a straw I’ll go get one”
“Please don’t bother I’m terribly thirsty”
When the nurse started to hold the glass to Leigh’s h assured her, and then was aed arlass back to Nurse Mackey, her ar if perhaps there was h let her head sink back into the pillohile she gathered the strength to talk “What sort of condition am I in?”
Nurse Mackey looked eager to share her knowledge, but she hesitated “You really should ask Dr Metcalf about that”
“I will, but I’d like to hear it now, fro”
It was all the encourageht in,” she confided “You had a concussion, hypothermia, cracked ribs, and suspected injuries to the cervical vertebrae and adjacent tissue—that’s whiplash in layman’s terms You have several deep scalp wounds, as well as lacerations on your ars, and torso, but only a few of the You also have contusions and abrasions all over your—”
Sh lifted her hand to stop the litany of injuries “Is there anything wrong with ery?”