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He knehere he belonged and what he had to do For once in his life, he kne had he missed it? How had he not seen that for the first ti that el? He could bring theether, and now, all these years later, they could be the fa

Believe in the road…

With the thought, it ca been touched at last by the hand of the God he’d prayed to and believed in for all his life The faith he’d thought he’d lost filled hi the dark, cold corners of his soul with searing bright light

Grinning, he glanced again at the clock It was seven-thirty He could be in Seattle by eleven-thirty and back here in ti breakfast

Perfect

He looked dead

Madelaine’s gaze shot to the cardiac reen line peaked and dipped in sharp, erratic beats across the blank screen, clicking along on its uneven rhyth beneath it

She released a heavy sigh and shoved a hand through her hair again, leaning closer to the bed Her chair screeched across the linoleuravy sat congealing into the rolled white flaps of pressed turkey

She knew it had been brought in by h-fat uessed it was because no one thought there was any rush Angel DeMarco, it ell known, hadn’t noticed anything like a bad smell in almost a week

He’d been in and out of consciousness briefly, here and there, bits of tiers treot the tube fro, laughing and crying

As always, she stopped by and sat with hi back, urging hiery she found she couldn’t believe in much herself anymore

She brushed the damp hair away from his warether last night It was … interesting Well, since you’re unconscious, I guess I can be honest It was dreadful, actually—too much blood and violence and sex But Lina liked it, and your acting was incredible She thought you were totally cool—not, of course, that she said this to me She hasn’t spoken to me in days”

Madelaine stroked his cheek absent out the roolass in shuddering little spurts Rain blurred the view into a wavering sheet of gray and black It was the beginning of a powerhouse rainstorm, she could tell

Madelaine went on talking to hiainst hope that somewhere inside all that feverish sleep, he could hear her Maybe even that her voice could be a lifeline he could follow back to consciousness “I don’t knohat to do about her, Angel She’s quiet one ht She’s in trouble I… I need your help”

She realized suddenly that she was telling him the truth, not just some words made up to appease or communicate with him, but the truth Her truth